From a web article...
During the 1960s an Englishman, Ken Attwell, yearned to own a GT40. It was only by 1982, and while working for Ford in Swansea, that Ken decided to build his own car. Ford had asked Ken to help with the restoration of their own Mk. 3 car that had been involved in a filming accident. As there was no budget for the restoration, Ken agreed to their request, doing the work in his home workshop with the proviso that he was allowed to take moulds off the body panels which he would use to construct his own car (replica). He designed a space frame/semi ladder type chassis which turned out to exceed the required torsional strength and by late 1982 his first, blood red KVA (Kenneth Vincent Attwell) ‘Mk 3’ GT40 ‘look-alike’ was complete and was displayed by Ford in the reception area of their Swansea plant. This car used Ford based suspension, a Ford CVH 1.6 litre engine and VW Variant transaxle. Larger engines like the 2.8 litre V6 or 289 CID V8 with ZF or Renault 30 transaxles were suggested.
Howard Walker of “Motor Magazine” test drove the car and wrote a very complementary article in the October 1983 issue. The front page spread and photographs created a lot of interest. With Ford’s blessing, Ken formed a small company, KVA, and started marketing kits that could be built up as replicas. Ken continued his full time work as Senior Engineer at Ford and as this proved quite stressful, his wife Margaret stepped in run the business. Margaret proved a very capable manager for the KVA business and continued until she retired in 1994 after selling the business to Jules Hoffman of Integrity Motors in Florida USA. The kit was continually improved and in 1985 the Mk.1 body style was introduced.