Africar

The bodywork was to be made of epoxy-coated wood – the 'West' system used in the construction of some yachts – which could be repaired with locally-available labour and materials.

Based in Lancaster, England, it intended to offer a variety of vehicles, ranging from a four-wheel drive car to an eight-wheel-drive panel truck.

Three versions were actually completed, an estate car, a pickup and a six-wheeler and these were tested in 1984 on an expedition from the Arctic Circle in Norway to the equator.

The car was never properly tested by market forces but interest, even in the UK, demonstrated that it was an attractive, capable vehicle.

The company's founder and sometime owner, Tony Howarth, was arrested in 1994 and charged with fraudulent trading and obtaining property by deception.