Build Your Own Kit Car E-Book

Steve Hole

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 344

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

In Build Your Own Kit Car, renowned kit car expert Steve Hole presents a comprehensive guide to planning, managing and executing a kit car build. The first part of the book covers the history of kit cars; detailing the innovations the kit car industry has made in car building technology, and how companies like Westfield and Caterham have become household names. The second half of the book takes you through a full build project, from chassis, brakes, suspension and engine through to trimming and interiors. Other topics include: Types of kit cars, including the differences between kits, replicas and one-off builds; Choosing the right car for you; Budgeting for your build; Setting up your workspace, tools needed and workshop safety; Building techniques; List of useful contacts to help find the best resources for your kit car build. Whether you are planning on building a blisteringly quick trackday car, classic roadster or eccentric road car, Build Your Own Kit Car has all the resources and information you need to build and enjoy your own unique automotive creation. A comprehensive and instructional guide to planning, managing and executing a kit car build, superbly illustrated with 300 colour photographs. Steve Hole is one of the UK's leading authorities on the world of kit cars and is editor of tkc magazine.

Leseprobe

BUILD YOUR OWN KIT CAR

STEVE HOLE

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2013 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

© Steve Hole 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 640 6

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the following for their help with images for this book: Ian Stent, Ryobi UK, Sealey, Facom, Greg White and Laser Tools.

CONTENTS

PART I: HISTORY OF THE KIT CAR AND PLANNING A BUILD

1:  HISTORY OF KIT CARS IN THE UK

2:  CHOOSING THE RIGHT TYPE AND BUDGETING

3:  TOOLS AND SETTING UP A WORKSPACE

4:  SAFETY

5:  BEFORE YOU START AND BASIC TECHNIQUES

6:  THE DONOR VEHICLE

PART II:  THE BUILD

7:  CHASSIS

8:  BODYWORK

9:  BRAKES AND SUSPENSION

10:  ENGINE AND GEARBOX

11:  WIRING AND ELECTRICS

12:  TRIMMING

13:   DETAILING

14:  TROUBLESHOOTING

PART III:  TESTING, REGISTERING, INSURING AND DRIVING

15:  THE IVA TEST

16:  INSURANCE AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURES

17:  THE MOT TEST

APPENDIX I:  CLUB LISTINGS

APPENDIX II:  TYPES OF KIT CAR AVAILABLE

APPENDIX III:  UK KIT CAR MANUFACTURERS, KIT CAR BUILD SPECIALISTS AND SECOND-HAND SALES

APPENDIX IV:  TOOL SUPPLIERS

INDEX

CHAPTER ONE

HISTORY OF KIT CARS IN THE UK

EARLY DAYS

Since the turn of the twentieth century, people in sheds and garages all over the country have been dismantling and rebuilding cars, creating home-brewed ‘specials’ from all manner of components. The earliest attempts at rebuilds, new builds and odd builds frequently used Austin Sevens, old Ford 8s or even Bentleys as a platform on which to create the car of the builder’s dreams.

The first inspiration for ‘kit cars’ in the UK can probably be attributed to a design created by engineer Thomas Hyler-White (1871–1930), in 1896. It later appeared in a magazine called English Mechanic and World Of Science and Art in January 1900. The series of part-works entitled ‘A Small Car and How to Build it’, based on a Benz Velo, appeared in fifty-six instalments.

Interest in self-building unique cars accelerated in Britain after the Second World War, when any new cars that were being produced post-war were destined for export to provide the government with much-needed funds. De-mob happy young men up and down the country were starved of motorsport and petrol was still rationed. Bowed but undaunted, the motoring enthusiast adopted a ‘make do and mend’ approach and did the best job they could to turn old bangers into objects of desire. Soon, intrepid engineers, many of whom were motorsport participants, came up with a range of solutions to the challenge.

The forerunner of the specials movement, and the man who should be considered as the father of the kit car industry in the UK, was Derek Buckler, who ran an engineering company in Berkshire. When motorsport started to make a re-appearance after the war, Buckler created his own special, which quickly brought him success in hill-climbs and sprints. Before long his car began to attract attention from other drivers, who asked him to create a similar car for them.

Suitably encouraged, Derek Buckler set up his eponymous car company at his base in Reading. In keeping with the somewhat eccentric nature of the early cars, his working practices were known to be unusual; he would not give out the finishing touch of a bonnet badge until he had personally seen and inspected the customer’s car. He did not supply bodies for the chassis he produced, instead sending customers to his in-house panel beater, giving them a number of proprietary – and preferred – bodies from which to choose. The panel beater was self-employed and would issue a separate invoice for the work done.

