Whats happened to the Kit car world in the past 8 years?
Discussion
andyhaase1 said:
Do kit car owners want the industry to be bigger?
As it stands at the moment its a tiny niche that means we arent really on the radar of government, if it was on a bigger scale we might be under more scrutiny, meaning crash tests, crumple zones, pedestrian protection, ABS, stability control etc etc. And we definitetly dont want any more of that do we?
Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't, unfortunately.As it stands at the moment its a tiny niche that means we arent really on the radar of government, if it was on a bigger scale we might be under more scrutiny, meaning crash tests, crumple zones, pedestrian protection, ABS, stability control etc etc. And we definitetly dont want any more of that do we?
If the the kit car industry was bigger, it would certainly justify legislation to ensure that it kept in step, to some degree, with the mainstream motoring industry, which might result in added cost and complexity.
Conversely, being a tiny niche means that it doesn't warrant enough political attention to be worth preserving. Meanwhile there are good political reasons that it can't be allowed to get too far out of step with the mainstream.... can you imagine a situation where, in 20 years time, every other new car registered has to be LZEV, but kit cars are continued to allow to be built with uncatalysed, carburettored V8s?
Bottom line is that the industry is f
ked, whichever way you look at it, but it may last a little longer if it at least tries to keep up with what's expected for every other vehicle being produced.I think the last best chance for the kit car industry to get back to the cost effective single donor days, a la mk1/2 escort, is the Mk2/2.5 MX5. I appreciate there was the Westfield Mazda SDV, but it wasn't cheap enough. If we're ever gonna get back to Kits being cheap enough to tempt people away from used Boxsters etc, we'd need to see a much bigger drive towards using as much as poss from donor. Wheels, dash instruments, brakes, steering. Is the Striker buildable from the MX5 as a single? That would be the obvious one.
As long as kits remain expensive, anyone looking for a cost effective way of obtaining a sports car is going to look elsewhere.
As long as kits remain expensive, anyone looking for a cost effective way of obtaining a sports car is going to look elsewhere.
Johnny5hoods said:
I think the last best chance for the kit car industry to get back to the cost effective single donor days, a la mk1/2 escort, is the Mk2/2.5 MX5. I appreciate there was the Westfield Mazda SDV, but it wasn't cheap enough. If we're ever gonna get back to Kits being cheap enough to tempt people away from used Boxsters etc, we'd need to see a much bigger drive towards using as much as poss from donor. Wheels, dash instruments, brakes, steering. Is the Striker buildable from the MX5 as a single? That would be the obvious one.
As long as kits remain expensive, anyone looking for a cost effective way of obtaining a sports car is going to look elsewhere.
Brilliant idea, but I would encourage the introduction of modern alternatives in addition to a Striker. As long as kits remain expensive, anyone looking for a cost effective way of obtaining a sports car is going to look elsewhere.
Ideally a single donor, low cost, compliant with the proposed new emission regs if they come into force, easy to build, modernish donor like an MX5. Stoneleigh kit car show in just 4 weeks away, lets see what is on offer.
Factors affecting the kit car industry are not just related to the availability of donors.
Young people with disposable income are scarce, due to the cost of mortgages/rent. Building a chunk of cash for the kit can be a challenge, and the ability to finance any s/h car with a low payment PCP all conspire to cut the number of possible kit builders.
Young people with disposable income are scarce, due to the cost of mortgages/rent. Building a chunk of cash for the kit can be a challenge, and the ability to finance any s/h car with a low payment PCP all conspire to cut the number of possible kit builders.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but as a recent kit car builder, my thoughts are in my blog here:
https://zerolifebuild.blogspot.com/p/for-beginners...
To summarise:
The only real reason [to build a kit car] is because you want to build a car, from scratch, by yourself. In this age of nanny-state, bubble-wrapped security, building a car is one of the few, back-to-basics, manly projects an individual can undertake. It counts for 10 points on your bucket list, is much safer than climbing Everest and will give you a glow for the rest of your life. Men will envy you (true), women will want your body (false) and kids will stare and point (in a good way).
https://zerolifebuild.blogspot.com/p/for-beginners...
