PK Design

Car Concept Designs and its successor Merlin Cofano Designs were trading names for a small Californian kit-car studio active in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It focused on low-volume fibreglass sports cars and buggies rather than type-approved production models.

Cofano’s best-known creation was the Dena, a highly sculpted “Boulevard Buggy” kit on a Volkswagen Beetle or custom chassis, with rear-mounted flat-four engine, independent suspension and very wide 15-inch tyres, publicised in 2007 as a Californian kit car. Other projects included the M-1, a mid-engined VW-based fibreglass coupé offered as a complete project for sale to would-be manufacturers when Cofano announced his retirement, as well as the Merlin/Z and Bullet designs, both sold with rights and tooling rather than as finished vehicles. Earlier in his career he had designed a Datsun Z-based Ferrari 250 GTO replica through Eagle Engineering, but Car Concept Designs and Merlin Cofano Designs represented a later phase focused on original shapes. No evidence indicated significant series production; instead the firm functioned as a boutique design and prototype shop.