Derek Buckler is widely regarded as the founding father of the UK kit car industry. His MkV (shown here) was not his fifth design, but his first; he chose the designation because he did not want potential customers to think that he was a newcomer. He did not offer bodies for his cars, but pre-glassfibre he had an in-house franchise that could craft a bodyshell for one of his chassis. With the advent of glassfibre he had arrangements with leading ’shell makers of the day such as Microplas. His bonnet badges were awarded only when he had personally seen a customer’s car and it had passed muster.

GLASSFIBRE

In the early 1950s, a whole string of companies sprang up to satisfy the demands of the specials builder. Glassfibre (also known as GRP, fibreglass, fiberglass, glass reinforced plastic, and glasfaserverstärker kunststoff, among other names) soon emerged as the perfect medium for use for a car body. No other material is more suitable for the production of car bodies in low volume and its introduction was crucial to the advent and development of the kit car industry. Aluminium, which forms part of the more ‘exotic’ composites such as carbonfibre and Kevlar, is usable, but its use is more labour-intensive and much more expensive.

The advent of glassfibre offered all manner of possibilities to budding new car manufacturers. Soon, many small operations were enticing motorists with swooping, rakish designs, which exploited the fact that glassfibre could be moulded into shapes that were hard to achieve and/or too expensive to produce in aluminium.

Manufacturers in the USA were the world leaders in glassfibre and resin technology, with fibreglass strands and matting first appearing commercially in 1938, through Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation of Ohio. DuPont and Cyanamid were among the pioneers of resins in 1942, and the first car with a body made from glassfibre was Bill Tritt’s Glasspar G2. General Motors was the first manufacturer to showcase a mass-produced glassfibre body, used for its Corvette model at the Detroit Motor Show of January 1953. Another American manufacturer, Kaizer-Frazer, was not far behind, with its Henry J model.

The UK soon caught up, with a company called Microcell exhibiting a one-piece glassfibre body that it had developed for Allard in mid-1953. Singer (SMX Roadster, designed by Bill Tritt) and Jensen (541) were the first UK makers to use the material in mass production, recognizing the importance of this new substance to the car manufacturing industry.

The first glassfibre kit car body for the UK market came from RGS Automobile Components, run by Dick Shattocks. In June 1953 he used it on the re-launched, pre-war Atalanta that his company had acquired. In these early days of glassfibre kit car bodies, results were often patchy as companies had yet to master the art of consistent manufacturing quality. Inevitably, some had more success than others.

Dick Shattocks’ RGS Automotive was the first ‘specials’ manufacturer to offer a proprietary commercially available glassfibre bodyshell in the UK, in May 1953. In addition to supplying a range of ‘go-faster’ goodies, Shattocks had also acquired the defunct pre-war marque, Atalanta. The bodies were made by the snappily titled North East Coast Yacht Building and Engineering Company Ltd.

In the very early days, the benefits of using glassfibre did not include cost saving – in 1953 a glassfibre body cost the same as, if not more than, a comparable (hand-formed) aluminium shell – but, as is the case with most new technology, prices soon fell as demand rose. The first glassfibre boat hull had been produced in 1942 in the USA and the boat-building companies soon turned their hands to car bodies, in a natural crossover. Their longer experience with the material meant that were undoubtedly more adept in production methods. In the UK, North East Coast Yacht Building and Engineering Company Ltd was one of the better exponents of the new technology.

There are many stories about disasters with glassfibre in the 1950s. Operatives would often lay-up a body prior to going home in the evening, hoping that it would be set by the next morning and ready to be released from the mould for delivery to an eager customer. More often than not, however, they would arrive to find the mould had leaked, depositing the customer’s order in a molten mess on the workshop floor. In addition, protective masks and goggles were not always used and workers were finding out that they could be quickly overcome in an unventilated workshop by the smell of resin at close quarters. Fortunately for the industry, things inevitably got better and standards improved.

Often referred to as Britain’s Porsche 911, the Rochdale Olympic was a very successful early kit car, from a Lancashire manufacturer that was a leading player of the period. Originally producers of aluminium bodies, they rapidly grasped the potential of glassfibre.

By the mid-1950s, with new car bodies made from glassfibre arriving on to the market weekly, the specials builder of the day was spoilt for choice. Quality was rapidly improving while prices were becoming more reasonable. Major organizations such as Shell were heavily involved in producing and developing more sophisticated resins that were better able to resist fire and acid.

