Close to 60 years ago, precisely between 1967 and 1969, three Igbo inspired prototype automobile designs, the MkI, MkII and MkIII shocked the world.
Built by David Gittens, an Igbo, Nigerian American artist, designer and a staff of Car and Driver magazine. Gittens, born in Brooklyn before moving to London, England. In 1967 he started a career in transportation design and among his several products was the Ikenga GT, a high-performance mid-engined grand touring car.
Built on a McLaren-Elva Group 7 chassis and the chassis model a McLaren M1B.
The aluminium bodywork was formed over the tubular steel frame.
The Ikenga, a reminder of his ancestral Igbo culture is a spirit of Nigerian origin representing human achievement, accomplishment and success. With these themes resonating throughout the design of the car as the body of the Ikenga was meant to be evocative of an African mask facing skyward to the spirits. The cockpit canopy represented the “crown” of the mask, the front wheel bodywork the “horns”, the raised intake on the roof the “nose”, and the rear deck lid the “mouth”.
The first version of the car, the MkI was ready by 1987 while the MkII followed suit in 1968. This later version had a revised body shape setting it apart from the blocky design of the MkI. The MkII also had leather interior, a Gucci luggage set and advanced lighting features.
Some other notable features that were too advanced for that time are
- A rear deck lid that doubled as an air brake.
- On-board television and rear-view camera.
- A luminescent roof lining.
- Fluorescent-tube headlamps.
- A telematics radio system to warn of road problems ahead.
- A collision warning system.
- Ultrasonic parking sensors.
- A tilt-away steering wheel.
Equally, the performance figures for the car were too advanced for that time as it had an estimated of 162 mph (261 km/h), a standing quarter-mile of 12.5 seconds and acceleration from 0 to 100 mph (0 to 160 km/h) in 11.5 seconds.
These were achieved from the stock version of the lightweight 3.5 litre Rover V8 engine that had originally been designed by General Motors and used by their Buick and Oldsmobile divisions. Several references report that the car later had some version of a Chevrolet OHV V8 engine. Power output was estimated to have been 325 hp (242 kW) and the transmission being the ZF 5-speed transaxle from the McLaren.
The MkII was displayed at the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1968 at the Banking Hall at Harrods because as at then there was no provision for displaying experimental or prototype cars at the motor show venue.
Despite this, 30,000 people saw the car at the Banking Hall who offered $53,000 for the prototype, and a Saudi prince who commissioned a unique version of the car to be called the “Bird of Peace” at a cost of $35,000. This special does not appear to have been built.
Eventually, he sent the car for promotions in the US before it returned to Europe and did quite some moving around before it disappeared from circulation and Gittens too relocated to the United States and lost contact with the vehicle until it appeared in a for-sale ad in Road & Track magazine about 1980.
Only one Ikenga GT was ever built.
The car was displayed at the Manx Motor Museum for some time and then was sold at auction in 1998 and again in 2008. It is believed to be somewhere in the Middle East.