Thought gnawing at my brain...

Lee Janotta · 12 Oct 2002, 00:56 (Ref:401609)

I just can't get this idea out of my brain... Couldn't the Locost idea be applied at a higher level of performance? Consider, like... Suspension pieces from an RX-7 or a Civic/Integra... Great big brakes from a full-size truck... A turbocharged 3-rotor Mazda shipped over from Japan and rebuilt, connected to a Porsche 6-speed...

I mean, yeah, it'd cost a _lot_ more... But I'm thinking a level of performance on par with a Saleen for the cost of a 3 year-old Cavalier.

Am I just nuts, or what?

Hobson · 12 Oct 2002, 12:23 (Ref:401995)

You nutter..............I like your thinking!

Bluebottle · 12 Oct 2002, 17:37 (Ref:402122)

The great thing with kit cars is that you can do more or less what you want, so your ideas could be made a reality- limited only by budget and engineering constraints. Not sure if you could manage it for the cost of a three year old Cavalier, but there are plenty of kits out there that will give a superb performance at a reasonable price, things like the Ultima for example....(dream mode)mmmm,nice....

Lee Janotta · 12 Oct 2002, 18:39 (Ref:402143)

Heh... You Brits are lucky to have cars like those... We've barely got any true kit cars here, just re-bodies.

What I wouldn't give for one of these...

Y'know, I respect Ralph Nader... I even voted for him... But his consumer safety crusades mean that this side of the pond is completely devoid of nimble little street/track cars like the Elan or those wonderful little kit cars... Registration and insurance are far too difficult and inconsistent.

Basically the government won't let you take your own life in your hands with a clean-running, efficient little sports car. At least a new one. But Spitfires, MGBs, and such are far too primitive by today's standards to get real performance out of.

But... I do believe if you're very smart, sneaky, and a little bit underhanded... In some states, you could register a kit car under one of it's donor's titles... Probably a bribe would be required, but you never know.

TimD · 12 Oct 2002, 21:13 (Ref:402233)

Quote:

Originally posted by Lee Janotta
But Spitfires, MGBs, and such are far too primitive by today's standards to get real performance out of.

That's assuming you haven't had your doors blown off by the two young ladies with the veeeery early Triumph Spitfire I encountered at Le Mans last year. When they raised the bonnet to let the motor cool off, it was revealed to be a 289c.i. Ford!!!!

I like that - a humble, cooking little car which gives precious little clue as to what it will do. The trouble with most kits, to my mind, is that they are trying to be things that they're not, such as the Karma (Beetle-based Ferrari Dino-alike) or any one of the dozens of plastic Cobra-lites with pootling little engines in them.

Lee Janotta · 12 Oct 2002, 21:52 (Ref:402255)

Ah, but the V8 in a roadster is a swap that's been done to death... And it does make the car very unbalanced.

I've gotta say though, I've toyed with the idea of a full tube chassis and late-model RX-7 running gear underneath a '68 Spitfire. Seems a bit ambitious, though... Fitting a readily available axle underneath that narrow body is going to be quite a task. And can't get real spline-drive wire wheels with knockoffs, which _really_ pull a Spitfire's looks together.

Lee Janotta · 12 Oct 2002, 22:06 (Ref:402268)

See what I mean about the wheels?

http://www.spitfireg1.f9.co.uk/reade...Spit_front.jpg

Hobson · 13 Oct 2002, 10:16 (Ref:402606)

I've seen possibly the best/worst re-body. From the outside it looks like a mental Ford RS200 rally car. Lift the bonnet lid and you find out its really an MG Maestro Turbo.................you decide about it.

The same company also do an Audi TT rep based on a MG Metro Turbo!

TimD · 13 Oct 2002, 10:23 (Ref:402616)

A long long time ago, I recall a custom car magazine running an April Fool news feature about a new kit car called the Kortina. It was a glassfibre shell moulded to look like a Ford Cortina Mk3, and the donor car required was a 427ci Shelby Cobra.

There's a tiny part of me that almost wants it to be true...

Bluebottle · 13 Oct 2002, 19:56 (Ref:403102)

Hobson, I presume you mean the X99- it appeared before the TT (I think?) and dosn't look at all like it in the flesh! Also, the RS200 is based on an MG Maestro, with body panels made from the moulds they bought from Ford. They've left out the cooling vents in the rear window to distinguish from the original!
I agree with Tim about the fake snakes- there's nothing worse than a car which looks like it'll blow your socks off but sounds like an Escort!!
(Although some of the more upmarket Cobra replicas have decent engines and handle better then the real thing!)

Bluebottle · 13 Oct 2002, 20:07 (Ref:403115)

I stand corrected!- It's called X21 abd the web site ( http://banmoco.co.uk/ ) calls it the first new car of the 21'st century! It really is unfair to link it's looks to the Audi TT because it is , if this can be possible, even uglier!

Lee Janotta · 13 Oct 2002, 22:35 (Ref:403235)

It's always truly amazed me that anyone would build a Cobra replica with a 302! 460ci Ford/Lincoln/Mercury engines can be found in plenty of junkyards over here, and are from the same engine family as the 428, so there are plenty of go-fast parts for them.

Jeez... That Banham company looks completely devoid of any taste! They even managed to make that Porsche ripoff look cheap!

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