There were a number of well-known companies involved in glassfibre car-body supply in the 1950s, including Rochdale Motor Panels, Bonglass and Martin Plastics. Rochdale had started by producing aluminium bodies for its specials and was, after Buckler, probably the second company to market ‘kit cars’. It primarily produced bodies for its own cars, while Bonglass and Martin produced proprietary parts made out of glassfibre and made bodies for various manufacturers.

Micron Plastics, later known as Microplas, was another glassfibre pioneer. The business started in a small shop in Rickmansworth in 1954, selling fibreglass matting and resin. It grew quickly, gaining a reputation for quality, and started to produce replacement bodies for Ford 8s and 10s and Austin Sevens. The names of its specials, Stiletto and Mistral, became well known, with the latter being used in 1958 as the basis for the Fairthorpe Electron. For its time, this was a notable arrival – a compact sports car with its own tubular-steel ladder-frame chassis, pre-dating the Austin Healey Sprite by two years.

Almost as soon as the first glassfibre bodyshell had arrived, Micron Plastics was selling the home enthusiast tins of resin, hardener, glass-matting and associated sundry items from a shop in Rickmansworth. They soon grew to producing bodyshells under the Microplas name from a factory in the town and a second one in Mitcham, Surrey. Glassfibre gave manufacturers huge possibilities in terms of the shapes they could create and by the mid-1950s all manner of swoopy and curvy body styles began to appear.

Until 1953, and the advent of glassfibre for automotive use, manufacturers could offer bodyshells only in hand-made aluminium, which was expensive and labour-intensive.

Throughout the 1950s, some manufacturers resisted the move towards glassfibre and continued to offer aluminium bodies. Eventually, they were forced out of business and the kit car industry remains heavily reliant on glassfibre to this day, with the vast majority of manufacturers using the material for their car bodies. This is not to say that glassfibre is inexpensive – for mass production, steel is a far better proposition in terms of cost. A decent set of moulds for the production of a glassfibre bodyshell can easily cost £30,000, and will form a significant part of a fledgling car manufacturer’s start-up budget. In recent years, with an upturn in the price of resin (the price of which is dependent upon the price of crude oil) and fibreglass matting, the costs of body production are once again soaring.

EARLY DONOR VEHICLES

In the climate of post-war austerity and economic debt, the specials builders of the 1950s did not have the luxury of exciting donor vehicles on which to build their low-slung sports models. Their choice was usually restricted to two main donor vehicles: the Austin Seven and the Ford 8 or 10. These were the Ford Models Y (1932–37), an ‘8’ with 23½bhp, or the E93A Prefect (1938–49 with 7ft 10in wheelbase) ‘10’, with the slightly bigger 30bhp version of the ubiquitous 1172cc side-valve engine. Other postwar Fords to be pressed into donor service included the E493A, 100E (1953–59) series (36bhp 7ft 6in wheelbase) and the later 105E Anglia. These looked luxurious by comparison with the early models.

Some companies, such as Buckler and Leslie Ballamy’s LMB operation, realized that fitting a modern, sporty body to an aged, creaking donor vehicle was only a part of the modification that was needed. The driving experience with the new body was still compromised by ancient leaf springs and a chassis that was rather agricultural, with no sporting ability at all. As a result, the ‘standalone chassis’ appeared on the market, often accompanied by upgraded suspension components. Derek Buckler, of course, had always supplied his own chassis.

Some of these standalone chassis cars were actually made into genuine sports cars, playing a large part in the return of motorsport to Britain. The 750 Motor Club, founded in 1939 by the late, legendary motoring journalist Bill Boddy, was right at the forefront of the introduction of the sport. A number of enthusiastic early members of the club would go on to become leading kit car manufacturers, including Colin Chapman (Lotus), Jem Marsh (Marcos) and Trevor Wilkinson (TVR).

Among the most popular of early donor vehicles was the Ford Popular, shown here in Model Y guise and …

… the big daddy of them all, the Austin 7.

THE SWINGING SIXTIES

By the early 1960s, things had changed as far as the specialist car enthusiast was concerned. The arrival of the Austin Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite and the Sir Alec Issigonis-designed Mini in 1959 changed the face of car manufacture. As a result, many of the existing specials bodyshell manufacturers, which were producing shells that were often quite crude, went out of business or were forced to adapt the way they operated.

