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renmure
23-02-2021, 14:22
Inspired by Andy's idea of a snapshot census of everyone's kit car....

I was wondering what the kit car owning history of folk in the club was.

Given that I've no mechanical skills, no interest in car building and little enthusiasm for taking up a new hobby called "tinkering" you'd probably be surprised to hear that my STR, when it arrives, will actually be my 4th kit car.

First up, 16 years ago (wow, where did that time go!) came a 2004 Westfield MegaBlade. It was on display at a local supercar car meet, the owner had just completed it a few months earlier, it had 800 miles on the clock, he had spent nearly 2 years building it, it was getting a lot of attention because bike-engined cars were a bit of a fad back then, it looked ace and.. it was for sale!

Superbike engine, no windscreen, no heater, no radio, no reverse gear.. seemed like a sensible car to have in the garage I thought.

I thought that was really odd it was for sale tho because back then I didn't realise that for some folk the whole kit-car thing was all about building it rather than owning it but anyhow, I ended up driving home having agreed to buy it. That might have been the last time I was allowed to go to one of these meets on my own!

I owned it for 2 years, did about 4k miles in it. Didn't really like it because I quickly realised it was a bit too raw for me. It was great to take out for a blast at the weekend between breakfast and lunch but other than that the novelty soon wore off. It was very fast but kept bouncing off the 12,000rpm rev limiter before I could look at the speedo and in any event my eyes were half closed a lot of the time to stop them watering. I did a few trackdays in it and it was totally reliable although it was possible to be freezing cold from the knees up but with soles of your shoes melting.

I sold it to a guy from Cardiff. He drove the 480 miles to view it in a transit van towing a car trailer. He didn't really haggle much. I know he still has it as well.

https://i.imgur.com/xBs2fLv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BmOferd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ZdYucpo.jpg


To be continued....

Feel free to join in!!

renmure
23-02-2021, 16:36
A few years after my Westfield experience and the realisation that I was a bit more of a Wuss than I thought, I decided to have another foray into the kit car world. I'd been doing quite a few track days in a Mitsubishi Evo VI TME but it was fairly expensive to run and keep up to date with all the maintenance. Caterhams seemed to perform really well and everyone said they were cheap to run so I ended up buying one blind and heading on a train down to somewhere near Kent to pick up a mint condition, 2 owner (again the 1st owner sold it not long after building it) Caterham R300 Superlight. With the luxury of a windscreen and a 12V powered heated jacket I set off on a 550 mile journey home.

I took it on track once but it was too nice to really track it hard. It was far more grown-up and proper car-like than the Westfield. Again it never put a foot wrong and was totally reliable. It came with the wet-weather gear and I did put the roof up in the garage once but really struggled to get out of it without crawling. I did "modify" it by getting a smaller steering wheel so my knees could more a bit.

Anyhow, kept it for about 3 years and did about 2k miles/year in it. On reflection it probably made me realise that something from Lotus could give 90% of the raw thrill but without the compromises that came with the Caterham so I sold it and bought a Type 72 Exige on the rebound... which wasn't really the smartest decision. Hey ho.

https://i.imgur.com/pqLRZAx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6yXYI7A.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MNLfS2N.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3FjwvIg.jpg

Normb666
23-02-2021, 16:39
I too can't post pix of my current car in Andy's thread, cos I've not got it yet (but soon, very soon...!) Therefore, here's my kits from waaaay back, starting with...

....my Allora, buit between Oct '87 - March '89...

Note the car's in the background of the 2nd pic, on Litton Cars' stand at the Newark Show, 1989.

Normb666
23-02-2021, 16:53
Then, in 1990, I found out Caterham Cars were building a series of "Prisoner" Sevens. I'd already had a Lotus 7 S1 which was fun, but it had no roof and I'd got no garage, so it ended up being swapped for an Elan S4. Anyway, the 7 itch was strong, so after robbing a bank, I put the order in! Car arrived Nov 1990, and was planning to build it over winter. But 3 weeks later...