To summarise:
The only real reason [to build a kit car] is because you want to build a car, from scratch, by yourself. In this age of nanny-state, bubble-wrapped security, building a car is one of the few, back-to-basics, manly projects an individual can undertake. It counts for 10 points on your bucket list, is much safer than climbing Everest and will give you a glow for the rest of your life. Men will envy you (true), women will want your body (false) and kids will stare and point (in a good way).
Apart from lots of factors already mentioned, building a kit car requires space (like garage + drive) lots of tools, and unless you're going the 'all new parts' route, somewhere to strip/store the bits of a donor car (so add understanding other half).
Add the regs in, and it's unsurprising it's dying out. I mean, who'd be a kit manufacturer? Sounds like fun, but there must be easier ways to make money!
I say this as an ex-Dax Rush owner myself.
Add the regs in, and it's unsurprising it's dying out. I mean, who'd be a kit manufacturer? Sounds like fun, but there must be easier ways to make money!
I say this as an ex-Dax Rush owner myself.
we have to go back even more than 8 years...why kitcars where established?
it was due to a british law (not to give men a toy to built and play with): with a kitcar you could bypass a certain tax-level to be paid on ready-built .
and this "main" reason has long gone...so nowadays its just a fun-toy....which costs time, space, obviously money (for the kit, the tools, the space etc)...so its more for the better situated persons / family....even not too expensive, its a kind of a "luxury" thing
...not many families can afford several thousands into building a kit...as the money is only sutiable for the daily live
it was due to a british law (not to give men a toy to built and play with): with a kitcar you could bypass a certain tax-level to be paid on ready-built .
and this "main" reason has long gone...so nowadays its just a fun-toy....which costs time, space, obviously money (for the kit, the tools, the space etc)...so its more for the better situated persons / family....even not too expensive, its a kind of a "luxury" thing
...not many families can afford several thousands into building a kit...as the money is only sutiable for the daily live
Well this is a fairly grim picture in the painting!
Obviously Caterham are doing well (I think?) certainly have a reasonable market carved out as a fast road or race car, Westfield continues to do well also as far as I can see including making reasonable money on electric self driving taxi buses (?) although the owners club forum seemd slower than I recal.
Its a shame if Silvia are somewhat mothballed although origanally a Fisher Cars, I always liked the Fury/Stylus having seen one when buying the Westfield off a keen kitcar owner. The Striker/Riot seem to make good compact seven offerings for track/autotest use etc.
Robin Hood rolled in to GBS who certainly where doing well circa 2010 as far as I know?
As said, give the prices of a genuine E-type/MG/TR6 etc have gone through the roof its slightly surprising their isn't a market for kit forms of such a car.
I hear the argument that 'the youth of today dont know how to use a spanner' and while there might be some truth in current education of practical skills being less well catered for. Other area there is a boom, traction engines are usually piloted by young folk, I've got mates who do 4x4 trailing and the like.
However what is prevalent is a mass migration to leasing cars, hardly anyone I knows owns their car anymore. They would rather pay £200/month for a new hot hatch, mx5 or the like, than shell out £4000 for a nice second hand motor owned out right.
Daniel
magpies said:
Astacus said:
Speaking of which, any news of the Tuscan resurection?
The new TVR company are starting with a'Griffith' - should be available at the end of 2019 ishLooks like the motor industry is moving extremely fast away from ICE for any medium term future
I've wanted to get into a kit car for years now, for the fun driving experience they offer. Not being a garage owner, and not having £14K burning a hole in my pocket - nor, realistically, the funds to run a second car - I just couldn't stretch to a Caterham, which I admit would be excellent fun and would've been my first choice. And, without a garage, cheaper 7alikes still weren't the obvious go to choice.
