Believe the hype
We clearly believe in what we do at XCS Designs but it makes us really happy when others appreciate what we do too.
Videos
A video review of the XCS 427
Not all AC Cobra replicas are created equal
Press
Complete KITCAR – March 2024
Reviews
Complete KITCAR
A full road-test review by Adam Wilkins – motoring journalist and Features Editor of CKC.
It was a dry sunny day when CKC’s Adam Wilkins visited XCS to put the new 427 through its paces – and he definitely didn’t hold back! His 5-page expert review appears in the January 2014 edition of CKC (Issue 83).
CKC are one of the first to offer a digital version of their normal paper mag. For details please see
Some sample quotes: –
“For a car that rides this well to corner so flatly defies all expectation.”
“Plenty of feedback lets you know that you can deploy some of that immense power well before the exit of the corner,
and as you do so for the first time you’ll immediately feel that you could have got on it sooner and harder.”
“There must be a limit somewhere, and the car is so dynamically progressive that it actively encourages you to go in search of it.”
“Perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay to the XCS is that you don’t feel the CC&AR doing its stuff. You’re never consciously aware of the adjustments it’s making to keep the tyres in contact with the ground.”
“You soon find yourself throwing it around with the same abandon you do a Seven style roadster.”
“Imagine a TVR with the agility of a Lotus and you’ll be some way to understanding how it behaves”
“For XCS to have produced a car as exploitable as the 427 without the electronics is the real achievement. It’s a sensation.”
“To view this as ‘just’ another Cobra replica is to miss the point. This is an utterly serious performance car in its own right.”
Kitcar Magazine
A full road-test review by Rob Hawkins – motoring journalist and Editor of Kitcar magazine
Rob Hawkins’ 5-page expert review can be seen in November 2013 edition of Kitcar.
Contact details: or 14 Victoria Road, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 4RT
Some sample quotes: –
“This is definitely not simply another Cobra replica with trick suspension and super-powerful engine.”
“Sitting in the driver’s seat, you are instantly aware of the attention to detail.”
“The performance at low revs is sufficiently exciting and when combined with the refined ride quality, there’s really no difficulty in driving this car, especially on the twisty country lanes we are using.”
“I soon started to appreciate the benefits of the CC&AR suspension with less body roll than anticipated and more control, but I wasn’t yet up to the speed to be able to fully test it.”
“It takes time to get to know a car and become confident in driving it hard, so I was hoping Gary
would help with this and he didn’t disappoint. At one point we both looked at each other in amazement after leaving a roundabout where Gary tried his best to provoke the rear end by flooring the throttle long before he had exited. The rear tyres squealed and complained, the boost gauge flicked up to maximum, but at no point did we fear we would be sliding sideways and destroying the Halibrands on the kerb edge.”
“This time, the body felt flatter than it should have been and I was amazed by how little roll there was – and all without any anti-roll bars! I’d travelled down in an MX-5 and realised the XCS made my mass-manufactured sports car look like jelly on a plate.”
TKC Magazine
A full road-test review by Steve Hole – motoring journalist and Editor of tkc
Steve Hole of tkc mag was the first motoring journalist to test drive the XCS 427. His 6-page expert review can be seen in the September/October 2013 edition of tkc mag (Vol. 10, No.5).
Copies available from http://www.totalkitcar.com/tkcshop/index.php
Some sample quotes: –
“It’s not just the performance, as the Four Horseman rush headlong towards the horizon, it’s the car’s agility… The XCS has the ability to change direction, and corner, like a Lotus Seven and that takes a time to compute”
“The ride quality is eye-opening and just as smooth as my Audi, while those brakes are unlike anything else”
“When it comes to the exterior, the XCS is a veritable feast with stunning jet black paint (by gifted Jason Baker of Lustre Coatings)”
“Any car with a big engine can go fast in a straight line… This Cobra goes round bends for fun, trust me. The whole ensemble feeling planted and sure-footed at all times.”
“I have to admit that when I got back to base I had goosebumps on my arms, the impression the XCS made on me was that strong”.
“This car is that good, that capable..”