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Was offered the chance to have a Cosworth BDR motor as Caterham were about to discontinue the option. That meant I also got to meet The Prisoner himself at the press day at the NEC - of course he got car No. 6 :) I sold it in 1993...feck knows why, stupid decision. It ended up in Japan but who knows where it is now.

And finally, a few gratuitous pics of other interesting stuff I've owned....1977 Laverda Jota, 1970 Fulvia 1600 HF (Fanalone) in RHD, 1989 Honda VFR750R (RC30), and the one I blew all my redundancy dosh on in '97, A '64 E-Type 3.8 (totally original, untouched apart from a paint job that appeared applied with a shaving brush).

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And yes, I shouldn't have sold any of these either!!! Hey ho...

Karnevil
23-02-2021, 18:41
This is it for me...............17662

renmure
23-02-2021, 18:46
Fantastic. Thanks for joining in folks.

Norm, when I got my Caterham I went Caterham-daft for a few months and went on eBay and bought a special collection of magazines and dvds of all The Prisoner episodes and the background to them and who's who, including.... a map of The Village. I'm not sure if you need to be taking some sort of illegal substances to make much sense of it all tho so we gave up round about episode 6.

Frederic, I love the GT40. Again, if I'm ever at any sort of car meet and there's a GT40 type car attending then I'm likely to be drooling over it. Someone local to me has one in Gulf colours because I see it out and about in summer but I've never been able to catch the owner to see what it is exactly. Sounds ace tho!

renmure
23-02-2021, 19:26
I've still got my 3rd kit car and have had it for nearly 6 years now. It's a GTR with a 6 litre LS engine. I'd always fancied an Ultima and when this one came up for sale I casually asked on Pistonheads if anyone knew it and within a day almost everyone who owned it previously had popped up with good things to say including the guy who built it. So, jumping in with 2 feet and I bought it without seeing it and my first ever drive in an Ultima was driving my own one 400 miles home from the Midlands. In the rain.

It has changed a bit over the years in my ownership. Not really by design. I ran out of talent on a bend and it had to go to car hospital for about 9 months to be fixed. It came back far better than it went in but I've never really had the same confidence in it since then, so I really just slowly pose around in it and make lots of noise and flames. Until it fell off the road I was doing about 2000/3000 miles/year in it but more recently its been much less. I think I drove it once last year.. maybe less.

Again, I've been really lucky in that, like the Westfield and Caterham, it has been totally reliable (no pressure there then Craig). I did drive it down to Stoneleigh a few years ago in convoy with 3 mates who each one one and that was quite spectacular.

https://i.imgur.com/4SkEB0F.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hWwuyRx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7JcNmLM.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rfrUeVi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/GGOeeMw.jpg

Normb666
23-02-2021, 19:50
Wow Jim, that's some thin glassfibre on that there Ultima - you can see right through it when the light's right! :) It's no wonder you're not driving it much cos just the trip to Stoneleigh and back must have left you eating gruel for ever after paying for juice...

Caterhams are funny things cos they get under your skin (as well as under car park barriers...how do I know this?...hee-hee!) I took my Prisoner car down to Portmeirion, y'know, like ya do, thinking it might be an appropriate place to go. Absolutely no-one paid it any attention at all while it was there. Some people have no idea of place, or maybe none of them ever had a telly. Culturally bankrupt, the lot of 'em.

Frederic, that GT40 is fab. And the Cobras...this one was mine, but not a kit - it's a Superformance.
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Funny story about that is, it was supposed to have a 4-speed "toploader" gearbox. I'd had the car about 18 months when I discovered a "false" gear position opposite reverse when moving it about. So out of interest I lifted the clutch and it pulled forward gently...turned out it had a Tremec 5-speeder and I'd been going everywhere in 4th. Couldn't tell cos it had such long gearing! When I started using 5th it was intergalactic - something over 35mph/1000rpm...and better on fuel, strangely :)

Phubb
24-02-2021, 11:50
Norm would that photo be before I lost vast amounts of flesh from my leg on the exhaust - or did you manage to scrape of the burn remains later ??