So, in Oct 2018, I sold my BMW 130i, the last in a long line of hot hatches/powerful saloons, and bought a Toyota MR2 Roadster. I think it's about the best compromise I could have achieved between a cheeky, chuckable little sports car (like a kit car), and a dependable daily runner that doesn't need garaging and won't do my head in. About 75% of the fun of a (good) kit car with only about 2% of the tinkering required.
I took it to Rustbusters in Spalding, who cleaned and prepped it and then waxoyled it underneath. So that's that done. No weekends spent on my back with face mask and goggles cleaning rust and slapping on POR 15 - a semi regular pastime for many a 7alike owner. No rebuilds every few years to get at the rust traps between steel and aluminium . With a detachable hardtop and heated seats, I can drive it in comfort 52 weeks a year. It starts every time, it runs every time, it never gives me any unwelcome surprises.
It's not as fast as an average kit car, nor my old 130i, but it's a giggle to drive, even at low speeds, has excellent steering, it's a convertible for the summer and a coupe for the winter.
It's my only car, doing everything I need it to. It's one of the last few cars sold, on a 56 plate, and I paid £3950 plus £600 for the hardtop. It had 20,000 miles and not a mark on it. Like new, in other words. It's just had its first annual inspection at Rustbusters (part of the service) and the waxoyl hasn't missed a beat in 14K miles. Basically, this car is not going to rust. Sailed through my first two MOTs with no advisories. And in those 14K miles, nothing, and I mean literally nothing, has gone wrong.
At some point my circumstances may change. I may then have more money for a second car and a garage to keep it in. Then I will consider a Caterham/Westfield/Striker/Fury. But until that day comes, I'm having fun without sacrificing a lot of cash or time.
So, in Oct 2018, I sold my BMW 130i, the last in a long line of hot hatches/powerful saloons, and bought a Toyota MR2 Roadster. I think it's about the best compromise I could have achieved between a cheeky, chuckable little sports car (like a kit car), and a dependable daily runner that doesn't need garaging and won't do my head in. About 75% of the fun of a (good) kit car with only about 2% of the tinkering required.
I took it to Rustbusters in Spalding, who cleaned and prepped it and then waxoyled it underneath. So that's that done. No weekends spent on my back with face mask and goggles cleaning rust and slapping on POR 15 - a semi regular pastime for many a 7alike owner. No rebuilds every few years to get at the rust traps between steel and aluminium . With a detachable hardtop and heated seats, I can drive it in comfort 52 weeks a year. It starts every time, it runs every time, it never gives me any unwelcome surprises.
It's not as fast as an average kit car, nor my old 130i, but it's a giggle to drive, even at low speeds, has excellent steering, it's a convertible for the summer and a coupe for the winter.
It's my only car, doing everything I need it to. It's one of the last few cars sold, on a 56 plate, and I paid £3950 plus £600 for the hardtop. It had 20,000 miles and not a mark on it. Like new, in other words. It's just had its first annual inspection at Rustbusters (part of the service) and the waxoyl hasn't missed a beat in 14K miles. Basically, this car is not going to rust. Sailed through my first two MOTs with no advisories. And in those 14K miles, nothing, and I mean literally nothing, has gone wrong.
At some point my circumstances may change. I may then have more money for a second car and a garage to keep it in. Then I will consider a Caterham/Westfield/Striker/Fury. But until that day comes, I'm having fun without sacrificing a lot of cash or time.
Johnny5hoods said:
... bought a Toyota MR2 Roadster. ...
nice little things. You know about pre-cats? Sort them out, and it'll be great for years to come.Then get the 2zz conversion, or a V6. That car can handle a lot more power.
Then remove all the panels and make up your own custom bodywork.
..you see how it starts?!!
I got into mechanics, as cars of my era needed regular fettling and it was relatively simple an inexpensive. It gave me the belief that building a kit car was just more of the same, plus I already had loads of tools because of the fixing. Nowadays people don't have to take a spanner to a 15 year old car any more, so they are less likely to get into it.
