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Model Details for Robin Hood Exmo


Amateur

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Hi folks.

I'm new here and looking for some model information about my car. I own a Robin Hood Exmo with a 2 litre Ford Pinto.

When I bought the car it was in rather sad shape. The car had a new paint job done and looked perfect on the outside (which lured me into buying it :-( ). But technically the car turned out to be a disaster. The engine was undrivable below 3,500 rpm and I had to renew all wiring (the front lights were connected in a row!!) to name just the worst issues. After a good 2 years I now have the car back in decent order and now want to know a little more about the history of that model. My car did not come with a documented history. The title says the car was first registered in 1987 which is definitely wrong as the Exmo was (to my information) introduced to the market in the 1990s. It's the donor car's date.

I'd like to learn a little a more about the following information
- from when to when was the Exmo model produced?
- how many of them were sold?
- was only the Sierra used a donor car?
- with which engine was the car equipped originally?

Sadly, the web does not really provide much information. I tried to contact Great British Sports Cars twice, but they never bothered to answer me. And in Germany, where I live, the Exmo is considered a rare exotic and no one can help me here. So I now try my luck with you since the car originally came from GB.

If anyone of you can provide a little info to me, I wold be really grateful.

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Hi. I can clear up one issue I think. 1987 refers to when the donor car was first registered not the Exmo you have. I believe this is normal practice. I don't have an Exmo so I can't help with anything else. Hope you get it sorted and have fun. 

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There is some information on the nw.rhocar.org site https://nw.rhocar.org/identification.htm

My understanding is the Exmo was sold between 1996 and 1998
No sales data is likely to exist
Sierra was the intended donor, although other similar age RWD fords may have been used as they shared common parts
Engine would generally depend on what the donor had, or what the builder chose to fit, could be anything from a Pinto to a V8.

Regarding GBS, they are generally uninterested in matters related to Robin Hood, unless it is the later 2B in which they can still sell you some parts.

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55 minutes ago, Amateur said:

And in Germany, where I live, the Exmo is considered a rare exotic and no one can help me here.

I don't mean to sound cruel but whoever told you the Exmo is an 'exotic' was having a laugh :D

We bought our Exmo in 96/7, there had been a batch before us, so the above dates ring true to my memory - it didn't run for long. They were picked up in batches; everyone turned up to the factory "en masse" to collect what must have been 50 to 100 kits in one day! Quite a fun day actually :)

Most Exmos had a Ford 4-pot SOHC ("Pinto") put in them, 1600/1800/2000cc. Most people were buying Exmo's as a budget build so I don't recall anyone putting anything special in them, bar a couple of Ford V6 lumps. They were very much aimed at the budget end of the kit car market, that was their selling point (single donor, and the kits were incredibly cheap) so *most* customers were buying with that in mind - hence used as much of the donor car as they could (Sierra).

There will obviously be exceptions - but *generally* that was the pattern with the Exmo.

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2 minutes ago, theduck said:

There is some information on the nw.rhocar.org site https://nw.rhocar.org/identification.htm

My understanding is the Exmo was sold between 1996 and 1998
No sales data is likely to exist
Sierra was the intended donor, although other similar age RWD fords may have been used as they shared common parts
Engine would generally depend on what the donor had, or what the builder chose to fit, could be anything from a Pinto to a V8.

Regarding GBS, they are generally uninterested in matters related to Robin Hood, unless it is the later 2B in which they can still sell you some parts.

Many thanks for the info.
I had already found the URL you offered. But the info there isn't too detailed either.

It's quite interesting that they actually fitted a V8 in there. My papers specify a Pinto with 85 hp. But the German TÜV even refused to allow me to increase it to 100 hp, at least not without providing tons of technical certificates for each and every nut and bold on that car.

Maybe more users read this thread and can add more info. I guess the Exmo owners will be happy to read about it.

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As brumster said exmo was produced in 96/97.

There were 3 batches produced each batch was about 120 cars, mine was one of the second batch. I have no information as to how many got finished, but would guess that between half and 3/4s got on the road.

