FORMCAR 1963 No. 63-115 (Formula V single-seater)

The brand’s history is quite extraordinary. In the early 1960s in the US, a group of enthusiasts dreamt of driving single-seaters whilst watching the American Formula 1 races of the time. But they had no money. At the time, American scrapyards were full of VW Beetles, Karmann Ghias and Porsche 356s. They salvaged a few of them, cut them up, kept the front and rear axles and the engine, and joined it all together with a chassis and a fibreglass body. They began racing on circuits.
These single-seater racing cars have always been very popular, using VW mechanical parts, which were inexpensive to manufacture at the time and easy to maintain.
As for the chassis (which is tubular), the Formcar features a double-wishbone front suspension with torsion bars, drum brakes, a rear suspension with swing arms and 15-inch wheels. It weighs 375 kg unladen.

During a race in the USA, the Porsche importer discovered the first cars being driven by a group of amateur car-building friends. He ordered around ten of them. The Stuttgart factory also ordered around ten to train its drivers in Europe. This explains why these 20 cars bore the Porsche badge, even though the Stuttgart-based manufacturer had not built a single one. In short, the Formcar was born. They subsequently gave rise to Formula Vee, hence the brand’s prestige.
Formcar was therefore at the origin of the so-called Formula Vee races in the USA (pronounced ‘Vee’ or ‘Formule V’ in French), and later in Europe, particularly in France and Germany, where they enjoyed great success. This single-seater provided an introduction to circuit racing, and many great drivers have driven them.
The engine was not originally a Porsche (one might think it came from the Porsche 356), but in the USA it was indeed a VW 1200 engine complying with Vee regulations, whilst in Europe it was a 1300 engine.
Famous drivers such as Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon, Bob Bondurant, Helmut Marko, Jacky Ickx, JP Beltoise, Claude Bonnet (son of the creator of the DBs), Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda and Keke Rosberg… were all trained in a Formcar and competed in Formula Vee championships in Europe or America at the start of their careers.
This single-seater is rare and highly sought-after in Europe. There are only about a dozen of them in France. Buyers of a Formcar have often waited several years to find the one they’re looking for. This rarity is mainly due to the fact that the majority of the cars are in the United States, where they are cherished by their owners, who look after them with great care.
Some owners are so passionate that they transport their Formcars in converted VW T1 Combis, similar to those used by Porsche’s racing department in the 1960s. Around fifteen other makes subsequently emerged to compete in Formula V as well: Nardi, Lynx, Zinc, Autodynamic, Pachiauldi, Bora, Apal, First, Beach… These are also very good cars, even if their market success is more akin to that of a replica.

190 Formcar MK1 single-seaters were built in 1963, and 75 MK2s based on the same model in 1964: a standard Volkswagen engine, a 1200 cm³ flat-four producing around 40 ch, mounted in a mid-rear position and mated to a four-speed manual gearbox. The car could reach a top speed of 160 km/h. Only 40 MK3s were built in 1965, on a new chassis with a slightly lower body. Twenty were destined for the US market and 20 were exported to Europe.

This car was discovered in 2024 in New York State. It had been sitting there for many years, and its owner, Paul BUTLER, finally decided to part with it. Paul BUTLER passed away on 22 November 2024 whilst the car was on the ferry bound for Le Havre. He would undoubtedly have loved to see his car back on the track. In the US, he was the leading organiser of stock car events and races, and he became a fervent supporter of BriSCA F1 Stock Cars in particular. He was the President of the Saloon Stock Car Association.
It is therefore a genuine 1963 Formcar, bearing the engraved number 63-115 and listed in the official online register (https://www.formcarregistry.com).
The year 2025 was devoted to restoring it to working order, involving the following work:
- Fitting of a floor pan strictly in accordance with specifications (original second-hand part)
- New 4-in-1 exhaust (second-hand)
- New bespoke aluminium fuel tank, positioned centrally for the car’s balance. With a capacity of 13 or 15 litres, it is normally located at the front right.
- New bucket seat, a strictly original reconstruction modelled on other Formcar MKIs, with a lightly padded leather seat cushion.
- Refurbishment of wiring harnesses and fuel systems
- Fitting of a 1300 cc engine, rebuilt in 2025/2026 and run in at the end of April 2026 at Magny-Cours
- New starter motor
- New battery with a battery cut-off switch and a Gys charger socket (or charge-maintenance socket) on the front left
- …
The restoration is therefore complete. Only the bodywork remains to be tackled.
I’d bought this car to drive with my sons on my two Formula Vee circuits. It turns out they’re actually quite busy on the available track days in France.
Formcars are currently selling in France for around €25,000. The cost price for my 63-115 is nearly €18,000, including the purchase, transport from New York, customs duties and the refurbishment described above, not to mention the time spent on it. Its selling price is €18,000. That leaves a budget of €7,000 – a very generous amount for anyone wishing to restore it to a beautiful condition.