Hacker Maroc

The Hacker was designed a few years ago by Tim Dutton, of Dutton Cars fame. Some time after he sold the Dutton moulds and business, but shortly before he decided to work on his Mariner project. The car is very cleverly designed. It is a conversion of a Ford Fiesta (any Mk3 Fiesta). The roof and almost all the body panels are removed; the windscreen is slipped downwards by a few centimetres; and new GRP panels are put in place, as well as substantial additional metalwork to make the car rigid despite the loss of its roof. A permanent (non-removable) soft top is fitted, and this top stows neatly in a small well behind the rear seats. One of the clever aspects is that the original Ford steel doors and rear quarter panels are retained; so there is no problems hanging doors, getting them to shut right and so on; and the integrity of the side impact crash protection is preserved. All the mechanical and electrical parts of the Fiesta are totally unchanged - so no trouble with wiring looms, lights, interior trim and so on! The only recommended (??) modification is to lower the suspension to make it look better; I have not done this because my donor car has ABS and Ford claims that lowering the suspension can make it dangerous... There is an optional hard top, which cleverly uses the donor Fiesta's heated rear window; but it is truly awful. Poor visibility, and it leaks. So, really, it is barely a kit car; it is really a bodywork conversion. Still, I ended up with a four-seater convertible which is nearly unique, incredibly practical, and easily maintained for relatively little money... Tim Dutton claimed to have shipped "nearly twenty kits", but I doubt if that many are on the road. I have seen only one other Hacker, once, and I know for a fact that it was the one built immediately before mine. Nobody from the Dutton Car Club at a recent kit car show had ever seen one before. So there we are. Sorry I didn't have a chance to change the front wheels around before I took the photo - it looks really silly like that, I know! I would be interested to speak to any other Hacker owners...

Words and pictures are courtesy of Marc Fresko , a very proud owner!

Tim Dutton has informed me that he sold the marketing rights of the Maroc to D Jakes at
25a Bolney Grange Ind Est
Stairbridge Lane
Bolney
West Sussex
RH17 5PA
01444 254278
on April, 2000

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