Biota

Biota was a British manufacturer of a Mini-based sports car, active between 1969 and 1976 and based in Yorkshire, first in Thurcroft and later in Dinnington, under the name Houghton Coldwell.

The Biota was built around a proper space frame chassis, using Mini front subframe components and a Mini trailing arm and coil-sprung rear suspension setup. Its unusual doorless glassfibre body featured a distinctive roll-over bar and a large bonnet bulge designed to accommodate the tall Mini engine. Weighing only around eight hundredweight, the car offered strong performance for its era, and this was reinforced by successes in hill climb competition.

In 1972, the Mk2 version was introduced, featuring a De Dion rear end and a larger cockpit. In total, around 35 examples of the Biota were produced.