When we talk about “The American Dream” in the context of cars, the Chevrolet Corvette is, often, the car everyone looks up to. While largely sold in its home market, in the USA, the American sports car has had quite a faithful fanbase across the pond too. Because of this, some European carmakers tried capturing the essence of the Corvette with their own interpretation, a case in point being the Intermeccanica Indra, but in a British company, called Lightning Sports Cars UK revealed their take on a C3 Corvette, called the Lightning Sports TS, and we are not sure what to think of it.

Unlike other companies, Lightning Sports Cars UK decided to base their “C3 Corvette” on an existing platform. Just like the C3 Corvette, the Lightning Sports TS replica featured a fiberglass bodywork, which was a near-perfect copy of the C3, if you look at it from a distance. Once you get close, however, you quickly notice that the fit and finish leave a lot to be desired.

The Stafford-based kit car manufacturer based its creation on a box-section steel frame borrowed from the Ford Cortina. The kit came in two versions – GT (Targa) and TS (open-top). As for what engine powered the fiberglass replica, it was a not so inspiring, 2.0-liter inline-four from the Ford Pinto. The 1,993 cc (121.62 cu-in) four-banger produced 101 horsepower at 5,600 RPM and 120 pound-feet (163 Nm) at 3,600 RPM.

Given the restrictions imposed on mid-1970s cars, the performance wasn’t that much worse than a real C3 Corvette from the same era. Power was sent to the rear axle through a four-speed manual, although at least one of the kit cars featured a five-speed transmission, although this may have been an aftermarket modification. A Ford Essex V-6 engine was also said to be available, although most of the literature only mentions the Ford Pinto 2.0-liter unit. However, many of the owners (of which there aren’t many) have gone for various modifications, including engine and drivetrain swaps.

The Lightning Sports TS/GT kit was revealed in 1984 as an attempt to capitalize on how expensive American cars were in the UK. While details about the price of the kit have bee lost in time, it may have been a bit too ambitious as Lightning Cars sold only 10 of the kits in total. Of those, only one is said to be the TS (convertible) version while all the others are the GT (Targa) version. Less than half are believed to still be in working condition.

The Lightning Sports TS/GT can be described as an attempt to capture the aesthetics of the C3 Corvette without the presence. You might argue that the lack of a big V-8 is a borderline crime, but it also doesn't have the running costs. At the end of the day, the lack of a collector's value despite its rarity means that you can do with one of these as you please, assuming you can find one of these rare British Corvette replicas.