Hello all

[Jono9304]

Hi I’m new to the site, having just sold a treasured classic car I’m going to live my dream of building a Stratos replica.
looking forward to meeting you and chatting soon.
Jon

[Guy Mayers]

Welcome to the site Jon, have you joined the club to get access to the whole site? There's lots of useful advice here whichever route you choose to go down with whichever manufacturer!
In case you don't know both LB Cars and Hawk have considerably waiting lists so you've got lots of time to source and prepare donor parts before the kit arrives. I'm not aware of any cars for sale at the moment but those that do pop up are usually either advertised here first or linked to if they appear on the usual classic car websites or eBay.
Cheers
Guy

[Stratos Fear]

Hi Jon

Not sure where in West Sussex you are but that is my neck of the woods (Arundel) so if you want a chat about building a Lister Bell let me know. Mine is finished - almost - and is currently being tweaked to get it through IVA (having failed on some relatively minor points).

Peter

[DeanM]

Hello
Just received a reply from LB.
The order book and waiting list is closed
No mention of new orders .
Could be a year or more I guess

[Guy Mayers]

I'm sure it will open again and you'll get your order in. Until then the I guess the value of part built kits will keep rising? Let alone the finished articles!
Guy

[ProtoTipo]

I'm sure it will open again and you'll get your order in. Until then the I guess the value of part built kits will keep rising? Let alone the finished articles!
Guy

And yet, hardly anything comes up for sale these days?

[Strat Fan]

And yet, hardly anything comes up for sale these days?
Which is a shame because there must be plenty of unfinished kits sat under sheets in garages belonging to owners who have long since given up or have maybe now even been passed down a generation.
A barn find Stratos rep must surely be a thing of potential these days?

[Guy Mayers]

If only I had a barn you'd find an unfinished (Hawk) in it. But there is a plan. It involves a house move and it the one we want comes off there'll be the potential for a garage day that doesn't exist here!

[Kenny m]

Do you do bed and breakfast Guy.

[Guy Mayers]

Not yet Kenny, not yet!

[Strat Fan]

If only I had a barn you'd find an unfinished (Hawk) in it. But there is a plan. It involves a house move and it the one we want comes off there'll be the potential for a garage day that doesn't exist here!
Still up North or maybe a little further South.....?

[LPH_UK]

A barn find Stratos rep must surely be a thing of potential these days?

Pretty sure I saw some in the barns at your place Craig!

But they don't need 'finding' I guess......

[Normb666]

I'm a bit traumatised by the thought of what Guy's B&B might be....bring your own spanners and a pair of overalls...

But back to the O.P....just hang on, keep looking, and unless it definitely has to be an LB, something could just turn up. As Craig said, there must be quite a few unfinished kits sat in garages, car ports and under sheets. And I'd say the same about a new LB kit too, cos at some point they'll open the order book again, surely sooner rather than later! (which doesn't mean I've got any inside knowledge whatsoever - just a gut feeling!)

[Guy Mayers]

Still up North or maybe a little further South.....?

North East Craig. But not far from where we are, still in easy distance of Liverpool.

We have an offer in on a property that has a buyer already but with issues that have caused others to drop out post survey. It's a 3 bed detached with a double garage with an apex roof that's been extended behind making it a quad garage but with a flat roof at the back. Plan (IF we get it) is to put a new roof front to back but with a flat roof at apex height over the extended rear so I can move the 4 post lift in too. Should find out this week but honestly not that hopeful. And we'll probably run out of budget to do that once any work that needs doing on the house is done.

Guy

[Guy Mayers]

I'm a bit traumatised by the thought of what Guy's B&B might be....bring your own spanners and a pair of overalls...


What's spanner Norm? With the state of the garage we hope to get it's more likely to be bring a hammer, saw and nails and an ability to make roof trusses and sheet them off! The overalls I can sulpply along with tea, coffee and biccies for the right persons!