Stratos Fear
24-02-2021, 11:58
Volksrod Beach Buggy

Marcos 1600GT (with twin cam engine)

now an LB Stratos STR Stradale

- sorry cant find pics of the first 2 and quality not good anyway.

Jim - BTW your photos of the Ultima are really good - I love the twilight shot in the road.

Normb666
24-02-2021, 14:57
Pete (Phubb), it was after, and I left the flesh on there as a warning to everyone not to get too close...well, till I got fed up of the cloud of flies in the garage every time I went in, then I scraped it off and gave it to the cat.

Pete C - Volksrod and Marcos 1600 are great - was always tempted by the latter but never took the plunge. I was always torn between that and the TVR Vixen!

Frederic, ta for the kind comments :) I took the Cobra to a kit car do at Oulton Park in 2006 (a few from here were there too) and was asked by a guy if it was a genuine one. I told him no, it was a replica, and he was blown away by it - he told me he'd got a "real" Cobra and couldn't tell the difference!
Now of course I'm close to getting what'll probably be my final kit car, the Yellow Peril LB
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Guy Mayers
24-02-2021, 15:26
My history is 34 years long now... But it's with the one car albeit it in multiple guises from RHD Stradale with Volumex to RHD Gp4 with Stradale interior & Alfa V6 to RHD Gp4 with Gp4 interior to LHD with Gp4 interior.

Second car will be RHD Gp4 round arch but I don't anticipate having it for long once completed.

Third car? Who knows. If I could find a Hawk Minisprint...

renmure
24-02-2021, 19:13
Volksrod Beach Buggy

Marcos 1600GT (with twin cam engine)

now an LB Stratos STR Stradale

- sorry cant find pics of the first 2 and quality not good anyway.

Jim - BTW your photos of the Ultima are really good - I love the twilight shot in the road.

I would love a Beach Buggy!! The owners club display at Stoneleigh always seemed to have dozens of them and I really loved seeing all the different variations. I also live about 8 miles from a huge beach with loads of dunes. But, I also know I'd probably drive it a couple of times a year at most so it's probably best that I don't meet my hero.

I can't take credit for that pic although I do enjoy a bit of photography. One of my mates is pretty handy with a camera and has taken a few decent pics for me.

Slight diversion but...

https://i.imgur.com/UKiU85F.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/peN4Tum.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TqRS7sy.jpg

David J
24-02-2021, 19:28
My story is the same as Guy’s and spans 34 years. Went down to Bushey Herts with a trailer and picked up my Allora on the 27 Sept 1987. Purchased a donor vehicle a 1978 Beta Saloon for £150 that supplied engine gearbox and a myriad of other parts plus the registration.

First MOT was on the 20 May 1989. Over the 34 years the car has undergone a constant cycle of development, all the original suspension was re-engineered and replaced. The engine has been upgraded to a Guy Croft unit running on R1 carbs on a Volumex gearbox.

The final icing on the cake the car now has Historic status. I have kept with Lancia twincam as it is old school and simple to maintain. It ran faultlessly all the way to and from the Le Mans Classic in 2018.

tomsredstratos
24-02-2021, 22:49
What a great idea for a thread.

So in 1986 my Uncle passed away and left me £3500. So aged 18 and wanting my first car I can clearly remember reading the Kit car mags in WH Smiths and seeing a Rawlson 250LM for sale.
Quick trip up to Norfolk and the car was mine. And yes,my uncle would have approved of me spending the money within a couple of weeks.

Does anybody remember the Rawlson 250? They made six of them based on Beetle floorpans.
The company made CanAm and race cars in the 70/80's. Now run by the son I believe.
I changed the engine for an Alfasud 1.5 using an adapter plate and a front mounted radiator.

