Daily driver kit car for 15K

[Ecosseven]

I’m considering a kit car as my next daily driver as an alternative to the default choice of MX-5 / Boxster / Z4 / 350Z . It will need to do everything that these cars will do and cost less than 15K second hand. I do not have the skills, time, tools, or space to build my own unfortunately.

Any suggestions?

All the best.

Martin.

[gingerpaul]

I'm sorry to say that there is no kit car in the world that will be able to do everything a Boxter can do, let alone for £15k. No kit manufacturer has spent £x00 million on r&d to give a car that will compete on all levels with a full production car. For the most part they won't be as quiet, the interiors won't be as professional, they won't be as comfy, they will smell, they're harder to do motorway miles in, they are much more raw, they don't have traction control, they don't have ABS, they won't do 100,000 miles without missing a beat etc etc etc.

I'm not being negative. These things are not disadvantages. Kit cars are events to drive and are so much more fun for it. I love my kit car. However I wouldn't dream of using it as a daily driver though. I'd be deaf, have a bad back and permanently smell of Shell V-Power.

If you are prepared to accept the compromises of a kit car in return for the huge amount of fun they bring then the two that spring to mind would be the Phantom Vortex GTR and the GTM Libra.

[Sam_68]

You'll be wanting a Lotus Elise, then.

... preferably an S2 111R with the Toyota engine, if it's for daily use.

The GTM Libra probably comes closest to meeting your requirements, but since Potenza (the company that build both the GTM and Westfields) seem to be distancing themselves from the project at the moment, you couldn't rely on parts supply being good enough to be able to recommend it as a daily driver, and whilst it's a match for the S1 Elise, it isn't quite as well-built, reliable and civilised as the Toyota engined S2 versions of the Lotus.

[gingerpaul]

Sam's quite right. A Lotus Elise would be a good compromise.

[rdodger]

Sam_68 said:

You'll be wanting a Lotus Elise, then.

... preferably an S2 111R with the Toyota engine, if it's for daily use.

The GTM Libra probably comes closest to meeting your requirements, but since Potenza (the company that build both the GTM and Westfields) seem to be distancing themselves from the project at the moment, you couldn't rely on parts supply being good enough to be able to recommend it as a daily driver, and whilst it's a match for the S1 Elise, it isn't quite as well-built, reliable and civilised as the Toyota engined S2 versions of the Lotus.

Although Westfield/ Protenza have ceased supply of new kits, they are continueing to support current owners and builders. I recently got some new body parts from them within 4 weeks. That's about the fastest any owner of GTM has supplied anything!


To answer the question. The Libra can and is used daily by some people and is more practical and has more room in it than an Elise, both passenger and storage. Just don't expect Boxter levels of refinement.

For 15k you could get 2!

[Sam_68]

rdodger said:

Although Westfield/ Protenza have ceased supply of new kits, they are continuing to support current owners and builders. I recently got some new body parts from them within 4 weeks.

But for how long, is the question?

Ironically, the stuff that is custom-manufactured in-house for the cars is likely to be the most readily available; a new body panel is simply a matter of handing someone a bucket of resin and some CSM and pointing them in the direction of the moulds.

IIRC, they have an obligation under the VOSA code of practice to supply parts for any model supplied as a complete vehicle for 10 years after end of production, but there's little control over whether they maintain in-house stocks of OE components sourced from elsewhere (I believe the terminology used is something like 'components must remain available for supply'). I bought the entire factory stock of components for the FW400, when this obligation came to an end on that model, but it mainly consisted of the stuff that had been specially manufactured in batches for the car. I now have several lifetimes' supply of stub axles, but if I need a light switch, I'm on my own.

I wouldn't bank on being able to get anything off the Libra parts list, off the shelf, in a couple of years time and whilst a 4 week wait for bodywork after an accident might be considered acceptable (with your insurance company covering the cost of a courtesy car), it would be no joke on a daily driver if it took that long to get hold of a suspension bush, say, after an MOT fail.

By comparison, with one or two minor exceptions, I can get hold of any component I like for my Elan 37 years after production was terminated, on next-day delivery, and I expect the Elise will be the same.

Of course it's not a so much of a problem if you know where all the components were sourced, but I don't know whether the GTM owner's club has yet compiled such a list?

[rdodger]

Hi Sam

I take your point, but how many kit manufacturers keep things like a light switch in stock. How many builders use the ones in the factory demo car?

The main concern for GTM owners is the Body parts. Ball joints, bushes, brakes, hubs, wheel bearings etc etc are all from main stream cars and readily available. Even things like wishbones can easily fabricated. As long as Westfield keep producing body parts we will be happy enough.

I will be even happier if we see an upturn in used values They must be a classic now!

[Chris71]

Sam_68 said:

You'll be wanting a Lotus Elise, then.

Don't let Ferg hear you say that...

I'd probably go with an Elise too, but I can see the appeal of the Libra and it probably fits the bill best. If the Murtayas drop to that sort of price they'd be suitable too.

Depends on your defintion of daily driver really. Plenty of people use Sevens as daily drivers, but they make a Libra (let alone a Boxster) look very palacial.

[Ferg]

Chris71 said:

Sam_68 said:

You'll be wanting a Lotus Elise, then.

Don't let Ferg hear you say that... .

I agree completely with what Martin says, but I'd draw attention to the OP. He did say 'kitcar'....

[pacman1]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1536773.htm

[MKnight702]

Well I did 38,000 miles in my Westfield SE using it every day for 3 years. I paid under £5k for it and sold it for about £4,750. In that time I replaced the engine as it was shot and put some nice new alloy wheels and tyres on total cost ~£1k. Insurance in the last year I owned it was £225 fully comp aged 27, unlimited miles. Mind you that was 13 years ago!

In the end I bought a £500 Mini as the commute changed from backroad blat to A14/M11 drag and kept the Westfield for weekends and playing. During the time I owned it I took it up to Scotland and over to Luxembourg with never a missed beat. The hood was used to protect the car when parking and for extreme wet conditions only, the only weather that hurts is hail, and my demister was not great so I did get frost on both sides of the windscreen on very cold, misty days. Other than that I can't recommend it enough.

[Furyblade_Lee]

Having owned one in the past, IF I had to have a daily driving kitcar I would still have a Libra. As Rdoger says, body panels are the only slow things to get, most other items are mainstream / available / bits of metal you could get replicated no problem. I cannot think of any other kitcar which would do so well pressed into daily use. In fact ours was our only car for about 6 weeks. 3 of us. ;-) You can get a lovely one for less than £10K.