Bill Carter was an employee of Ordinance Maps that had designing these crazy cars made part of his job. On the left, the “Top Cat”, and on the right, the “G-WHIZ“. Both are built using V12 Jaguar bits with radical cab-forward designs, and both are reliable, driveable day-to-day vehicles rather than relatively non-functional show cars.
The second one kind of reminds me of this new project being built. http://www.exoticcoach.com/index.php?limojet
i wont one, so email me and let me know how much one will cost and how soon can i get one
How fast does the “G-Whizz” and the Top Cat go ?
Can You provide me a contact as I would like to purchase a Top Cat?
Thanks,
Sam Brunetto
Want to purchase a Top Cat. Need information.
Thamks,
SB
These are custom show cars; you can’t buy one (unless you can get your hands on the original).
I Worked for a Gentleman named Steve Peel in the 80’s & remember Bill building the G-Whiz .
If the Top Cat is built the same then both cars have a Top speed of around 160 MPH ( depending on tyre size).
I know that G-Whiz has absolutely zero aerodynamic drag & could quite easily pull another gear ..giving it a theoretical top end of around 240 MPH and it has the brakes to stop it too!!
I remember seeing the Top Cat when we went to visit the Kellogg’s Tour of Britain when it visited Lincoln many years ago. I remember thinking at the time how cool it looked and took loads of photos. Being an artistic kid I drew it over and over for months. It’s great to see it again and I wish I could find more pics!
How much is the first one?And how long does it take to shipp it to Germany_Hamburg??Really nice vehicles,repect.Contact me as soon as posible please.
with compliment
Patrick Brown
It´s me again,could you send me some more pic´s from the red one?I´d like to know how the interior and the rear looks like.
HarryCaine
Hi, I’m Bill Carter’s son and remember driving around in Top Cat. G-whiz was sold to the Sultan of Brunai in December 1989.
Top Cat was indeed the promotional car for Ordnance Survey as was G-Whiz and Dad built a third promotional car called Oscar for them before retiring to France where we now live. He is no longer into building cars he renovates old French houses now!
Hi Russell my name is Alex I own one of your fathers Cars he built called Oscar and I was going to advertise it on eBay and was just wondering if I could possibly ask you some questions about the car before I do so many thanks for your help
I was at school with the old bugger and have been doing up houses in the uk. Where is he now?
My dad worked with Bill at the O/S offices in Maybush, Southampton.
I remember being around 8 years old when G-WHIZ first showed up on a preview for the OS employees. A couple of years later I queued for ages to get to go for a quick spin in TopCat! Rear view mirror was not required when he had video systems all round it!
You can find original O/S Postcards of G-WHIZ on ebay. I have one and can tell you the stats of it:
Jaguar V12 5,343cc Engine – 295BHP
150MPH max with a 0-60MPH of 7.9secs
Length – 6.5 metres
Fuel Consumption – 11mpg
I believe both vehicles were eventually sold to the Sultan of Brunei but can’t guarantee it!
James
Ummm, interesting style but there’s not a snowballs chance in a very hot place that I’d ever drive either of those, uh, anywhere. Somehow I am just not sure that the passenger compartment should be used as a bumper to protect the rest of the car.
I worked with Bill Carter for many years and remember going to his house to see his latest project which, at the time, was one of several hot rods he built before G-whizz. This car caused a sensation when it was first brought to work and I took many photos of it. As already stated, it was sold to the Sultan and a new and an even wilder car was then built, again being based around a Jet fighter canopy. This was named Top Cat and was a publicity car for our Employer at the time. The car had six twin choke weber carbs on its V12 engine and chain drive to the rear end. A tail fin was added later when the car was resprayed silver. I saw it in action on the steets a number of times and the reaction from other drivers had to be seen to be believed. I last saw it for sale in a classic car mag, as a publicity vehicle, some years ago.
I have a number of pictures and posters of the cars and have seached before, for any evidence of it, on the web, without success, and had been considering setting up a website in their honour as they are without doubt two of the most outrageous cars to ever be street legal in the UK.
i remember working on both cars with v12 engines. They were both stunning. I well remeber tuning the downdraft Webers(all six of them!) at my garage in Spitfire Quay in Southampton. The sight of the cars brought everybody out from the other units just to gawp at them at hear the v12 in anger! Hello to Bill Carter whats the latest project? And another hello to Sharky Ward I thought you’d fell off the end of the world! It was a great pleasure to supply many parts and work on the cars for Bill. I think you could say it was a great experience and I still have the publicity shots on the wall. If anyone wants to catch up or have a natter about old times my email is steve.peel@hotmail.co.uk
i remember working on both cars with v12 engines. They were both stunning. I well remeber tuning the downdraft Webers(all six of them!) at my garage in Spitfire Quay in Southampton. The sight of the cars brought everybody out from the other units just to gawp at them at hear the v12 in anger! Hello to Bill Carter whats the latest project? And another hello to Sharky Ward I thought you’d fell off the end of the world! It was a great pleasure to supply many parts and work on the cars for Bill. I think you could say it was a great experience and I still have the publicity shots on the wall. If anyone wants to catch up or have a natter about old times my email is steve.peel@hotmail.co.uk
Hello,
You may be interested to know that the Top Cat is still alive and well!
My great friend and close neighbour bought it about 4 years ago and it has graced this part of East Kent ever since. It is a guaranteed alarm call on a Sunday morning when the engine roars into action…
Unfortunately my friend is seriously ill. He has therefore sent it to a local garage for a complete overhaul prior to selling it.
If anyone is interested in purchasing it, drop me a line: michaelstankiste@sky.com and I will put you in touch with the owner. He has asked me to arrange the sale for him, and I am more than happy to do so.
I look forward to hearing from you all,
Mike
The TOP CAT is not owned by the Sultan Of Brunai as it is currently sitting on my drive, ahe was poorly when we picked her up and she is running like a dream again now. few bits left to finish and I will then start renting her out as a promotional car again!
Regards All
Alistair Baldwin
The TOP CAT is not owned by the Sultan Of Brunai as it is currently sitting on my drive, ahe was poorly when we picked her up and she is running like a dream again now. few bits left to finish and I will then start renting her out as a promotional car again!
Regards All
Alistair Baldwin
Hey everyone who is interested…i was just browsing through ebay when i found one of Bill Carters cars for sale for £10,000
its called the Oscar
just if anyone is interested
I am not the seller
but here is the link
I worked with Bill for many years and was always on hand to pick up an engine or two from scrap yards around the country. There was one time when Bill was spraying one of his vehicles in his garage, his wife had to knock on the window and tell him how many coats of paint he had applied as Bill was too high on fumes to count.
I worked with Bill for many years and was always on hand to pick up an engine or two from scrap yards around the country. There was one time when Bill was spraying one of his vehicles in his garage, his wife had to knock on the window and tell him how many coats of paint he had applied as Bill was too high on fumes to count.
is this the same bill carter that had a shop in burbank ca some yrs ago it so i would like to now his address or phone number for a paint jop im working no thank you 4 your time david ballard
I’m pretty sure one of the Top Cat Cars is for sale in the UK and is road legal. Website is http://www.topcat-car.co.uk and email the current owner.
Hi does any body know if the the cat reg no hjo 18n is still for sale and the location Regards Terry Lea
Hello again
It’s been a while since I posted and I was interested to discover that Bill had sold some of his creations to the Sultan of Brunai.
for those who say they are either ugly or that they would not drive them I can only say that Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Bill was an exceptional engineer who had a great many very experienced friends.
All of his creations were built to perform better than the vehicles that donated their parts and they all out perform the donor vehicle in every respect. ( except maybe boot space)