Last time, we looked at the Th!nk City EV, one of just a few highway-legal EVs that you were able to buy in 2011. The little Th!nk had great ideas like molded-in-color panels that don’t easily scratch or dent, about 100 miles of range, and parts sourced locally. Unfortunately, Th!nk just never had enough money, and found itself frequently in the throes of bankruptcy. I asked you to guess its lighting and interior. Most of you were correct! Th!nk’s partner was Ford, and Th!nk City used interior parts from a first-generation Ford Focus. The rear lights are off the shelf Hella 4169. Amusingly, you awesome readers pointed out other parts bin shenanigans, like mirrors that were initially from a Citroën CX, then later a Fiat 500.
A Gearhead Builds His Dream Cars
According to Curbside Classic, the Invicta story initially kicks off with Captain (later Sir) Noel Campbell Macklin. Macklin was born in Australia in 1886 and moved to England in 1891, eventually becoming a part of the wealthy class. Curbside Classic notes that 15-year-old Macklin enjoyed driving his father’s Panhard & Levassor and even lost his license after getting a Fiat SB4 race car. After World War I, Macklin decided to build exclusive cars, opening his first car company in 1919. He joined forces with H Eric Orr-Ewing to create the Eric-Campbell & Co, but it didn’t last long before he moved on to make a second car company. Silver Hawk Motors built about a dozen cars out of Macklin’s garage before Macklin shut it down in 1921. But Macklin never gave up his dreams of building a high-performance luxury car, and in 1924 (or 1925, depending on source) he joined forces with Oliver Lyle of Tate & Lyle sugar refiners, formerly Abram Lyle & Sons. This provided the financial backing that Macklin’s previous projects so desperately needed. The Invicta was born. Macklin’s dream? Building cars with the quality of a Rolls-Royce and the performance of a Bentley. According to Profile Publications, Invicta’s first car was a 1924 model featuring a Coventry Climax 2.5 liter straight-six. But this engine didn’t quite meet Macklin’s expectations, and he later teamed up with engine supplier Henry Meadows. As Curbside Classic notes, Invictas were expensive, but the name became known for speed. The company bumped displacement up to 3-liters in 1926 then 4.5 liters in 1928. And these cars came in large and small chassis sizes to fit the customer’s chosen bodywork. Finally, Macklin had a successful company on his hands. According to an issue of Profile Publications, Invictas were so popular and so reliable that the company was awarded the Dewar Trophy in both 1926 and 1929. The first 4.5-liter Invicta was followed up in 1929 with the 4.5-liter Type N.L.C. This was reportedly the most expensive Invicta produced, coming in at 1,050 pounds for just the bare chassis. However, for the price, the fit and finish of the chassis, its instruments, and its controls were said to be on the level of a Rolls-Royce. Finishing the car with a body cost another 750 pounds, making the Invicta a lavish choice. Unfortunately, this luxury beast came at the exact wrong time, as America and the world began entering into the Great Depression. That didn’t stop Invicta, and it even finished 1929 and began 1930 with the S-Type, a stripped down, sports car version of the Invicta formula. Invicta’s cars would be used in competition and prove their mettle both on the track and on long road trips. Those who could afford an Invicta raved about how they performed.
Making History
Invicta’s cars helped someone leave an awesome mark on history. Macklin’s sister-in-law, Violette Cordery, took his vehicles to racing victories and setting distance records. Cordery piloted an Invicta on an around-the-world trip that covered 10,266 miles and several countries. Oh, and that Dewar Trophy? Cordery was behind the wheel, becoming the first woman to win the trophy. In that event, Cordery and her team were the first team to drive an Invicta 10,000 miles in 10,000 minutes. They also drove the fastest speed for 10,000 miles, and Cordery’s endurance is notable, as she drove twice as long as her male teammates. Cordery’s records are numerous, and the old lighting site has an excellent piece on her records and general badassery. Unfortunately, Invicta’s fans and smashing motorsport success weren’t enough. Macklin attempted to downsize his Invicta cars to better fit the changing times, but he couldn’t save the company from slumping sales. Invicta was sold off in 1933, and Macklin started another car company, Railton. It’s not known when the Invicta folded, but it’s believed to have happened in 1935.