Car was great fun at that age. I seem to remember that it was cheap to insure too.
Two years of ownership and an AlfaRomeo dealer in Devon offered me 8k for it!
It had to go. And that money got me in to Porsche's and TVR's etc.
I see it was last taxed in year 2000. Wonder what state its in now?

A GP Spyder came a bit later. Ally paneled the inside and built a tuned engine for it but never really gelled with it. I really wanted a 550 Spyder but bought that because I couldn't find one.

And of course my Allora that I bought in 2000. Its been a great project over the years and I still find/make jobs to do on it.
Had some great trips in it and Im using it for my commute this week. Its a car to keep now.

Just spent an hour going through my old photos of Stoneleigh and Newark in the early days of the shows.

I know Craig told me not to but if an Ultima MK1 was offered to me......

LPH_UK
25-02-2021, 00:23
LB is my first one. Never built anyhting before but have modifed cars to varying degrees.

Mind you a lot of people thought my 340R was a kit car.....

https://live.staticflickr.com/3937/15495386150_6a2163c769_b.jpg

How I wish my garage still looked that tidy!

AndyGuyton
25-02-2021, 11:54
Including my LB I have two. My first was a GTM coupe. I still own this car and it is enjoying a complete nut and bolt rebuilt. I bought it already built in 2005. It had been modded with a Vauxhall 2.0XE twin cam and F20 gearbox rather than the usual mini engine/box combination. One day, I turned up to work in it and smoke started pouring from the dash, so off went the battery cut off and out came the loom, and I haven't driven it since. It's a rolling chassis again now, and my brother in law is rebuilding the engine. It's on hold now because of the LB, but I see that as a positive because I'm learning so much about how things should be done after seeing how the LB goes together.

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Longtimefan
25-02-2021, 13:49
Just remembered, we did have a kit car previously. We bought it built in 1970 and used it to do club rallies in at the time. It had been built by the son of the proprietor of 'Motorsport', chassis No 7, the first one with a 998cc engine and it was only sold because it had had terrible trouble with over heating. Reversing the direction of the radiator fan cured that!!!! It was bought as Carols daily car just after we got married, and kept it until Children came along as it was somewhat impractical then.

We had just done a Morecombe rally when this was taken and were visiting my mother after who lived in Cumbria. We had a frightening trip home after that down the M6 in thick fog looking below the centre line of the lorry wheels along side. I recon it was lower than a Stratos. Andy Dawson was going to borrow it to do the Manx in, but he was offered a Clan and took that instead.

Just checked the reg on the DVLA and it has reappeared!!!!!!! I wonder where it is now?

Stratos Fear
25-02-2021, 14:56
What a great thread this has turned out to be - some really interesting cars and stories . Let's see some more !

NoCorseChris
27-02-2021, 11:23
All modest stuff for me, as befits my low-rent background!

Started in 1990 with a crappy Cobra kit. I naively thought I could turn a sows ear into a silk purse by using good bits. I was wrong - this thing was shockingly fundamentally flawed but I was young and stupid then. Just old and stupid now, but at least I know a fraction more than I did back then, or maybe I'm just more jaded?? Anyway, I got rid of this as soon as I could. Sold to a couple of friendly German lads at Stoneleigh for a large carrier bag of £50 notes...I kid you not. I lost a lot on it but just wanted it gone. I wasn't popular with the other people selling similar cars that day...... It looked nice enough but the chassis was shockingly flexible with the results you'd imagine.

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Then whilst in the middle of that, the Westfield came along. The Cobra got put on hold (mainly due to lack of funds) while I built the Westy for Vickie. We still have the car although it is rather a Trigger's Broom version now - different engine, gearbox, screen, wheels, brakes, suspension, colour..... You've all seen a Westy though.....it makes an appearance shortly along with the next which was purchased built but in need of TLC, a Marcos Mantula Spyder with a tired Rover 3.5 V8 in it. Initially, I tarted up the motor with a new cam and 4 barrel Holley, as well as sorting various leaks and problems it had. Main one was comically deadly front bumpsteer. A modified rack and wishbones sorted that. It also got wider front arches around that time as I increased the front track.



