Looking for a stratos again

Hi all

I joined this forum many, many years ago back in 2009 I believe. At the time I looked at two finished hawk cars at ?20k but decided not to pursue and ended up going down the Ford GT40 replica route. Well 16 years later I'm back and looking at Stratos' again. I'm not sure a ?20k budget is going to get me into a car today but as I haven't been following that closely the market it would be good to know if Listerbell and Hawk are still the main manufacturers, do both still offer kits and what sort of prices are they both today for a full kit?

I'm guessing that there are still long waiting lists for kits so does anyone know what timeline is for either manufacturer and also an estimate on what a home builder can expect in terms of final build costs. I'd be looking for a grp4 (square arch) car.

One final question. Are there any shows like the classic motor show that the club and manufacturers might be at?

Thanks

Trev

Trev
Others with far better knowledge than me, will no doubt comment on the availability of kits/timeframes etc.
The club has a combined stand with Lancia at the upcoming Nov 7/8/9 NEC Classic Sow.
There will be a real one on the club stand.

Hi Trev, I can't speak for LB cars but I'm sure Craig will be along soon!

Hawk Cars are still trading happily making kits, we don't supply turnkey cars!

We have a very long waiting list that we estimate will be around 3 years. We stopped taking deposits a couple of years ago when Gerry had his big fall and we're still working our way through the list we had then. There are currently 7 orders on which we hold deposits for kits to be supplied (5 Stratos and 2 Cobras) and a GT40 panel set to be done. We have all the Stratos chassis in stock now but are waiting for the two Cobra chassis to be delivered.

The Stratos takes about 6 weeks from being put on the build table to going out for delivery, the Cobras slightly less and the GT40 panels even longer than the Stratos! Unfortunately our laminator insists on taking all the annual leave he's entitled to but he does work 7am to 5pm every weekday and 7 to 2 on a Saturday!

We instigated a waiting list that Kenny Mahon kindly administers for us. There are currently 58 people on that list (48 Stratos and 10 Cobra) however we expect a significant number of those to have found an alternative project or life to have got in the way. We won't know until we start asking for deposits again in the New Year. The list seems to grow every month!

Guy

Thanks for the info Guy. I knew the waiting list would be long, I think it was close to 2 years on Lister Bell when I last spoke to them. Are you the person to speak to about Hawk then? I'm trying to initially gauge what a typical group 4 is likely to cost to see if it aligns to my budget/expectations and then to get onto one of the waiting lists where I can.

Thanks

Trev

Hi Trev, me or Gerry but it's expensive these days.. A Group 4 car is now ?23,000, suspension ?2000, Wheels ?3300, Fuel tanks ?900, Steering and ball joints etc ?1000, Screen trim, door capping, front inner arches another ?1000, Radiator ?950 all plus VAT. Donor car and tyres, exhaust and paint you're looking at ?50-?60k now.

Hi Trev, if you have the budget you can skip the 3 year waiting list plus another few years building lead time and go for a fully sorted stunning ready for immediate delivery example. Contact Ade (Loft6.6) for details.

Hi all, apologies for the radio silence Steve I hadn't seen your message. I've just pinged Loft6.6 a message. I'm not sure if he still has the car but I am keen to see if I can make a stratos replica a reality this time around.

I actually stopped by and had a brief chat with some of the people on the NEC stand at the weekend and the three cars on display were the stars of the show for me. It reignited my passion for them and so I am back hunting for a car, I think most likely it will be a Hawk as they seem to be more realistically in my price range. Guy, thanks for sharing the info and latest prices. If I can't find a used car then I may well be in touch to see if I can join the back of the queue.

Finally does anyone know this car and thoughts on it? I just spotted it on car and classic. It looks like a well used example but could potentially be a good base for me to put my own mark on it and do a winter rebuild? I've no idea what sort of value you'd put on this one though?
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctio...replica-8bRrX8

Trev

No need to apologize to me.
Take a look at this https://www.stratosec.com/Forum/show...-page-for-sale

Hi all

So I have been offered a car that looks promising. The car looks like to be in really good condition however I'm not sold on the colour. Could anyone give a rough idea on how difficult it would be to do a full body respray on a Hawk and what's involved? The good news is that the chassis/engine bay and rear bulkhead appear to be painted black so that doesn't need respraying, it's the front and rear clams, roof/centre body section and doors that would need repainting. Any idea on how difficult it would be to do a quality respray and possible cost you would expect? I've know a couple of excellent bodyshops that I was looking at using to respray my front clam on my Lotus Evora but they are unlikely to have worked on a Hawk before so any information would be super useful.

Thanks

Trevor

You could call Kingswell Coachworks and speak to Nigel Baker there, he's done lots of Gerry's cars and customer cars, Gerry won't use anyone else. A lot of the prep work is panel gapping etc but that's probably already been done? So, flatting down, fresh primer and top coats to your taste. Still not cheap wherever you go but not like you'd be starting from scratch?

Guy

Thanks Guy, really helpful.

So it's looking more likely that I'll be viewing a Hawk in the next week. As a newbie to these cars what sort of things should I be looking out for and what are signs of a good and bad car? I like to put together a bit of a buyers guide checklist when looking at cars so really any help in preparing me for the viewing would be much appreciated otherwise I worry I'll just go hear before head and think it looks awesome and just buy it without giving it a proper look over.

Thanks again

Trev

Build quality and signs of bodywork damage. Has it been looked after really. There's no particular thing to look for but options might affect your decision - engine type and size, wheel design. If you want Coffin Spokes then 5 stud is necessary and conversion isn't cheap. Group 4 cars more expensive than Stradales generally but you may or may not like the paint scheme!

Treat it as any normal car and check the paperwork matches, was it IVA'd and is the V5 description correct.