[Martin0074]

Hello
Just received a reply from LB.
The order book and waiting list is closed
No mention of new orders .
Could be a year or more I guess

Hi new to the site also LB as stated books are closed with a 5 year lead time !!
Hawk 2 year waiting time!

[Stratos Fear]

Hi Martin - I'm sorry to hear there is such a long lead-time. This is the problem with a high quality, well-engineered product and finite factory production resources. If you can bear to wait it will be worth it but otherwise the only option is to buy second-hand and uprate it. As somebody has remarked on here there are a lot of kits that have been bought over the last few years but which never seem to see the light of day (unless they are in very long-term build!) It might be worth you making some enquiries of these kits.

[Martin0074]

Hi Martin - I'm sorry to hear there is such a long lead-time. This is the problem with a high quality, well-engineered product and finite factory production resources. If you can bear to wait it will be worth it but otherwise the only option is to buy second-hand and uprate it. As somebody has remarked on here there are a lot of kits that have been bought over the last few years but which never seem to see the light of day (unless they are in very long-term build!) It might be worth you making some enquiries of these kits.

I think I will do as you say and keep my eye open for used kit. I am edging towards the LB I am not looking to build an exact replica I think the general opinion is it’s easier to build if anyone out there is thinking of moving their project on let me know please cheers

[renmure]

Stratos replicas eh! It's like the old joke about it being wise to invest in land because they've stopped building it. :)

Another option is to speculatively contact existing owners and ask them if their finished cars or even ongoing projects are for sale. You never know.

There will be owners who find themselves in the unusual situation where they find themselves owning something that now has a disproportionately high value to what it may have cost them some years ago. Similarly there might be a few folk who were comfortable owning a £30k fun car and less comfortable having over £60k tied up in a fun car. They might not really have thought about selling or advertising for sale but might for the right offer.

[Martin0074]

Stratos replicas eh! It's like the old joke about it being wise to invest in land because they've stopped building it. :)

Another option is to speculatively contact existing owners and ask them if their finished cars or even ongoing projects are for sale. You never know.

There will be owners who find themselves in the unusual situation where they find themselves owning something that now has a disproportionately high value to what it may have cost them some years ago. Similarly there might be a few folk who were comfortable owning a £30k fun car and less comfortable having over £60k tied up in a fun car. They might not really have thought about selling or advertising for sale but might for the right offer.



I will keep my eyes open and see what comes along as you say there must be so many part built/ abandoned projects out there which is a shame! I should imagine those type of cars will mostly appear on eBay! Let the search begin👍

[Guy Mayers]

Quite a few appear here first. If you're not a full member it's worth joining for that alone. I'm hoping a house move will allow me to progress a stalled build soon. Unfortunately the No.1 choice house has gone, we're back to square 1 for the time being. Any likely candidate may have to have a garage we can enlarge.

And if there's nothing suitable the kit will get offered here before eBay!

Guy

[Normb666]

Sorry to hear you missed out on the new gaff, Guy. Was quite looking fwd to the Big Housewarming Gig. :(

To Martin and the others - keep your eyes open, they really do come up now and then. If you spot something you might be interested in, ask on here to see if it's a known car or kit. At the very least you can go into trying to do a deal from a position of strength!

[Guy Mayers]

Thanks Norm, we were gutted too. Whilst it's status has changed it's not completed yet so there's still a very faint hope. In the meantime the hunt continues and a double garaged house has popped onto the market this weekend that we may be able to knock into a triple. This may give me a chance to complete the build at last. But I may decide to pass it on to someone else via this site or eBay. Given the lack of availability of new kits from either manufacturer I should recover all the costs to date?
Guy

[Normb666]

Fingers crossed then! Thing with houses is that, even if the one you really, really wanted slips through your fingers, there'll soon be another that you want just as much along shortly!

I don't know how much you've got in your second car, but the way things are at the moment, I can't see how anyone who's currently got a Stratos, of whatever flavour, not making money on it should they decide to sell. And whoever buys one will be onto a winner as well, cos even if order books reopen etc. there's still the wait time to consider.