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Unsurprisingly, this got turned into a kit after a while. Replaced the 3.5l with an EFI 4.2 and got to work on the shocking rear suspension. This was a live axle car and the ride and handling was appalling. I tweaked it to accept a slightly narrowed Jaguar XJ IRS unit. Transformed it.


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Not all that long after this rebuild a front upright snapped (Triumph Herald items) so I converted the front to take Cortina uprights. Much better.


We kept the Marcos a good few years but it got tatty and needed a respray and new interior and I just couldn't face working on the darn thing any more. Sold it to a dealer from Holland.


Then this happened.....

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And finally, this.


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Guy Mayers
27-02-2021, 12:05
And finally, this.


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There's nothing "finally" about it Chris - look forward to seeing what comes next ;)

jasonlycett
27-02-2021, 12:25
A few of mine!, a westfield se , a Westfield megabusa, a Tornado Gt40 and ,my current Superformance Gt40 (although not strictly a kit i did fit the powertrain and IVA it.

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NoCorseChris
27-02-2021, 13:04
There's nothing "finally" about it Chris - look forward to seeing what comes next ;)

I said 'never again' last time....then built the Midlana, so I won't say 'never again'...again, but I can't see myself doing another TBH. :)

AndyGuyton
27-02-2021, 13:44
I'm loving the GT40s that keep popping up, I think I may have to have one, one day.

LOFT6.6
27-02-2021, 14:23
This was my only kit car to date, which I built back in 1982/3 when I was 21. Can't wait for my LB to be available.
Sadly I don't have any pics of my own Nova (hence library snap). I lent them out to the brother of a friend and never got them back!
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renmure
27-02-2021, 15:48
A few of mine!, a westfield se , a Westfield megabusa, a Tornado Gt40 and ,my current Superformance Gt40 (although not strictly a kit i did fit the powertrain and IVA it.

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Lots of love for the GT40's

How did you get on with the MegaBusa and the whole bike-engined thing?

I see you built it with a windscreen option. Did you ever run it without that and use the air deflector instead? I certainly found that simply having a windscreen meant my Caterham got far more impulsive use than the MegaBlade just because it was simply less hassle than faffing around with a helmet. My Caterham came with an switchable wind deflector but I never even took it out the box in the time I owned the car.

jasonlycett
27-02-2021, 22:18
Lots of love for the GT40's

How did you get on with the MegaBusa and the whole bike-engined thing?

I see you built it with a windscreen option. Did you ever run it without that and use the air deflector instead? I certainly found that simply having a windscreen meant my Caterham got far more impulsive use than the MegaBlade just because it was simply less hassle than faffing around with a helmet. My Caterham came with an switchable wind deflector but I never even took it out the box in the time I owned the car.

Didnt like the bike engined thing to be honest. Awful in traffic due to the clutch action, too light for pot holed b roads. Great fun when hard on it but just too hard core for british roads, id go car engine every time. Only ran it a couple of times with the aeroscreen, again just too extreme for me , much nicer with a screen.

mariner
28-02-2021, 14:21
Hi,

My kit car total is five and as I still own two of them unlikely to change.

A Lotus Europa Twin Cam was unexpectantly to become my first kit car after losing an argument with a telegraph pole.
I rebuilt this car onto a new chassis using a new body shell. (Owned 1975 - 81)
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Second was a Caterham Seven 1600 BDR (Owned 1988 - 90 sold to Japan)
Ali bodywork looks great but was a pain to keep clean
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Third was Caterham Vauxhall HPC (Owned 1991 - 96 sold in UK)
Painted this one to save all the polishing.
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Both Caterham’s were complete kits of all new parts.
Chassis came with wiring loom, fuel and brake lines already fitted so a very easy build
Registration simple just pay the various taxes and straight on the road with a current registration.
No SVA or IVA inspections were required back then not even an MOT as cars were new.

