Talk about hobbies and one which seems to interest some individuals is the building of a custom car which meets their specifications. What happens is that a person imports or buys a starter-kit of a certain model of the vehicle.
Normally, the starter-kit comprises of the chassis / body shell and a bare frame of a car model with no mechanical parts which are used to power the vehicle. At times the kit would include some parts that maybe unique to giving the car’s body a vintage look. The person will then have to source for the mechanical parts such as the engine and transmission and then assemble the car themselves or have it assembled to them by a third party.
The kit might also come with a list of other car parts which are supposed to be obtained from donor vehicles and are usually the perfect match for assembling the kit car.
Kit cars are popular because they are seen as a way to get around stringent importation regulations and also an easy way of economically importing expensive vehicle. Due to this reason, most kit cars are usually sports cars such as Ultima GTR, Caterham, or Westified.. I wish the Morgan newest models were available like that.
At times, these kit cars may be referred to as cosmetic cars because of the manner in which they use the donor parts to power them e.g. a Noble M600 kit car would have the body which uses a running gear of the Volkswagen Beetle, or the engine & suspension of a Pontiac Fiero and floor pans of a model like the Toyota MR2.
The site was used as a reference by builders of Kit cars, such as Lamborghini Countach, until 2007 when the domain of the site was left to expire without renewal. Upon picking the domain up and registering it afresh, I thought that the best bet you’d love about the site is to have more detailed info about kit Cars. Definitely, the guess was good as correct and that what I will be giving you.
Check out some of the posts below as I work on the rest.
During my childhood, my friends praised my toy car building skills. I grew up in a poor countryside where advanced commercial toy cars were not available. Child innovators like me used waste cans to design the bodies and rubber sandals to create the wheels of our cherished toys. Sometimes we found ourselves at loggerheads with our family members for wasting their useful sandals. I was capable of designing the toy of any automobile that I came across. My huge collection of toys enabled me to sell some to my friends.
I really acknowledge my family members who tirelessly encouraged me to nurture my innovative talent. At the age of twelve years, I came up with my first electrical powered toy car using a simple dc motor to create rotational motion on some gears coupled to the front wheels. The motor was powered by a 6 volts rechargeable battery. I was branded a genius by my fellow villagers.
When I grew up and having accumulated enough cash from my various economic ventures, I was toying with the idea of building my own kit car. I wanted to create the car just to pay tribute to my past years. I had some basic automotive engineering competence and a standard toolkit. There were various car styles to choose from. Selecting the right one was extremely mind-boggling. I needed to work through some essential tips to avoid selecting the wrong model…
1. Setting a Budget
This was the most crucial step that I needed to spend some time working through. Kit cars were available in all budget ranges. For example, the Locust was priced at just a few hundred dollars while a sports utility car like Sterling Sports was priced very high.
Therefore, it was essential that I set a financial aggregate and adequately stick to it. I was aware that during the project, there were some simple things that would burn my cash if I allowed my enthusiasm to run away with me. Flashy bits could cost much money.
2. Choosing a Kit Car Style
To limit my search for the ideal car, I needed to consider my driving style as well as how I would put my completed car into use. I needed a car that I would take onto the racetrack or one that would enable me to drive along lowly maintained country roads. A cobra replica would be my ideal selection.
3. Information Gathering
Now that I had a set budget and a particular car style in mind, I needed to collect all the necessary information that would enable me to limit my options down to the final equilibrium. I visited the manufacturer’s website where I found out all the specifications that would give me an idea of how the completed car would be like.
After this, I keenly checked out customers’ reviews to find out if there were any underlying complications with the manufacturer or assembly problems. I chose the best Owners Club to assist me during any difficulties I would encounter since they were much experienced. I got some other information from magazines, forums, and independent review websites.
4. Visiting the Factory
My last step was to hit the road and visit the factory. Since my targeted kit car manufacturer was a small time operator, I called earlier to book an appointment. In the factory, I was given a test car to inspect. I was very lucky that my visit coincided with a day that the factory was holding an Open Day. I was able to see a wide variety of cars from several enthusiastic builders. This was where I could see the full potential of the car I was just about to build.
Having gone through the four steps, I fully began the actual process of building my Cobra replica. The process went on extremely well and after three weeks my car was almost ready. What remained were some bits of interior design.
Out of curiosity I decided to take my car out for some sort of testing regardless of the factory’s recommendation that I should wait for the car to be fully completed. The road I was driving on was crossing a railway line. I was driving at a very high speed that I couldn’t notice the train hooting as it approached the crossing. In a frantic move to avoid sudden death, I made a sudden U-turn just before I and my cherished car were crushed by the massive locomotive.
While making the U-turn at the highest possible speed, my car hit a donkey which was happily grazing and it died instantly before veering off the road and landed in a ditch.. I was almost lynched by an angry mob before three good Samaritans came to my rescue. However I had to pay the donkey’s owner double the normal price. The usual price for a grown up donkey at our area was about $200 while the owner demanded $410.
The front bumper of my car was totally devastated, its engine dislocated, and all its tires irreparably damaged. In short, the car was extensively damaged. It was towed back to the factory and it was estimated that it would cost me an additional cost which was almost three quarters its budget. I decided to fix only the most essential parts. Up to this day, the car has never been fully completed to the intended standards.
