MAXTON PROTOTYPES

The very first Maxton “Rollerskate” (the name came later) was used to test the concept. It was never fitted with a body, but it was a complete running chassis. The tube frame was welded up at a shop in Colorado Springs.

It was constructed from Ben van der Linden’s drawings and then used to construct the production “jigs” for all of the other chassis. Jeff Novotny was hired to build the jigs and fabricate the production chassis, suspension components and all other parts that were required.

The Prototype was thoroughly tested at Mountain View Raceway on a number of occasions to see if any parts would fail or did not meet our performance and handling goals. Maxton’s staff took turns pushing the car to its’ limits and a few times beyond its’ limits. The car met all expectations with only a few design changes and was then completely dismantled and the chassis was used to construct the production tooling. The Prototype chassis was assigned number P1 and remained in storage until acquired by Ben van der Linden. Ben has since built the car back into a running chassis using many Maxton parts that were also in storage when the company closed down. The car has now been fitted with a slightly modified production body and is in the process of being licensed with chassis No. MXPRS 001.

All components, drive train, engine, suspension, wiring etc. from the Prototype were then transferred to Chassis P2, the first production frame with the first prototype body panels to make the first ‘complete’ car. It was tested further and used for promotional purposes at the inaugural “Colorado Grand” 1000-mile classic car rally. Chassis P2 was then rebodied with the modified production body and numbered MXPRS 002.