The 2008 Melling Wildcat Was a 450-HP Sports Car That Could Challenge the Porsche 911

Intended as an affordable sports car for the masses, the Wildcat was supposed to be built simultaneously at Al Melling Sports Cars’ factory in Rochdale, Lancashire, in Britain and at a Las Vegas factory in the United States, with a planned volume of about 15 to 20 cars a month. Obviously, this did not happen, and it was due to a combination of factors, including a shortage of skilled people in the area, an expensive move to the Autodromo do Algarve, and a major global recession.

British automobile engineer Al Melling had been in the business since 1964 and was best known as a designer of powerful car engines, having designed, over the years, engines not only for production cars, but also winners of Formula One and the 24 Hours of Le Mans races. He also worked with TVR and was responsible for co-designing the engine mounted on the TVR Cerbera.

After his involvement with TVR, Melling felt he could make an even better roadster and decided to act on his dream of building his own car. He set up shop in Rochdale, England, and created the Wildcat two-seater, which he described as “the car the TVR Griffith should have been.”



With a very British look, the Melling Wildcat was a new kind of sports car, powerful enough in standard form to take on the world’s greatest supercars of the moment, including the Porsche 911 or Chevrolet’s Corvette. And while its creator did take some inspiration and design cues from the TVR Griffith, the new two-seater was quite unique, developed from scratch with its own chassis, body, and suspension built in-house. It is also a bit longer and wider compared to the TVR.

Built in Rochdale in 2008, the example you see in the gallery above is a prototype – Chassis #701 – that was assembled in nine months. It was among the first units to be built, a prototype for UK-spec production Wildcats, and was used as a demonstrator.

The roadster provided excellent rigidity and reliability for its weight, boasting a steel box section chassis with built-in roll-over and side impact protection, over which a fiberglass body was fitted. For optimal balance, the engine was mounted behind the front wheel centerline, which makes the Wildcat a front mid-engined car.

As mentioned, the car was supposed to be available in multiple configurations, with various engines offered from the Melling factory, including the AJP8 V8 designed by Al Mellings himself and the General Motors LS V8.

The prototype in question here is powered by a 5.7-liter Chevrolet LS V8 tuned to produce around 450 horsepower (456 ps) and 407 lb-ft (552 Nm) of torque, coupled to a Tremec five-speed manual gearbox and a 9” American axle. According to factory performance figures, the prototype should be able to reach a top speed of 180 mph (290 kph) and do the 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) sprint in just 3.5 seconds. The blistering fast acceleration time was due to its low curb weight of 2,200 pounds (998 kilograms). The Wildcat also has disc brakes front and rear with four-piston calipers.

With these specifications, the Melling Wildcat was arguably the fastest new car in the UK within its price bracket – £45,000 – £50,000) when it was released.

The interior of the open-top vehicle is as stunning as the exterior, with two custom one-off leather Corbeau bucket seats featuring the Wildcat logo embroidered on the headrest. Ample brushed alloy and wood trim accents complement the red and black design. The car also sports a racing clutch, flick switches, and a gated manual transmission.

The current owner of the Wildcat prototype was fascinated by it, so he invested a lot of time and money to turn it from a prototype into a version closer to what the production car would have looked like. Though the vehicle looked and performed as advertised, it was lacking something in the handling department. With the help of racing engineers, he strengthened the chassis and redesigned the suspension geometry and the steering geometry. New shock absorbers and hydraulic power steering were added.

The vehicle also benefitted from a full professional respray in Mazda “Soul Red Crystal” and a new set of billet aluminum wheels from Image Wheels of Tipton. Moreover, a new grille and headlights were added to enhance the classic '60s GT appearance.

Chassis #701 of the Melling Wildcat has remained in the Melling family for a long time before being purchased by the current owner. It is now offered for auction accompanied by its history file and additional paperwork about its initial registration. It is set to cross the auction block on February 25 with a price guide of £20,000 – £30,000, which translates to around $24,404 – $36,600.