1956 Airborne Mirage 1.0 Twin Carburettor
In 1947 Airborne Motor Company launched short run of Type 1 generic sedan. It didn’t made, however, and company needed mass production car for the public. 1950 was the year of presenting first version of Airborne Worker (it’s name was a ridiculous and obvious pun on communism in Poland), which got into production in 1955 with major design overhauls. After great success of Worker in it’s first year (1000th unit sold after 4 months of production), the company decided to create low-budget sports car like Porsche 356 (or later Airborne S200), and the project was called Mirage. After making deal with Porsche about utilizing their 356-style bodyshell it was finished and unveiled in 1956; first version, called simply Mirage or later Mirage 1.0 TC was holding inline 4 with capacity of 998cc which was carried from Worker Speedster and received additional power boost in comparison to original by adding second carburettor. In final, engine was making 61 hp which was enough to launch this car which was not weighting even 700 kilograms in nearly 15 seconds to 100 km/h and reach 167 km/h of top speed, which was enough to pass Porsche 356 A 1600. There are 1630 Mirages 1.0 sold, and we guess 1300 are left. At the time it was costing 3129 $. After success of Mirage, next version was developed.
1958 Airborne Mirage 1.4 S
Sportier Mirage with new engine built only for this model. It was inline 4 with 1.4 litre capacity generating 81 hp. Car also went heavier due to safety improvements and bigger engine and now it was weighting 732 kg. Due to rear drive layout car was pretty difficult to control and became shittier to drive, in fact. There were no improvements design-wise, only some interior options added, like cooling from vents or fully leather dashboard. Suprisingly, Mirage S was cheaper than standard variant which got replaced by S and it was costing 2850 $. Despite low price, only 591 S models were built to 1963, when Airborne Motor Company introduced something new.
Funfact: Kraft Haus Technik in 1958 bought some Mirage S units and tuned it as few prototypes, however it’s unknown what happened to them.
1963 Airborne Mirage 2.3 S2
The last iteration of Airborne Mirage. With new engine and design overhauls, like reverse lights addition or new plastic vents to reduce mass. But the biggest change was under the engine lid, and it was 2.3-litre naturally aspirated V6 engine which was generating almost 98 hp. This change made Mirage sportier, more attractive. And it was really well-solding, however after two months deal with Porsche about their bodies expired, due to “presentation and please to promote their newest model, 911”, so Airborne Motor Company had to cease production. In S2 interior remained the same, looks got changed and car was able to reach sub-10 second time to 100 and reach 182 km/h. That was enough to pass strongest versions of it’s main rival, Porsche 356. By funniest accident S2 was the cheapest car to produce from whole Mirage lineup and it was costing only 2400 $. Despite this, only 101 units are sold and AMC needed to fulfill needs of those 3500 people who ordered Mirage S2, but got informed about end of production. Company proposed to orderers new model with Mirage components, but with another bodyshell. Some didn’t agree and there were 895 orders left for new car.
In fact, Mirage was the only mass-produced rear-engined car by Airborne Motor Company (after 1973 Automotive) and had no successor until Valletta debut in 1972.
As always, give opinions!
By the way, thanks Felgen for this non-Porsche body.