Since the dawn of the auto industry, car designers have had their hands busy trying to enhance their products for the different manufacturers for whom they worked. For example, in the early days at Ford, the introduction and evolution of the Model T was certainly significant to the industry, and both designers and engineers were always trying to improve their offerings (from engine refinements, suspension upgrades, interior ergonomics, to reliability, etc.) to the public. Choice of paint was easy, as you could order any color you wanted as long as it was black!
As years passed, designers from all over the world have had their hand at sculpting and creating some of the most remarkable and sensuous lines ever imaginable. The graceful appearance of a 1937 Talbot Lago or that of a 1939 Delahaye Type 165 clearly illustrates the passion that a designer can bring forth from mere lines on a page to alluring reality.
Within any portion of the automotive industry, a single vision can create quite a stir when change is brought into the grand picture, and this is especially true within the kit industry. Automotive aficionado John Chestnut, a longtime fan of early sports cars from the '50s and '60s like the Lister, Cobra, and Jaguar, was looking for a way to quench his desires from within the kit industry and to build a vehicle that he could be comfortable driving. But being that he stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, it was difficult to accommodate his size within many of the offerings in the market. The inability to find a kit that fit, combined with the desire for the stylish flair of the cars that he loved, led him to join up with best friends Paul Carlson and David Childress to create something fresh for the home builder. Enter the Dragon.
The initial thought behind the creation of the Dragon came about when the trio wanted to take the long, graceful design from early sports cars and combine it with an aggressive edge that would lead to building a viewer's adrenalin the more that they looked at the form. Working with renowned mold-maker and fiberglass-composite expert Bill Hough of Norwell, Massachusetts, they were able to bring forth the body of their dreams, mounted in a non-stress manner and included hinged doors, a trunk, and a full-tilt nose.
With chassis dynamics designed and handled by Fred Rosner of Rosner Race Cars, a frame was built utilizing 4-inch tubing to form a perimeter around the driver's compartment, supported by 1.5-inch tubing, 8 inches above the main tubes. This not only created a low-slung chassis with great integrity, it also allowed the occupants to actually sit in the chassis and not above it.
With the ability to plug in numerous transmission combinations as well as the benefits of using the venerable Chevrolet small-block V-8 made for a nearly perfect 50/50 weight distribution and, with the addition of C4 Corvette suspension, the birth of a supercar was well under way. Since the debut of the prototype Dragon roadster back in 2001, the car has been met with a multitude of successes in competition at numerous autocrosses and road courses across the country, including KIT CAR's Run & Gun events in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
Being low slung and with its low center of gravity, the car handles like the slot cars you raced on miniature speedways when you were a kid. Though the crew at Dragon Motor Cars had a hit on their hands, they still wanted to hone their offering, wanting to bring forth an even more refined design that would tug at the heartstrings of a heritage influenced by the early E-type Jaguars and Ferrari 250s.