New British tuning company launches

A new tuning company has launched, with the aim of enhancing vehicles using "British" design values.

Alcraft Motor Company says it will intiially focus on offering tuned vehicles from manufacturers such as Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin.

The firm has also taken input from students at the Royal College of Art to help shape its design direction. The first vehicle to be tuned by the company, with help from the RCA students, is a Range Rover. The company says it has "made it more elegant by simplifying the lines and have given it the timelessness associated with the best British design."

While Alcraft doesn't go into detail about what changes it has made to the Range Rover, design consultant Matthew Humphries - formally of Morgan - says the car has a more "limousine-like presence while ensuring a degree of classic British understatement".

Company boss David Alcraft said: "Although some customers want their cars to make loud personal statements, we believe there's a gap in the market for personalising products in a way which explicitly respects their brands' heritage and British style."

The company is now looking at other models which it will offer tuning sets for, and says it is taking enquiries for Range Rover Sport, Evoque, Land Rover Discovery and Jaguar XF Sportbrake upgrade packages.

As well as Humphries and the RCA, Alcraft also has design input from former Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders CEO Christopher Macgowan OBE.