The future of kit cars has to be the same as it was originally. Build something that looks as if it's from the space age that has performance that the average person can't access. Tricky when so much performance can be had for so little nowadays.
The answer is not a car but a single seat narrow (possibly leaning) trike. It will have to look like nothing else, but will be able to beat every hypercar from A to B on the public road as it can lane split and frequently use bus lanes. It will weigh something between a sportsbike and a 7 so can have bike power, without the problems of a lack of torque. It'll have better aero than a bike so won't look too shabby in the top speed stakes and have great mpg. Any takers?
The future of kit cars has to be the same as it was originally. Build something that looks as if it's from the space age that has performance that the average person can't access. Tricky when so much performance can be had for so little nowadays.
The answer is not a car but a single seat narrow (possibly leaning) trike. It will have to look like nothing else, but will be able to beat every hypercar from A to B on the public road as it can lane split and frequently use bus lanes. It will weigh something between a sportsbike and a 7 so can have bike power, without the problems of a lack of torque. It'll have better aero than a bike so won't look too shabby in the top speed stakes and have great mpg. Any takers?
Gemaeden said:
I got into mechanics, as cars of my era needed regular fettling and it was relatively simple an inexpensive. It gave me the belief that building a kit car was just more of the same, plus I already had loads of tools because of the fixing. Nowadays people don't have to take a spanner to a 15 year old car any more, so they are less likely to get into it.takers?
I guess there is some truth in that. Gemaeden said:
.... Any takers?
Not here, but some with bite! What's wrong with four wheels?Edited by dhutch on Tuesday 11th February 12:49
Gemaeden said:
Any takers?
Oh well, that's easy then.You design, prototype and take to production and we'll let you know if we fancy one.
In all seriousness, with the legislated demise of the ICE and the performance of the all-electric replacements, it's hard to see a future for kits.
A Tesla 3 hits 60 in 3.2 seconds in performance spec. (5.4s in standard spec.) I don't know of any kit that can do that, in comfort, with four seats and a usable boot. And I don't foresee one.
Batteries are difficult to manage, especially if you want fast charge, fast discharge and longevity. I believe (practical) bespoke battery packs are out of the range of the DIY kit car industry. Yeah, sure it can be done, but with heavy batteries, limited range and poor longevity.
It doesn't look like electric cars will have battery packs that are swapped out every time you go for a recharge. The packs themselves are far too heavy and from necessity are built into the structure (floorplan) of the car. So I don't think that there will be a donor option.
Having instantly responsive power available at each wheel allows the electric car designer to get very creative with torque vectoring and all kinds of special sauce. Again, this level of development is beyond the kit car market. The investment required simply outweighs the potential return.
I'd love to be wrong, but I think the days of the kit outperforming mainstream tin tops are limited. The kit will still be a very different driving experience, but you'll be able to go faster, in more comfort, for further with a tin top.
Globs said:
Couple of friends had Robin Hoods.
One was a mis-fuelled gutless wonder that couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding, the other one was almost finished but drove - didn't go in that one.
Both now quietly rotting away in garages because unless done properly and being used for fun or track they are a useless toy that doesn't work very well. When the time comes to go anywhere they jump in the mild and reasonably priced family saloon..
My Father has been a Mechanic for 50 years, and about 12 years ago decided he wanted to build a kit car and decided on a Robin Hood. He ended up buying the first "Abandoned project, just needs finishing" car he saw on eBay and the owner offered to deliver the car to my Father (alarm bells should have been ringing at this point).One was a mis-fuelled gutless wonder that couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding, the other one was almost finished but drove - didn't go in that one.
Both now quietly rotting away in garages because unless done properly and being used for fun or track they are a useless toy that doesn't work very well. When the time comes to go anywhere they jump in the mild and reasonably priced family saloon..
