In those early post-war years Loudon was a young man of modest means, a skilled artisan with an inventive brain who dreamed of owning a sports car. He wanted something different with special features and began sketching a few of his ideas. Taking inspiration from the flowing lines of the Jaguar XK120 and the frontal appearance of the Ferrari 125S Barchetta, he then made a full-scale drawing of his final design on his garage wall. But the concept featured a unique element, namely a solid steel roof mounted on radius arms that could fold into the boot. Electric windows with removable frames was another innovation incorporated into the design.

Loudon then painstakingly set about forming the shape out of sheet steel, using white lead to fill the seams to help create a remarkably stiff body. With no previous experience, he learnt the tricks of the trade as he went along, doing all of the panel beating and fabrication work himself without the aid of an English Wheel. The frame of the body was constructed from ¾-inch conduit. Not surprisingly it was a painstaking operation, taking a number of years to complete.

Little is known of what took place during those construction years except that Loudon originally planned on making the body fit a lengthened and lowered 1937 Austin 7 chassis but when this became impractical – the suspension set-up was useless for a sports car – he found a Triumph TR3A with a scrapped body so switched to this chassis but shortening the wheelbase/overall length by taking 5½ inches (140 mm) out of the middle of the framework...

Source and further information:

• http://issuu.com/classiccarafrica/docs/final_low_res_magazine_april_may_20/49?e=8993306/13083632

• https://www.tr-register.com.au/Files/powderblue/maraisj.htm

• https://www.facebook.com/jbayclassiccarclub/videos/1174546425936152