Who Owns Cape Advanced Vehicles?

Cape Advanced Vehicles was founded in Cape Town in 1999 to produce Ford GT40 replicas in South Africa. The company's name honours Ford Advanced Vehicles, the manufacturer of the original GT40 racing cars founded in 1963. South Africa had already developed a small but respected cottage industry of specialist car builders, and CAV became the country's best-known entrant in the GT40 replica world.

Through the 2000s the company built a steady reputation for faithful GT40 recreations. Early cars stuck close to the original formula: a mid-mounted Ford V8, period-correct styling, and construction aimed at customers who wanted the look and feel of the 1960s endurance racer. CAV produced both roller cars, delivered without engine and gearbox for owners to finish, and turn-key cars built complete in-house.

The pivotal change came in 2013 when Jordi Reddy took over the company. Under his leadership CAV shifted its focus from straight replicas toward what the industry calls restomods: cars that preserve the GT40's shape and character while adding modern engineering, drivability, and comfort. The goal, as Reddy has framed it, is to build the best modern interpretation of the GT40 rather than a museum-grade copy.

In 2016 CAV moved into its current Cape Town facility, bringing design, body and component manufacturing, paintwork, and final assembly under one roof. The vertical integration matters at this end of the market, because customers are buying a handbuilt car where panel fit and paint quality are part of the product.

The company's signature engineering choice is its stainless steel monocoque chassis. CAV is the only GT40 replica builder using a stainless monocoque rather than the fiberglass-tub or steel-tube alternatives common among competitors, and the design delivers extra rigidity plus room for drivers up to about 6 feet 4 inches. Powertrain options have included a classic Ford small-block V8 with Holley or Weber carburetors producing roughly 450 horsepower, and the modern Gen 2 Ford 5.0-liter Coyote V8 at about 435 horsepower.

By the mid-2020s CAV had built more than 220 cars. To mark 60 years since the GT40's famous 1-2-3 finish at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, the company unveiled the GT MKII, a flagship restomod limited to 40 cars. The MKII takes the restomod approach further, pairing the classic silhouette with more aggressive modern engineering and positioning CAV less as a replica maker and more as a boutique supercar manufacturer.