My father then put the car under a Tarpaulin on the drive and spent weekends driving all over the country to collect bits for the car he had bought on eBay. However, in three years he did not actually put a spanner on the car so eventually my mother lost her temper and the car was again listed on eBay. A dad and lad came along to collect the car, the son was doing his mechanics apprenticeship and they both saw it as an excellent project and learning experience.
A few years later we spotted the car again on eBay, a lot more work had been done but it was still unfinished. I would love to know what percentage of there Robin Hoods sold in the mid 2000s actually ended up complete and on the road.
As has been said previously, youngsters are not interested in cars, and only miniscule percentage of these that are interested would have the ability to build a kit car. I work with a load of millennials and they laugh at my 13 year old shed, they would not consider driving a car out of warranty. One of the few that does drive an older car had to take the day off so he could stay home so a mechanic could come over and fit a new battery,,,,
Plus if you want a sports car there are any number of BMW Z4s and Porsche Boxsters available for £5k which will be a million times better than a load of bent tubes welded together with an old Sierra Pinto engine and live axle.
Add in the SVA test and you can see why very few people would be interested in building a Kit Car. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I actually saw one on the road.
Joey Deacon said:
My Father has been a Mechanic for 50 years, and about 12 years ago decided he wanted to build a kit car and decided on a Robin Hood. He ended up buying the first "Abandoned project, just needs finishing" car he saw on eBay and the owner offered to deliver the car to my Father (alarm bells should have been ringing at this point).
My father then put the car under a Tarpaulin on the drive and spent weekends driving all over the country to collect bits for the car he had bought on eBay. However, in three years he did not actually put a spanner on the car so eventually my mother lost her temper and the car was again listed on eBay. A dad and lad came along to collect the car, the son was doing his mechanics apprenticeship and they both saw it as an excellent project and learning experience.
A few years later we spotted the car again on eBay, a lot more work had been done but it was still unfinished. I would love to know what percentage of there Robin Hoods sold in the mid 2000s actually ended up complete and on the road.
As has been said previously, youngsters are not interested in cars, and only miniscule percentage of these that are interested would have the ability to build a kit car. I work with a load of millennials and they laugh at my 13 year old shed, they would not consider driving a car out of warranty. One of the few that does drive an older car had to take the day off so he could stay home so a mechanic could come over and fit a new battery,,,,
Plus if you want a sports car there are any number of BMW Z4s and Porsche Boxsters available for £5k which will be a million times better than a load of bent tubes welded together with an old Sierra Pinto engine and live axle.
Add in the SVA test and you can see why very few people would be interested in building a Kit Car. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I actually saw one on the road.
I have a nearly new Cayman and a 3 year old Westfield. Both completely different driving experiences. I know which I prefer to drive and it's not the Porsche, although it's a good second car when it's wetMy father then put the car under a Tarpaulin on the drive and spent weekends driving all over the country to collect bits for the car he had bought on eBay. However, in three years he did not actually put a spanner on the car so eventually my mother lost her temper and the car was again listed on eBay. A dad and lad came along to collect the car, the son was doing his mechanics apprenticeship and they both saw it as an excellent project and learning experience.
A few years later we spotted the car again on eBay, a lot more work had been done but it was still unfinished. I would love to know what percentage of there Robin Hoods sold in the mid 2000s actually ended up complete and on the road.
As has been said previously, youngsters are not interested in cars, and only miniscule percentage of these that are interested would have the ability to build a kit car. I work with a load of millennials and they laugh at my 13 year old shed, they would not consider driving a car out of warranty. One of the few that does drive an older car had to take the day off so he could stay home so a mechanic could come over and fit a new battery,,,,
Plus if you want a sports car there are any number of BMW Z4s and Porsche Boxsters available for £5k which will be a million times better than a load of bent tubes welded together with an old Sierra Pinto engine and live axle.
Add in the SVA test and you can see why very few people would be interested in building a Kit Car. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I actually saw one on the road.
