Kit Car Kits

I have a Quantum 2+2, up for sale if interested

Lightweght, different, (athough people at first glace think it's an MX5) cheap to run.

Lotus 7 clones a plenty (around 20 last I counted) and as you have found, for all budgets. Try to get a drive in the one you want before you comitt, it's alot of work if you don't like it. I tried a Robin Hood 2b years ago, couldn't get to the gear shift as I was wedged in the cockpit (ok, I admit it, I'm a 6' lardarse)

I have a bit of knowledge - see the links below to a couple of threads - The Caterham R620 is not exactly a kit car - and if you want expensive kits then its the replica market where things can get pricey.

The GBS Zero - £2345 - Not sure the Ford Donor is the way to go these days. - The pit falls that most people make is underestimating the costs involved. A mazda build would be the sensible approach - instantly adding 12% to the price and that's not delivered. So £3K at the door - see where this is going.

To cut a long story short there is only one reason to build a 7 type kit car - You have a great desire to spend money building something that will be worth half of what you spent on it when finished. The sensible approach if you really want to build something yourself is to buy a completed car take it to bits and put it back together again. It will take you around the same amount of time as a build but cost you half as much.

Anyway

What's great? - You get the chance to build/own something that you have no possible hope of doing any other way - I do not have £500K to buy a Strato's ...then again I don't have £50K to buy or build a replica either.

Pitfalls

Costs - always underestimated.
Time - always underestimated.
Value - always overestimated.

Realistically building that Zero - to a half decent standard will cost you £7K min. with (B)IVA there are very few shortcuts and the expense of the test and registration alone will be close on a grand. £6-8K buys you a great deal these days.

If you want to go through all the hassle - save a few quid and look around for a part completed there will be loads about when you start asking.

I've built a kit car of sorts, well actually what I did was to re-build one with a different body etc. I pretty much echo what everyone else has said. I expected to spend about £3000 - £3500, I actually spend getting close to £9000! This was because I started to think that I was only going to do this once, so it has to be right first time, and have the bits on it I wanted to have. I was building it with some friends who were also building a similar car, on similar chassis. we all decided that we'd spend only about £3000. One of my friends did it on budget, but I don't think it was ever the car he hoped it would be, and he was never happy with it even though it looked and drove very well, he sold it, and made a small profit. The other friend got to £3000, and that was it, he stopped, he'd spent all he was going to spend, so he put his half finished (if that) car up for grabs and got £800 for it! I carried on and over spent, but the car got finished, and it was finished how it was supposed to be in my head, but it's not as good as it could've been, and this I've learned after I finished it. There are things that I'm not too happy about, things that I could've done better, and things that I should've done differently. But you live and learn. The other thing is the time. I figured I'd be driving it in a year and a half... FIVE YEARS LATER it was finished! It took up all of my time, when I wasn't at work, or sleeping, I was in my garage. It got to the point where I actually hated and resented the thing. I lost friends, I lost girlfriends, I couldn't make a relationship work no matter what I did because I had to get my car finished! However at the end of the day it did get finished, and it looks good, and it's kinda cool to be able to stand there and say I built that, I built a car... From scratch! So knowing what I know now would I do it again?

NOT ON YOUR NELLY!!

Lol, it will come, but probably not until the Autumn.

Just to add to my post

To cut costs and save time with IVA etc on the caterham type cars
I'd be inclined to buy a low spec pre-build and re-build it to my spec (brakes/suspension/engine)
Or a unfinished project

I was in the fortunate position of building a Ronart "kit" car for somebody else. There is a build thread on here. I echo what others have said - it will cost at least twice of your original budget, take twice as long and be worth half of what you think.
Even with a well established supplier/kit, there were lots of bits/layouts/positions etc to sort out as you go.
However it is a great feeling to know that you have built it when you finally get to drive it!

Was started in 2004 by the original buyer and completed by me and a mate in 2014 its a no frills lightweight Fisher Fury Spyder - It is a reasonably high specification build and then he added CXR's ZZR's, LSD, Momo, Schroth etc.







Took us three years to finish this nearly completed build but I did have other things going on as well

When I first looked into caterham etc
The dax Rush looked to me to be the best value for money they done two kits (car engine) and (bike engine)
The later models had quite a fancy front suspension set up
The company was just round the corner from me so I popped in for a chat and got taken out in a V8 one

That was it for me I had to have one
Last year or the year before I was quite serious about buying a kit but they don't do them anymore they only do the AC Cobras now

I'm sure as a track weapon the bike engine ones are the way to go (turbo busa )
But as road car the torque and noise of the V8 would be the way I'd go