Invicta Rebooted
The Invicta name was revived in 1946 by a group of investors. The new car was called the Invicta Black Prince, and it still featured a Meadows engine. While the old Invicta was about speed and luxury, the new Invicta was about innovation. The Black Prince featured an independent suspension, four built-in electric hydraulic jacks, heaters for the engine and body, a radio, and even a trickle charger. Perhaps the most crazy feature was its Brockhouse Hydro-Kinetic Turbo-Transmitter. Here’s how Invicta described it, from Curbside Classic: Invicta went on to say that this setup doesn’t have any gears or moving parts, and that power gets to the wheels through a “centrifugal pump to a turbine.” This worked through a switch for forward or reverse. This version of Invicta failed in 1949 after just 16 examples were built.
Invicta Rebooted…Again
This brings us to the modern day. As Car And Driver writes, in 2002 British businessman Michael Bristow brought Invicta back to life as a supercar. Bristow wasn’t a car enthusiast, but did own an old Invicta. In 1980, Bristow bought a 1931 4.5-liter Invicta. He also bought the Invicta name in the same year. Bristow more or less sat on the name until 2000, when he was asked engineer Chris Marsh if the Invicta name was available for licensing. Bristow declined, but invited Marsh to join him in using the Invicta name to build a new car. Bristow’s Invictas would be grand-touring cars with the power to win races. The cars would be exclusive, too, featuring a hand-built body and timeless styling. However, Bristow and Marsh would save money by utilizing many off the shelf components from large manufacturers. The Invicta S1-320 made its auto show debut in 2002 as a 180-mph grand tourer with an expected price of about $110,000. Under the hood is a 4.6-liter Ford modular V8 making 320 HP ripped out of the Mustang Mach 1. That power gets to the rear wheels through a Tremec T-45 five-speed manual. The chassis is a steel tube space frame with a one-piece carbon-fiber composite body bonded on top. The body apparently weighs just 44 pounds. On the way to production, the supercar ballooned in more than one way. The price rose to $116,500, the weight went up by over 400 pounds to 3,036 pounds, and Car and Driver doubted if the car could reach 180 mph or accelerate to 60 mph in 5 seconds as then advertised. The publication was further concerned with the fact that Invicta decided not to benchmark its supercar against anything else on the market. To Invicta’s credit, the publication found that the S1 was apparently a solid vehicle. It had accurate steering, a firm suspension that wasn’t jostled by bumps, and it even felt predictable at the limit. And this wouldn’t even be the only S1 variant. There would be the S1-420, an S1 featuring a Ford 4.6-liter V8, but tuned to 420 HP. And there would be another with a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 from Ford’s SVT. The S1-600, as the name suggests, made 600 horses and claimed a top speed of 200 mph. Now for your mission. As I said before, this supercar has a lot of parts bin content, but we’ll focus on just a couple of things. Early Invicta S1s had these taillights. Where did they come from? That might be easy for you, so here’s something harder. These vents were found in at least one production car, what car do you think also shares its vents with the Invicta S1? Finally, if you can identify any other parts, drop them down below! When you’re finished, click here to check out the result. As Hagerty writes, in 2008, these cars cost about $156,000 to about $236,000. However, history repeated itself once again when Invicta was forced to shutter in 2012 after it owed 40,000 pounds in unpaid debt. It’s unclear how many total S1s were made, but the Goodwood Estate says that there are just seven S1-320s out there. Bristow figured that Invicta could make a profit selling just 20 of them a year, but Invicta couldn’t even do that. The vents look NB Miata, but they could be any Ford too
