I canĀ“t afford a kit car company (I donĀ“t even know what it takes to make a plug anyway). But if I had one IĀ“ll look for new ideas. BMW, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Maserati, Lotus, Lister, Vector, Pagani... the list go on. There are some amazing cars waiting for being replicated. As I said, I donĀ“t have the funds to start my own company, but believe me, I would try something different.

I know a Diablo Roadster is amazing, but donĀ“t you like a 500SL? or a DB7? Maybe IĀ“m too ignorant and IĀ“m talking without knowing it all about kit cars. I apologize if so. But IĀ“m just tires of the same 3 or 4 kits.

I know there is some people out there that builds amazing replicas, so thatĀ“s not the problem. There are some very intelligent persons with enough skills to produce any replica.

Same with classics. Nothing new appears (not even a *******).

I want to start my own company. I want to know more and more about kits. I canĀ“t start ir know, but I will try to earn money and get informed. If someday I start it, you will see something different.

Thanks in advance.

KITCARMAN

Diablos are from the early 90s, F355 the same. I was trying to understand why insĀ“t avaible new and different things.

I wanted a SRT-10 Viper, but I can understand that itĀ“s a 2003 car and isnĀ“t a replica avaibƱe yet. But what about GTS? ItĀ“s from mid 90s. This is just an example.

I donĀ“t want to argue with you guys. ItĀ“s just my opinion. All I see are Diablos, F355, Testa Rossa, Cobras and Countach. And some companies, instead of producing new models, build or buy/sell plugs for Diablos. ItĀ“s not wrong, I supouse itĀ“s busimess. A Vanquish wouldnĀ“t sell as much as a Diablo. But who knows? I mean, no one has tried.

Anyway IĀ“m not so sure about that, I believe Vanquish would sell lots of cars (all James Bond fans), but thatĀ“s a particular example. Of course it should be expensive, but after building the plug, and selling a few cars at a normal price, I think you will earn more money that the one you spent on the plug and production.

As I said, forgive me if IĀ“m too ignorant, itĀ“s just that IĀ“m getting tired of new Diablos plugs or new companies building them. I want to believe that people out there can make new things. I donĀ“t have the funds, but I will love to produce new cars: Vanquish, DB7, XJ220, Z8, 500SL...

While we here in the U.S. tend to focus on the Cobra, there are MGs, Hot Rods (they'll never admit it, but a large percentage of the '32 Ford Highboys out there are made with aftermarket chassis, fiberglass bodies, custom interiors and Cheyv (of all things!) V8s. That spells 'kit car' in my book!), and tons of custom designs out there.

If I were you - and I realize that I'm not - I'd look a bit more closely at some of the less expensive replicas on the market that you can get into for a lower dollar cost. Of course, the trade off is that you'll be into it a bit more with sweat equity, but in the end, that may be what you need.

For example, if you wanted to start a motorcycle replica company (there are plenty of companies out there that sell "bike in a box" type kits directed towards the Harley market), you might want to look into modifying easily obtainable kits or mods for a less expensive bike before you dropped $10K on a full S&S engine (that's engine - not bike. You could probably do an inexpensive conversion (like a Honda Goldwing to a bar hopper ala www.kw-enterprises.com) and make a bit of money off of it. Then invest that money (and more of your time) in building the next one.

Or, as another example, you could start off with a Locost, which is a Lotus 7 replica. They're light, they're nimble, and they have a pretty big following. Lots of help, low cost entry, and places that will sell you an entire kit if you don't want to fabricate a chassis by yourself (I'd recommend picking up at least the chassis from someone else to start with...). Doesn't cost much to get into, you get a hard-core education on putting things together, and in the end you'll have a pretty trick little car that you can sell for a profit (you can find out more about the Locost at the (unfortunately chosen name) CMC website: www.championmotorcars.com).

Or, you could save your money and invest it at a later time. Your call.

In any case, look beyond what you think a kit car is; there are TONS of really trick kits out there!

Your pal,
Meat.

Although there is the variety, N America is mainly focussed around the Cobra and various supercars.

Personally I don't think that the lack of good quality magazines is helping one little bit. In short it's pretty pathetic. There is no comparison to the mags over the other side of the ocean. They are full color and at least twice as thick as KitCar. If anyone gets the chance to read one such as Which Kit, please do, you'll be amazed.

Maybe a few roadtests of something different would be good Mr Editor?

GavinR

I agree with you about the kits in US, thatĀ“s exactly my point. I canĀ“t understand why XJ220 hasnĀ“t been done yet, for example. Instead, lots of guys seem crazy about a 360. ItĀ“s just a silly example (actually I donĀ“t like that *******).

In my opinion, what you said is the true. Cobras and a few supercars is almost all we see. Of course there are other kits, but I mostly see the same one and another time.

I just canĀ“t get it. XJ220, DB7, XJR, Vanquish, SL500, CL500, Viper GTS, Viper SRT-10, XK150, VW W12 Roadster, Z8, Miura (well someone made this one some time ago, but it was only ONE company)... Someone would produce this cars sooner or later. I belive this, because someday the market will be saturated with Diablos and Cobras, and people will be looking for something new.

I would be glad if time shows IĀ“m right. But I believe (donĀ“t have proves, just an opinion) that nowadays companies are selling less Diablos and Cobras than any other time. And donĀ“t tell me nobody will buy a (for example) SL500. There are lots of Mercedes fans who canĀ“t buy the real one.

IĀ“m kind of glad to see that Porsche Carrera GT is being produced (I donĀ“t know if it can be purchased yet). That is something new. Good news! someone is producing a new kit about a new "never-done-before" car. I would like to see more like this.

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