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The original Marcos Mantis is a sports car produced by the British car company Marcos Engineering.

It was formally introduced in 1968 although production appears to have been slow to start. In February 1971 Marcos announced that the car could also be purchased in component form, at a domestic market price of £2,425, compared to the recommended retail price of £3,185 for the built version This compare at the time with a UK sticker price, including sales taxes, of £2,150 for the V8 Rover 3500 32 examples were produced, with production ending in 1971

The Mantis name has been used subsequently for models bearing little obvious similarity to the original model. Introduced in 1997, the Mantis GT is a higher performance version of the Mantis. The name Mantis is taken from the mantis insect and is intended to signify the performance of the Mantis' engine, a supercharged 4.6 litre V8 producing 506 bhp (377 kW) and 452 lb·ft (613 N·m) of torque. This allows the Mantis to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds and to reach a top speed of 179 mph (288 km/h). The car features power-assisted rack and pinion steering as well as AP Vented disc brakes with a diameter of 284 mm (front) and 240 mm (rear)

In 1997 the Mantis name was re-used on a 2-seater coupé or convertible road car based on the LM series powered by the 4.6 litre all-aluminium quad-cam Ford 'Modular' engine producing 327 bhp (244 kW; 332 PS) and capable of 170 mph (270 km/h). To accommodate the engine the bonnet of the Mantis was significantly remodelled from the previous LM range (that used the Rover V8), and the upper chassis rails in the engine bay were widened. Price for the Mantis was £46883.

In 1998 it was decided to supercharge the engine to produce the first British production sports car with over 500 bhp (373 kW; 507 PS), this being named the Mantis GT. Using a Vortech supercharger, and intercooler the Mantis GT engine produced 506 bhp (377 kW; 513 PS), which could accelerate the car from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds. Price for the Mantis GT was £64331.

Production of the Mantis was 51 cars, with 16 being the supercharged GT version (this does not include the Mantis Challenge race cars)

(Pictured Top) One of the undoubted show stoppers at this year’s Festival of Speed is the extraordinary Mantis XP. Conceived by Bradford-on-Avon constructor Marcos, and styled by Dennis Adams, this timber-hulled, mid-engined sports-racer was built in 1968 and raced only once in period.

It was entered for that year’s Spa 1000km for Eddie Nelson and Grand Prix occasional, Robin Widows. When the latter decided to sit out the race, marque founder Jem Marsh took his place, although the former stuntman found contorting his 6ft 5in frame into the ultra-low cabin a bit of a chore.

The car retired from the epically wet race early on its three-litre Repco F1 engine was subsequently removed and replaced with a Buick V8.

The by now road legal machine was sold to an American enthusiast and 40 years later it remains in the same family ownership.