Fourth is my CAE Corse i which I purchased June 1993 and on the road May 1996.
Longest I’ve ever owned a car and continues to evolve, not sure if you ever finish these cars.

Finally, the fifth is a Tiger Avon ZX-9R 900 cc Kawasaki (2003 to date)
SVA passed but now only used for track days
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rgds Bob

ah_sprite
01-03-2021, 02:10
Well, thought I'd make a contribution! As a lot of you know I'm the resident Arthur Daley, I think I'm over the 400-car mark now...!!!

A bit of background first... I've always been into rallying and as a 10 year old was shocked to see a Stratos out of the window of the school bus one morning. Managed to convince my folks to go and knock on the guy's door, and I suppose that was the start of the desire for a Stratos rep!

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My car owning career started at the age of 12 with a £50 Nova that I bought to learn the art of the handbrake turn, in my parents small field. Yes, before anyone comments on the headlight modifications and the electrician's tape go-faster stripes, they were ironic ;)

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From there, I bought and sold various sub-£100 cars including an XR2, an ST162 Celica and a Healey Sprite, before purchasing my £300 MGB at the age of 16, in readiness for it being my everday car. It had been off the road since the mid 1970s so needed a good amount of fettling. 90,000 miles later and she's still going strong!

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Anyway - kit cars! I bought this Lomax as a 17 year old from a neighbour, it had been standing for around 20 years so was a fun recomissioning project to distract me from my A Levels....
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Sold it to buy this - not exactly a kit car but a 'special' all the same (points to anyone who knows what it is!):

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Next up came this part-finished Hawk which made an excellent stablemate for another restoration I had going on at the time, a (very rotten!) S3 Fulvia:
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Once the Fulvia was done and I'd made a decent start on the Hawk, another one came up for sale. I couldn't resist going to have a look, and before I knew it, I'd agreed to buy it and the part-finished car was sold to a chap in the USA. Haven't heard anything of the part-finished car since then, I wonder where it is now! I kept the Pirelli car for good while, and had some good fun in it. Whilst at university, the car was stuck up at my folks' place in the Lakes so it wasn't getting the use it deserved, so I decided to advertise it at (what I thought was) strong money, not really expecting it to sell. I was inundated with calls and within a week or two it had gone. And yes, it's the one that's now for sale for £110k - about 3 times what I sold it for!

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Returned to the three-wheeler scene briefly when I recommissioned this Guzzi-engined JZR - this time avoiding university work.

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Built this BMW Z3 based Tribute 250SWB for a bit of 'fun' last year... It actually turned out better than I thought it would! The Z3 is quite a good basis for this sort of kit, but there were lots of issues with various aspects of the design (or lack of) which needed to be overcome. I guess I was just spoilt with the Lister Bell kit where everything just went together beautifully!

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And yes, of course, the LB. I couldn't shake off the Stratos bug that I'd had since being a young nipper!

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ah_sprite
01-03-2021, 04:58
...and in the same vein to Norm, here's some of the machinery I've had the pleasure to have owned so far. All thanks to a rotten Nova!

https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/155831770_10158558647609440_407261434913841322_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=0ASlaKhlC1gAX9pUP2L&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=0a5b7bd77123b2e8dffb0619d85e4bc9&oe=606373ED


https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/155877185_10158558647934440_8931492183558744741_o.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=c4K7dQJu5XUAX-25Gjx&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=967d84a8ee03908bf042f761ab87421f&oe=60608665


https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/155846445_10158558648499440_8092787889025378752_o.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=4qgp9j5f-q8AX8NHTZj&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=d157b4677d3f5288bfefe75ddf2f21ec&oe=6062DCB3