And if you haven't seen any kit cars you're in the wrong part of the country, up here in the north west we have loads.
sociopath said:
I have a nearly new Cayman and a 3 year old Westfield. Both completely different driving experiences. I know which I prefer to drive and it's not the Porsche, although it's a good second car when it's wet
And if you haven't seen any kit cars you're in the wrong part of the country, up here in the north west we have loads.
I have never driven a kit car, but I would imagine a Westfield is about as far removed from a Robin Hood as it is possible to get. I think the issue with the Robin Hood is that they sold them as a basic kit for about £1300 which gave the impression you could build a car for that. I understand nothing really fitted, everything had to be fabricated and who wants to work with rusty old Sierra bits. By the time you have finished and ended up with a slow, crude, poor handling car you might as well have spend the £5 - £10K on a second hand Boxster.And if you haven't seen any kit cars you're in the wrong part of the country, up here in the north west we have loads.
Give me a Westfield to build with all new components that fit together nicely with little fettling and I would love to build one, I just personally wouldn't pay £20K+ for one, but I understand why lots of people would.
There are several factors why kit cars aint as popular as they were.
1 - Cheap mainstream ragtops MX5 - pokster etc
2 - Todays Kids don't get 'Hands on' mechanical engineering Apprentiships like they used to, and todays production cars are far more reliable - so owners get less hands on opportunities to 'fix 'em', and therefore never get the DIY 'BUG' to potentially build a car for themselves
3 - Modern Auto electronics DO NOT transplant easily into KIT CARs - specialist knowledge is needed far beyond what the average person has. EV's will be even worse in this regard.
4 - SVA/IVA test an unnecessary additional obstacle for Kit car builders
5 - Most roads are too crowded to use the full performance of a lightweight KITCAR - 50, 40 or even 30 years ago this wasn't the case.
Having said all this a well built and driven kitcar will easily leave even the newest & Hottest Fat/overweight hatchback for dead on a decent 'B' road or around most UK racetracks - that's why Caterhams are so popular as track cars
Even my 50 year old Lotus7 with 'only' 155BHP will do this
Sadly whenever I catch up a hot hatch on a 'B' road they won't let me pass [obviously thinking that their crappy Hatchback is Faster & superior to my ancient Kitcar) What I don't get is having been caught by another car why they would ever think this???? Has anyone else noticed this whilst driving their Kitcar? Can any HOT Hatch drivers explain why they won't let kitcars easily overtake 'em?? If they did they'd soon realise just how poor their hothatch really is coz they couldn't keep up with that ancient Kit - how embarrassing
>
Finally forget Robin Hoods they are probably one of the worst kitcars ever offered for sale a real embarrasment to other KItcars IMO - buy a decent sylva, locost, westfield or caterham - you won't be dissapointed
1 - Cheap mainstream ragtops MX5 - pokster etc
2 - Todays Kids don't get 'Hands on' mechanical engineering Apprentiships like they used to, and todays production cars are far more reliable - so owners get less hands on opportunities to 'fix 'em', and therefore never get the DIY 'BUG' to potentially build a car for themselves
3 - Modern Auto electronics DO NOT transplant easily into KIT CARs - specialist knowledge is needed far beyond what the average person has. EV's will be even worse in this regard.
4 - SVA/IVA test an unnecessary additional obstacle for Kit car builders
5 - Most roads are too crowded to use the full performance of a lightweight KITCAR - 50, 40 or even 30 years ago this wasn't the case.
Having said all this a well built and driven kitcar will easily leave even the newest & Hottest Fat/overweight hatchback for dead on a decent 'B' road or around most UK racetracks - that's why Caterhams are so popular as track cars
Even my 50 year old Lotus7 with 'only' 155BHP will do this
Sadly whenever I catch up a hot hatch on a 'B' road they won't let me pass [obviously thinking that their crappy Hatchback is Faster & superior to my ancient Kitcar) What I don't get is having been caught by another car why they would ever think this???? Has anyone else noticed this whilst driving their Kitcar? Can any HOT Hatch drivers explain why they won't let kitcars easily overtake 'em?? If they did they'd soon realise just how poor their hothatch really is coz they couldn't keep up with that ancient Kit - how embarrassing>
Finally forget Robin Hoods they are probably one of the worst kitcars ever offered for sale a real embarrasment to other KItcars IMO - buy a decent sylva, locost, westfield or caterham - you won't be dissapointed
The kit car industry has shown throughout the years, that there has usually been an inverse relationship between affordability and difficulty of build.
