Hello all

[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