https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/155935874_10158558648844440_5407809962529978313_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=dFFCABzORw0AX9yZFwu&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=7fc822c42e4240a1addf6b2c83ee9f6d&oe=60639BAD

https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/156135177_10158558649314440_1831367540685630111_o.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=aJVSz3PduBYAX9KsS_W&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=2f5ec7bebb3a0b7c9a33d6e2b8c8b1f8&oe=60624070

https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/155806758_10158558649499440_1021091115500063189_o.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=jJ0WIUteP40AX_XPqdH&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=06b034cc0ef70a398a59660e3a914bd9&oe=6062502F

https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/156246075_10158558649354440_8913868296615662040_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=DnLNYVv-psQAX9Er7fL&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=287335f082f609bf7faf44f98e59d355&oe=6061B9C9

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Longtimefan
01-03-2021, 09:13
Richard, your quiz re the blue car, a Peerless GT. I was about when they were current!!! And noting the time of the posts, do you suffer from insomnia?

Robin

Normb666
01-03-2021, 12:05
Robin, as you know, "evil never sleeps", which includes "2nd-hand car salesmen" :)

Some interesting and fab stuff there! I wanna know if the pic of the Vincent was just before it went into the canal, or were you only thinking about it at that point? (It just occurred to me - that bike's currently worth about the same as what it cost to build the whole canal back in the day...)

ah_sprite
01-03-2021, 12:42
Well done, Robin!

For me, the Peerless was a cheap entry into the 50s 'GT' car, I paid £6k for it. You'd be lucky to find one for under £45k now! TR3 running gear in a tubular spaceframe (same chassis as later used on the Gordon Keeble), with a De Dion rear axle. Twin fuel tanks - one in each sill! They didn't sell very well because the fit and finish, particularly of body gaps, wasn't exactly great, but they were a similar price to production cars.

And well observed on the post timings.... haha!

The Vincent came about because I owned a Vincent Comet. I was in the club (youngest member in the local section by 42 years...), the chappy with the Shadow was struggling to start it, never mind ride it. He wanted it to go to someone that was going to use it, rather than it ending up in a collector's front room, so offered it to me. I sold the Comet to a guy in France, who came over and rode it home. They're beautifully engineered machines and were well ahead of their time.

renmure
01-03-2021, 19:43
The Guzzi-engined JZR looks interesting. There's a guy who turns up at our regular track-days in a Morgan 3 wheeler which always gets lots of attention. He does seem like he has to move the steering wheel a lot to go straight tho!

Normb666
01-03-2021, 20:28
And the Morgan link to Lancia is....sliding pillar front suspension!

Those Mog 3-wheelers always amaze me when cornering hard and you can see the spokes in the wheels bending....wonder how often they have to have the wheels re-spoked??

Guy Mayers
01-03-2021, 21:23
And the Morgan link to Lancia is....sliding pillar front suspension!

Those Mog 3-wheelers always amaze me when cornering hard and you can see the spokes in the wheels bending....wonder how often they have to have the wheels re-spoked??

You could ask Austin Smith Norm - he's got a "camouflaged with roundels" Morgan 3 wheeler now - registration WW11MOG!

FYI The current link to Lancia is the use of Thesis rear lights on the Aero 8.

Normb666
01-03-2021, 22:30
You dunnarf know some stuff, Guy. In fact you could write a thesis on it :)

renmure
20-03-2021, 20:11
Well, while waiting for more folk to remember what other kit cars they've had in the past it seems that I've been an Ultima owner now for 6 years and 6 months and 6 days.

666 eh, spooky or wot.. so I very carefully made my way to the MOT station today and the car sailed through as usual with no advisories or hassle.

The big shocker was the mileage. I've done a whole 28 miles between MOT's.

Worse, the last MOT was in June 2019 as there was the 6 month Covid extension through to December 2020 and the car isn't too great in the snow so I held off for a run of nice days before booking the test today. 28 miles in 21 months. Eeek!!

