Master of Disguise

Steve Hole reports on the Jakabi Abster, one of a growing number of MGF-based body conversions appearing from the kit car industry.

The MGF-based Abster body conversion is the work of a chap called Paul Goldsmith, one of the world’s most talented and in-demand automotive clay modellers. Paul’s CV includes formative work on many of the cars we currently see on our roads. He’s recently finished a stint with a leading German manufacturer, while he is currently engaged on a contract with the special vehicle division of a leading British-based, foreign-owned maker.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching Paul wield his special modeller’s clay (first heated up in an old microwave) in his Tamworth garage and although I saw it all transpire in front of me, I’m still not entirely sure how he did what he did that day. He kindly allowed me to have a go, but all I did was move hot clay around much like a kid with a bar of Plasticine. Not good, and a resulting mess that Paul had to sort out!

In essence a clay modeller acts as the car designer’s hands. How close Paul and his brethren can get to the creator’s idea determines how good they are. The fact that Paul is so sought after determines that he’s rather good at it. As a result he’s worked with all the household name designers of the car world and he has some interesting stories on some of them!

As a specialist car enthusiast he followed the kit car movement with interest, the hobby providing a linked yet distinct panacea to his intense day job. He developed things further with the Audi R8-inspired Jakabi JA8 of 2014 (actually his eighth creation, but the first to be shown commercially) which was based on the Toyota MR2Mk1. The majority of folk who saw it loved it, but no-one placed an order. Maybe it was the MR2 that put them off? At least it showed how talented he is.