Is there a Market for a Retro Kit Car ?
Discussion
Hoonigan said:
I emailed them about two years ago. £10k for a rolling chassis kit that had a few engineered large components. They hadn't had any go through an IVA. A £5k kit based on a mx5 would be a belter!
jeank said:
I think that a panel kit, based on f.e. mx5 or mr2, with classic Style, ginetta etc inspired, could even be exportable outside the UK. As long as It is a bodykit, without chassis mods.
I know I would by one if available.
And I'm shure lots of people would on the continent.
Regrettably any attempt to create a well defined, svelt, good looking body kit which relies upon pretty ancient underpinnings in order that IVA can be avoided is doomed to failure, I suspect. There have been a number of these offerred over the years in the kit car movement and most have fallen away or the design project has changed hands repeatedly probably, because the products were never capable of offering real value and satisfaction. I know I would by one if available.
And I'm shure lots of people would on the continent.
To my mind the exceptional opportunity offerred by cars such as the MEV Replicar are simply unbeatable and that is why that car is proving so popular. The benefits of using a one doner design which offers matched components and already has huge development potential, built in, because of the extent and availability of the MX5 mechanical upgrades and accessories are exceptionally favourable to the aspirant kit car builder. It is much easier to build one donor designs.
I have no connection with MEV whatsoever and I make those comments because of the number of kit cars I have personally built where sourcing various components from different car makers has been a real ball ache. Caused me a great deal of wasted time and hours and a lot of grief. Hence my being convinced of the potential benefits of one donor kit car designs.
Seems much more sensible, to me, to use a genuine relatively modern one donor design, with a completely new bodyshell utilising a much lighter material with a substantial weight saving and all the simplicity that a one donor design offers the kit car builder. Trying to utilise a design limited by the requirement of only offering new panels to be fitted to an old kit car simply is not the best way to achieve a lasting success in the build.
Best of luck to all kit car builders in making their choice. It us their time and money and I wish everyone well in their choices.
I spoke to Barry a few weeks ago and I think things are still in the mix, my build is still on going which you can see here :- ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/313520705660314/ ), It would be nice to see some different kit cars on the market which are not styled on the 7's but they seem to be what people are buying. Maybe thats all thats available. I think imagination has gone and it is too easy today to go out and buy off the shelf parts to build the cars with, I understand that not everyone has the facilities or the abilities to manufacture parts for their selves but that, I think is part of the fun of it.
This is looking at some of the style changes I have done to my McCoy, if you go to the facebook page shown on my previous message you can read through my build diary so far, the car now boasts a Honda B16A2 engine with independant coil over suspension all round, not much of the original mini donar parts have been used and I am sure that these could be changed for parts from later cars...
Edited by pompeyal on Tuesday 29th January 13:42
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