Even more worse ... it's 10 miles to the MOT station so taking the 10 miles home from the last MOT and the 10 miles to get to this morning's one that means I've enjoyed 8 miles of driving it over that 21 months.

Even more worse than that... the last time I drove it the pipe to the clutch slave cylinder burst (when I was 8 miles from home I suppose) and I had to be recovered by the AA on a flatbed to the garage who fixed it and generously returned it to me in their transporter. it's actually covered more miles with the engine off than on and the petrol in it must be nearly 2 years old. :o

I might take it out and give it a wash tomorrow.

https://i.imgur.com/silJ5Eh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Stia7DY.jpg

Longtimefan
20-03-2021, 20:57
Are those 'Arran Piper' seed potato boxes in the back ground? or a wind break.

renmure
20-03-2021, 21:03
They would be seed potato boxes up at the farm. Dunno what kind tho, other than it isn't Mash. :)

Normb666
20-03-2021, 22:02
Have to get some. Leah keeps asking for a break from the wind.

Jim, if you do get the car out tomorrow, don't whatever you do start the engine. That could just, effectively, be classed as enjoying your car, and we can't be having that, now, can we?

And talking of anniversaries...today is 10 years to the day since I picked up my 987 Boxster Spyder, and apart from the usual servicing items, the only thing it's needed is a replacement seat belt buckle due to the connected wiring being routed wrongly and causing an airbag fault when it eventually snapped at the buckle connector. And No it's not only done 50 miles :)

And now, coincidences: was talking about Alfa Montreals this morning with someone. Only an hour later a different pal rings up to say he's been looking at one and bought it....oo-ee-oo!

gtmpaul
20-03-2021, 22:53
As we are sharing our our previous kit cars here are mine.

It all started early eighties with a Mini Scamp, this was bought new as kit in about 83 for the kit price of £399 for the body and chassis, this ended up white but after a couple of years I remodelled the front the be more of a Moke looking car.



17823

17824


During the Scamp ownership along came the Sylva Star in 1988, this had been part built with an Essex V6 so that came out and in went a Fiat Twin cam, used it for sprinting and a few hill climbs until a rebuild in 1990 ready for a European tour.



17825


17829


The Star then spent the next two summers going Greece , I did a couple of summers working out there so why not drive a really impractical low car with black seats to a country with crap roads and very high summer temperatures.
The car did very well apart from broken down pipe, cracked alternator then finally a broken half shaft (AA five start flew out my spare axel)


17826

17827

17828

17830


That's enough for the first instalment more to follow
Paul

ProtoTipo
28-04-2021, 16:55
Does anybody remember the Rawlson 250? They made six of them based on Beetle floorpans.
The company made CanAm and race cars in the 70/80's. Now run by the son I believe.
I changed the engine for an Alfasud 1.5 using an adapter plate and a front mounted radiator.

This looks different to your's Tom?:
250LM replica (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265119347820?hash=item3dba58346c:g:-YYAAOSwzk1gcfAm)

renmure
28-04-2021, 20:21
This looks different to your's Tom?:
250LM replica (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265119347820?hash=item3dba58346c:g:-YYAAOSwzk1gcfAm)

My views of Ferrari replicas are slightly tainted by probably spending too much time around the real things and by spending a few years parked in the Ultima area at Stoneleigh which was just in front of the Ferrari replica area and not really seeing any great similarities.

However, I remember being really taken by the Dino replicas at the show way back in 2016/17 by the DeHavilland Motor Company and still think they look really classy. No idea whether the kits are any good but the display car looked well put together https://www.dehavillandmotorcompany.com//gt

tomsredstratos
28-04-2021, 23:20
It is the same project Chris. I believe Tiger Racing bought the moulds from Rawlson and modded the body for mid engine layout.
I seem to remember they only produced one or two around 1990.
Its Tiger themselves selling this one.