Britain’s newest sports car maker goes for a gap in the market with a sub-tonne two-seater
The demise of the old-school, British-built sports car – easy on the eye, gloriously light on its tread blocks and fizzing with feedback – has been exaggerated, according to Robin Wells, founder of Wells Motor Cars.Wells is the entrepreneur who, in 2021, revealed the Vertige at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, having developed the coupé effectively in secret since 2014, with engineering consultant Robin Hall joining in 2016. There is much to like about what he’s offering too – not least the sub-tonne kerb weight, the fact that the Vertige is shorter than most modern superminis and the generous output of its naturally aspirated, widely modified Ford engine. Connolly leather, if your pockets are deep enough, and rosewood are also on the menu, and suggest the Vertige is more than a glamorous kit car developed on a shoestring budget.More broadly, Wells says this car is about accessible fun and involvement over speed (hence the lack of anti-lock or power-assisted brakes, power steering, or any form of ESP or traction control), and right-sized for British B-roads. All of which is music to our ears, though he also assured us running costs and practicality have been important considerations too. More on the ownership element to come.roduction volumes out of a facility a five-minute drive from Gaydon, with nine full-time employees, are unsurprisingly minute. An original run of 25 ‘Founder’s Edition’ Vertige cars began in 2022 – and now that those are all on the road, Wells is in the process of building a new batch of fruitier R-specification cars, of which our test subject is one of the earliest examples.It’s an enticing proposition if you mourn the retirement of the Lotus Elise, have a taste for 1960s design and consider £75,000 a fair outlay for a hand-built, seldom-seen sports car in 2026. Is the Vertige really worth your interest? Let’s find out.
