New joiner - Oregon, USA

[jupiters_spot]

Hello all
Just joined and wanted to introduce myself. Like many others here I'm in the 50+ zone and the prospect of children leaving the house is filling me with project plans. I have (too?) many hobbies and enjoy car repair, solid-state hi-fi and its repair, woodworking, and watch repair. I have a 1997 VW Jetta that has been repaired only by me and is my daily driver. I'm also a pilot and scuba diver and would enjoy building an aluminum kitplane, but my wife has made it clear that a kitplane and continued matrimonial bliss are incompatible. I think I can put together a car and maintain spousal goodwill.

I've been taken by Stratos form for ages but I recognize that my modest means will relegate me forever to the world of replicas. I enjoy building and fixing things, so a kit really is more my speed anyway. My main reasons for joining here are:
- learn about various kit options available to someone in the US during a pandemic
- get to know others who have walked this path, so that I can learn from their experiences
- general conversation about the cars we love

David

[Normb666]

Hi David, welcome to the mob. Feel free to dive into any conversations/discussions, and ask questions - as they say, there are no stupid ones, and we all had to start somewhere!

There are a few replicas out and about in the States - have a mooch round the forum and you'll soon find out who and where they are. I think registration over there varies from state to state, but it can obviously be done! Your two kit options are Hawk and LB (formerly ListerBell), both based in England. Again, there's plenty of info on here, and both companies have websites too. But Stratos replicas aren't cheap to construct, especially if you want to do the thing justice and maintain residuals - values of good, complete cars have risen dramatically of late, likely on the back of low interest rates and the restomod scene.

Anyhow, hope you can make your dream happen, and if we can help, we will! (except for financial contributions, cos we're all penniless dweebs :) )

[bosmass]

Hi David,

There are a few of us here in the States that have hawk, lb, and corse/lb. There are also numerous ones in the build process as we speak. I think most of these are lb I think.
Let us know what kind of questions you have. I will reiterate what was said above.....these are getting more expensive to build and or buy outright. Still a lot more affordable than the "real" thing right now.

[jupiters_spot]

I sent a short note to Lister Bell inquiring about their ability to ship to west coast US. They're happy to do so, but mentioned "However as our order book is full until 2022 we are currently not taking any orders."
So either business is booming or production is reduced due to Covid-19, or maybe both.

[Normb666]

It's mainly the former....they stopped taking orders in early 2019 as they were getting a bit overwhelmed, with a wait of up to 2 years for a kit and 3+ for turnkey, so it's an effort to take the pressure off and catch up, as well as get the lead times a bit more sensible! And of course the Covid problem hasn't helped.

I placed my order back in Dec 2016 and even then, had to wait till March 2018 for my chassis. Since that time, demand and prices for new and used cars have risen dramatically. They're no longer looked down upon by the classic community as "just kit cars", with all the negativity that implies. The restomod scene, with Singer's 911s and Eagle's E-Types, as well as continuation replicas by Jaguar and Aston Martin themselves, among others, have re-focussed people's minds and attitudes, so now a good LB or Hawk is looked upon as a proper car in its own right and not some sort of tatty rip-off. Cars from the other Stratos manufacturers from back in the day have also benefitted from this effect (well, it's "benefitted" if you own one - not so good if you're buying!) as their values and desirability have risen, but prices of those are correspondingly lower than those for the two current makers.

Should you come across one of these cars for sale and are tempted to pull the trigger, check back here first - it could well be that the car is known (a lot are), and you could get some valuable info from the nerds who inhabit/infest the club! :) Good luck whatever you decide to do!

[ChrisCar6]

Hello all
I'm also a pilot and scuba diver and would enjoy building an aluminum kitplane, but my wife has made it clear that a kitplane and continued matrimonial bliss are incompatible. I think I can put together a car and maintain spousal goodwill.


Excellent negotiating tactic there!