An Old Dream; About Kits

In my first post, I mentioned that I considered going with a "Kit Car" to satisfy my sports car cravings. The fact that I decided to "roll my own " should not be construed as a slam at kit cars in general. In fact, I love kits. They offer a lot of options that you can't get with some "real" cars, and they do it for a lot less money. If I wanted a '54 or '55 Vette (Let's face it, the prices for '53's are astronomical), a real one would run somewhere in the neighborhood of $60-70K. Then, once I had it, I would have a 55 year old car that was built on 60+ year old technology, and if the car was a '54, you would be stuck with an old "Stovebolt" 6 with a cast iron Powerglide. If it was a '55, you could have a V-8 (265 cid) with a 3-spd manual box. And, have you looked underneath a '55 Vette. You'll find better glass work on almost any kit car currently produced. Now, I'm one of those people that believes that any car can be improved, but if you "improve" a classic Vette you'll suffer a big penalty in resale value. With all this considered, you would be much better off to go with a Lone Star Classics "Route 66 Roadster" body kit, an Art Morrison chassis, a crate motor and trans. You'd be into this for about the same price (probably, a lot less), and you would have a classic look with totally modern performance. The same can be said for sports cars of the serpentine reptilian persuasion. Ol' Shel hates for kits to be called Cobras! Fair enough. A lot of modern kits are actually much better cars than the Cobras ever were. True, the Cobras were about the hottest thing on the road in their day, but their day was almost 50 years ago (Good heavens, am I that old?). A modern replica, such as the Factory Five Racing MkIV roadster has a completely modern Chassis, and the drive train is up to you , the builder.

No, I have nothing against kit cars. I simply decided to roll my own as a matter of financial expedience. With something as simple as a Locost/Se7en, anyone with a smattering of fabrication skills can construct one. One of the beauties of the Locost is there are so many options that almost anyone can find a route to ownership that suits them. I know how to weld, so building my own frame is not a daunting task. For those not so trained there are sources of pre-built frames. There are some fiberglass body pieces (nose cone, scuttle, and fenders) that I may buy from existing sources as a time saving move, but for those with glass working experience, these parts wouldn't be hard to make for yourself. If your fabrication expertise is limited , but you're a pretty fair mechanic, try a full-on kit such as a Westfield or a Stalker.

No, I have nothing against kit cars, they suit my desires very well. Some people have to have an original "whatever" with matching #'s and factory perfect restoration. Not me, I'd rather have MY car, MY way.

More to come.