Take 7alikes. The Caterham - expensive, but about as easy to build as it's ever been. Robin Hood and Locost - potentially very cheap (well, in theory, anyway
), but very difficult, especially if you're building your own locost chassis. Sylva Striker/Fury - quite cheap in its day, but still pretty difficult. Westfield - moderately priced, moderately easy.
I don't think there's ever been a kit that was genuinely cheap and genuinely easy to build at the same time. There were a few kits that were expensive and still difficult, but not the other way round.
The dutton, which started the pile 'em high sell 'em cheap philosophy long before Robin Hood, was known to be quite tricky to build at all, and very hard to build really well.
I had a couple of interesting telephone conversations with Ron Champion, who wrote, 'How to Build a Sports Car for as Little as £250'. I asked him how much he'd spent on the green and yellow car on the cover of the first edition. He said that it actually cost less than that. Basically, he'd scrounged the steel tubing in the form of offcuts and welded it from that. He'd taken the sheet aluminium off the outside of a scrapped Luton van and filled the rivet holes. He'd taken a 1 litre engine out of an old Austin A35 he'd saved from a way back. Bench seat was the back seat from a scrapped tin top. He'd spent forever collecting parts for beer money, or even free. ISTR the eventual bill was somewhere around £200. Most people spend around that figure nowadays just on the dashboard instruments or seats, even on budget projects. Ron was an impressive fella and very resourceful, being a teacher of motor vehicle technology at a private school. He built that first prototype with a 1 litre engine to keep it slow so his teenage son, the driver, wouldn't go too fast. That book of his flew out the shops because most aspiring builders didn't understand the above mentioned inverse relationship. Either you can have it cheap, or you can have it easy, but you can't have it both.
Take 7alikes. The Caterham - expensive, but about as easy to build as it's ever been. Robin Hood and Locost - potentially very cheap (well, in theory, anyway
), but very difficult, especially if you're building your own locost chassis. Sylva Striker/Fury - quite cheap in its day, but still pretty difficult. Westfield - moderately priced, moderately easy.I don't think there's ever been a kit that was genuinely cheap and genuinely easy to build at the same time. There were a few kits that were expensive and still difficult, but not the other way round.
The dutton, which started the pile 'em high sell 'em cheap philosophy long before Robin Hood, was known to be quite tricky to build at all, and very hard to build really well.
I had a couple of interesting telephone conversations with Ron Champion, who wrote, 'How to Build a Sports Car for as Little as £250'. I asked him how much he'd spent on the green and yellow car on the cover of the first edition. He said that it actually cost less than that. Basically, he'd scrounged the steel tubing in the form of offcuts and welded it from that. He'd taken the sheet aluminium off the outside of a scrapped Luton van and filled the rivet holes. He'd taken a 1 litre engine out of an old Austin A35 he'd saved from a way back. Bench seat was the back seat from a scrapped tin top. He'd spent forever collecting parts for beer money, or even free. ISTR the eventual bill was somewhere around £200. Most people spend around that figure nowadays just on the dashboard instruments or seats, even on budget projects. Ron was an impressive fella and very resourceful, being a teacher of motor vehicle technology at a private school. He built that first prototype with a 1 litre engine to keep it slow so his teenage son, the driver, wouldn't go too fast. That book of his flew out the shops because most aspiring builders didn't understand the above mentioned inverse relationship. Either you can have it cheap, or you can have it easy, but you can't have it both.
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