Ikenga GT

David Gittens is a Brooklyn-born artist and designer who was a staff photographer at Car and Driver magazine from 1958 to 1964.[1] In 1964 he married and moved to London England, where he did photographic work for advertising and weddings. In 1967 he embarked on a career in transportation design. Among his proposed projects were a gas-powered single seat city car, an electric city car, a Reliant-based three-wheeled car, an expandable six-wheeled vehicle, a small car based on the Mini Moke chassis, and a high-performance mid-engined grand touring car that became the Ikenga GT.[2]

Gittens bought a used McLaren chassis from Ken Sheppard.[3][4] Sheppard was also to handle limited production of the car.[5] For development Gittens turned to Charles Williams of Williams & Pritchard coachbuilders. Financing of the project was arranged through Copleys merchant bank.[6]

The car's name is of Nigerian origin. Ikenga is a spirit often represented by a horned statue in Gittens' ancestral Igbo culture. Ikenga represents human achievement, accomplishment and success.

The first version of the car, later referred to as the Mk1, was completed in 1967.[3] The somewhat blocky design of the Mk1 was quickly followed by the restyled MkII in 1968.[7] In addition to the revised body shape, this version received a leather interior and an accompanying set of Gucci luggage. Some advanced lighting features were also introduced with the MkII.

In October 1968, during the Earls Court Motor Show, the Ikenga MkII was displayed at the Banking Hall at Harrods. This location was chosen due to there being no provision for displaying experimental or prototype vehicles at the motor show venue.[8] 30,000 people saw the car at the Banking Hall, including one who offered $53,000 for the prototype, and a Saudi prince who commissioned a unique version of the car to be called the "Bird of Peace" at a cost of $35,000.[9] This special does not appear to have been built.

Gittens planned a limited run of cars. Depending on the source, he planned 100 or 150 cars, priced at ₤9000 or US$16,800 each.[5][9]

Gittens also promoted the car in the United States. The MkII appeared on the cover of the April 1969 issue of Car and Driver magazine. In the summer of 1969 an American group made an offer for the US distribution rights to the car. One day later Charles Williams died suddenly. This was while the car was undergoing another restyling that would result in the MkIII.[7] The car was transferred to the Radford coachworks to have the work completed with the assistance of Roger Nathan among others.[10] The car was complete by October 1969. It appeared in an episode of the BBC series Tomorrow's World, then was sent to France where it was displayed at the 1969 Paris Auto Show. From there the car went to Italy, where it won an innovation award at the Turin Auto Show.[4] In March 1970 the car appeared at the Swedish International Motor Show in Stockholm.

Eventually the car was seized by creditors, and Gittens returned to the United States.[6] Only one Ikenga GT was ever built.

The car was displayed at the Manx Motor Museum for some time and then was sold at auction in 1998 and again in 2008.[4] It is believed to be somewhere in the Middle East.

Gittens would go on to use the name again for a line of gyroplanes called the Ikenga 530Z, one of which is part of the collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.[11][12]

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  David Gittens with the Ikenga MkII
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  Ikenga MkIII side profile

^{Note 1} Some references say that the Ikenga received an engine from the first generation Camaro Z-28, which would have been a 302 cu in (4,949 cc) solid-lifter small-block V8.[5][9] One source, while referring to the Z-28, says that the engine displaced 396 cu in (6,489 cc), which would have made it a big-block engine only available in the Camaro with the SS package.[6] Displacements ranging from 5.3 to 5.6 litres are reported by other references.