Kit cars have come a long way

[matteo92065]

I ran in to this fellow last weekend. He did not build it, but has had it for several decades. The original builder put in all aircraft gauges and had several other nice touches.
The current owner likes the car but does not have much passion about owning (or maintaining) it. In the passenger area (no seat) there was a full sized floor jack, weed wacker, various tools, yesterdays lunch, etc. He could not reach the shifter while sitting in his modified office chair propped up with a milk crate drivers seat, so he bolted on a 4" extension to the top of the knob to bring it closer. Little touches like this are everywhere on this car. I'm not putting any of this down or making fun of it. It is a 30+ year old car, and he uses it the way he wants. It just makes me wonder where my car will be in 30+ years. I've put so much time, effort, and cash into this thing; I'd like to think my kit car will have a little more of a glamorous life.

The owner did talk a briefly about the performance of it. He says that it has a built VW motor and weighs 1200lbs.

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[TouchStone]

The rear window looks like a cover from a tornado shelter :(

[Turboguy]

To me- guys like that are why "kit car builders" have a hard time being taken seriously, and face issues in your country and mine with registration and insurance.


Nothing against you being polite about him or his car- BUT if that was a faded, on it's last legs 1973 impala with a plywood rear window, half missing interior filled with garden tools, and a "modified office chair propped up with a milk crate drivers seat" you'd probably join me (and a LOT of other people) screaming for that unsafe P.O.S. to be taken off the road.

[AZPete]

This reminds me of a video posted years ago on the FFCars forum that showed how to use household extension cords, junction boxes and switches to wire a kit car. Yup, we've come a long way and some will never get over it and erase their image of the Fiero Ferrari.

[David Hodgkins]

Speaking of Fiero, I recognize those headlights...

[RM1SepEx]

Speaking of Fiero, I recognize those headlights...

The Bradley GTII had that type of pop up in the late 70's IIRC, I remember them being round lights though so these are sketchy. I don't think that those are Fiero lights

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh230/digitalsoundinc/1986%20Pontiac%20Fiero/DSC05570.jpg

http://bradleygt2.com/photos/Rondeau/newcar3.jpg

[the_tool_man]

When I look at that photos, I can't believe I ever wanted a Bradley GT years ago. Then again, I wanted a Fiero,, too. But I was 16 and stupid (as opposed to 50 and slightly less stupid now).

[RM1SepEx]

I had fun thrashing my Fiero V6

[Turboguy]

For me it was a Kelmark GT I drooled over as a kid.


haha - yeah I remember the Fieros too. When I was growing up my dad looked at buying one - dealer gave it to us for the weekend to try and convince him. He bought a Toyota Supra instead.


I remember someone telling me the V6 Fiero's liked to have engine fires. Is that urban legend or reality?

[RM1SepEx]

The original L4 Fieros burned in awesome colors. No urban legend... The L4 was known for bad rods, add in low oil levels and oil dumped onto a hot exhaust and Cat, poof big time fires. I seem to recall that the rod problem was so bad that about 10% of the motors had issues.

I was very competitive, PAX wise on small lots, tons of torque vs the 4 cylinder competition from the original MR2 and the TVRs that ran with us.

A Supra isn't in the same zip code as a Fiero

[Quiny]

I wonder what he was towing? It might explain the rear glass.

[the_tool_man]

For me it was a Kelmark GT I drooled over as a kid.


I liked the Kelmark, too. My absolute favorites were the original Manta Mirage and the Laser 917.

[redfogo]

The original L4 Fieros burned in awesome colors. No urban legend... The L4 was known for bad rods, add in low oil levels and oil dumped onto a hot exhaust and Cat, poof big time fires. I seem to recall that the rod problem was so bad that about 10% of the motors had issues.

I was very competitive, PAX wise on small lots, tons of torque vs the 4 cylinder competition from the original MR2 and the TVRs that ran with us.

A Supra isn't in the same zip code as a Fiero

I am bias because I own a restored 85 MR2 but I feel the MR2 had a far better fit an finish compared to the fiero by far, from interior to the exterior everything about seemed like a far better quality built car.

[Mechie3]

I won't admit that as a highschooler/college kid I used to look at the Fierarri's on ebay.

:o

[DodgyTim]

Downunder we didn't have many choices when I was growing up, but I always wanted a Purvis Eureka. It was locally produced, was light, and very different:)
48430

[RM1SepEx]

They sold those here too... http://www.sterlingsportscars.com/ I have almost every kit car magazine published in the US since 1981, always wanted to build my own car!

The Sterling has a very sexy shape

[ben1272]

I like the gull wing doors. I have always felt that 'special' sportscars should have un-conventional doors. I know they are difficult to get working properly, but they add a certain flair that is hard to replace any other way, in my opinion. I will at least investigate the possibility of making my 818 doors scissor-style. Maybe one of the lambo-door kits could be adapted to achieve this. Preferably it would have gullwing or a-pillar hinged, but those are even harder to implement!

In the end I will 'settle' for conventional doors, but owning a countach, delorean, McLaren F1, etc, is still on my bucket list! I like that Elon Musk has gone out on a limb with the new Tesla with powered gullwing rear doors, and power-opening front doors.

[ben1272]

The 818 door is so light that it would make a great candidate for a scissor style door. I don't know if there is room under the fender behind the wheel to clear the hinge mechanism though. It might look stupid and not be worth the effort, but if I try it, I will be sure to post some pictures for reference. Ever since my dad's friend pulled into my driveway in his brand new 1987 Countach 5000s, I have forever been consumed by scissor doors! Lame...I know.....