Robin hood then produced the series 3 which was designed to more easily get through the SVA mainly by having fewer exposed sharp edges.

It was posible to retain the doner sierra registration and only change the manufacturer and type in those days here in the UK, this is what I did so I have a legal 1983 registered robin hood built over the winter of 1996/97. I then had a normal UK MOT, taxed and insured the car and was on the road.

I do know of at least 2 that were built with the 3.5L rover V8 which was a very tight fit.

I also know of at least one built with the optional rollover bar, this is not very strong and came with few fitting instructions so is probably not very effective.

If you have further questions I will try to reply

 

Ian

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The person saying that the Exmo is an exotic in Germany was me 😎

As said above, the Exmo was produced only a few hundred times and looking at those that still exist after 20 years and among those the cars that made it to Germany, the number is no longer really big. 

The DEKRA in Dessau, Germany collects spec sheets for foreign cars that are registered on German streets (according to §21 StVZO). They have quite a decent database. But when I checked with them if they have such a spec sheet for the Exmo, I war told they do not have one - supposedly because not too many exist in Germany.

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I purchased an Exmo in one of the batches, not sure which, think it was second batch. Echoing what others have said this was a budget kit. I bought an MOT failed Sierra, stripped it down, fitted the parts to the kit and hey presto! .... well not quite so easy as I found out. I have the original simple brochure and order form that I picked up at the Exeter car show where I saw a fully built example that started me on a path of many triumphs and tragedies. I also have copied all the build videos to digital format, but they are quite long, poor quality and no longer any use as no one has a fresh kit anymore.

In any case, I have uploaded some files to my cloud space, a PDF with the brochure, order form, partslist, and collection instructions (with a map of where to drive your van to collect all the parts). Also there is a big MPG which is the first build tape (too big for the BT server to play, needs to be downloaded) and a few WMV clips that give you an idea of the video quality.  I also have a printed 21 page "Build Manual",  I could  scan that if you want, but like I say, not much use now.

Use the link below, and feel free to rummage through the few files that are there.

https://btcloud.bt.com/web/app/share/invite/0BwowO474i

 

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3 hours ago, Sparepart said:

[...]

Use the link below, and feel free to rummage through the few files that are there.

https://btcloud.bt.com/web/app/share/invite/0BwowO474i

 

Hi Sparepart.

This is SUPER GREAT !!!
Many thanks for your effort to do that and share it with us. Nice puzzle you had there laid out on the ground 😎

I'm sure the videos will be useful in one or the other repair attempt. But I could not open the files starting with "XMO*". It seems to be an unusual codec. Had to run them through my format converter app first. The sound quality is a little bad, but the video resolution is good enough for the purpose. We are all spoiled with HD resolution nowadays...

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5 hours ago, IanS said:

[..]

It was posible to retain the doner sierra registration and only change the manufacturer and type in those days here in the UK, this is what I did so I have a legal 1983 registered robin hood built over the winter of 1996/97. I then had a normal UK MOT, taxed and insured the car and was on the road.

[..]

I love that little gap in the GB legislation. It also made my RH 10 years older than it actually is. In Germany, oldtimers are favored by quite low annual taxes and insurance fees - supposedly because oldtimers are hobby vehicles and do low milage. Besides, they are excempted from the restricted emissions areas in cities.  For that status the car has to be 30+ years old.
Mine is now on paper 33 years old, so cost of ownership is low and I can enter any city I like even without a cat converter.... cool.

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I have just IVA_d. An Exmo.  It had stood abandoned in a barn for twenty three years.

There is a build log on this site under the title Nick and Neil from barn to IVA.

You may find it interesting regarding the improvements to bring it up to modern day standards.

Any problems I am happy to help.

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  • 5 months later...
On 11/12/2020 at 12:03 PM, Peter Bell said:

Heres a Rover V8 in one, I think it's a series one not an exmo but it will be the same size.                  does anyone know who built this one and if its still alive ?

V8.jpg

V8a.jpg

 

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