Almost overnight, consumers decided that they wanted more for their money; they certainly did not want rough shells that had no finesse in their presentation or build process. In response, specialist car manufacturers changed their approach, and the early 1960s saw the arrival of what would now be recognized as a ‘kit car’, with makers supplying the bodyshell, chassis and sometimes even the engine in a kit package. The search for better value for money was not the only motivation behind this new approach; supplying cars in kit form also avoided the purchase tax of 33 per cent that was applied to all new cars from 1958. (It was a welcome reduction from the 50 per cent tax that was applied in 1956, but it still raised prices beyond the reach of the average car purchaser.) It was specifically this high level of tax that drove manufacturers such as Gilbern, Ginetta, Lotus and TVR to supply their models in component or kit form.

When it came to supplying cars in kit form, Colin Chapman’s Lotus operation was an early pioneer. In 1962, the Lotus Seven cost £526 as a kit of parts, offering a tax saving of £346 against buying it in completed form. In comparison, the ageing Ford Popular model cost £443 purchased new, with a Frogeye at £670. A Lotus advertisement of the day showed Chapman in stern, schoolteacher mode, with a cane pointing at a picture of his Seven and the strapline ‘He designed it; now you build it.’ It was no surprise that customers flocked to the Lotus factory in Cheshunt. The iconic Seven is still available today from Caterham Cars, some fifty-five years after its launch.

The Mini designed by Sir Alec Issigonis arrived in the UK in 1959 and was a game-changer, along with the Austin Healey Sprite that arrived in the same year. The affordability and petite dimensions of both had a significant impact on the kit car market. Unable to compete, some manufacturers fell by the wayside almost overnight while others upped their game and raised their standards. As a result, some of the better companies such as Ashley Laminates and Falcon Shells began supplying what are known today as complete kit packages, including everything needed to build a car.

A Sportiva model from Ashley Laminates, one of the new wave of early 1960s manufacturers.

Gilbern GT, from one of the leading manufacturers of the 1960s, Gilbern Cars, run by butcher Giles Smith and ex-German prisoner of war Bernard Friese. This was the Welsh company’s first model, launched in 1960 and one of the first kit cars to use Austin Healey Sprite mechanicals.

Ginetta G4 launched in 1961, one of a succession of well-made, capable and pretty models offered by Suffolk-, later Essex-based, Ginetta Cars.

A range of fine models such as the Elite, Elan, Europa and the iconic Seven was produced by one of the most famous of all kit car manufacturers, Lotus, founded by the legendary, late A.C.B. (‘Colin’) Chapman.

THE MOT AND THE CLOSE OF THE DECADE

In 1961, Car Mechanics magazine estimated that there were over 22,000 specials on the road in the UK, none of which had been subjected to any professional scrutiny or standards testing. People were building them and driving them on the public highway at will and the number of road accidents was increasing all the time. The government became more and more concerned about how many unregulated, poorly maintained vehicles were at large on Britain’s roads.

Something had to be done and, in May 1960, Transport Minister Ernest Marples introduced the ‘10-Year Test’, the forerunner to the modern-day MoT. It was intended to check the roadworthiness of the one million oldest cars on the UK roads and, of course, the majority of the ancient donors of the specials failed it miserably. As a result, the companies offering new chassis to car builders rushed to promote their wares and many, such as the field-leading Buckler, Buroche, Littabourne, EB, Victory, Mercury, Bowden, Convair, Conquest (CRS), Watling, LMB, Belford (Nickri Laminates) and Halifax, did very well for a time. All were offering chassis that were suitable for their own bodies as well as for the bodies of other manufacturers.

Through the 1960s, the kit car industry continued to evolve, from single bodyshells, to body/chassis builds, to comprehensive kit packages. The introduction of the full-blown MoT test in 1962 ensured that cars over three years old were checked for roadworthiness, although newly built kit cars were free to take to the road without passing the test. They did, however, fall under the MoT scheme after three years.

The next change to hit the industry, almost stopping it in its tracks, was the cut in purchase tax, from 1963, from a whopping 33 per cent to nil. There was suddenly no financial benefit to building a car – indeed, it was possible to purchase a car fully built for the same price, so that was exactly what many people did. With purchase tax gone, the Austin Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite, at £631 in 1963, was now within reach for many more potential sports car buyers, who would not save any money by building a car themselves.

MINI AND VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE: A NEW GENERATION OF DONORS

The introduction of the Mini in 1959 had quite an impact on the kit car world. Once its potential had been realized for specialist car use, a stream of kit cars based on its mechanicals was launched, starting with the short-lived Butterfield Musketeer of 1961. The humble Mini would, in time, become as important a donor vehicle as the VW Beetle.

The Volkswagen Beetle was not only the biggest-selling vehicle of all time, but also the most popular donor vehicle (in terms of volume). From the 1970s onwards, wannabe kit car designers would use the Beetle’s floorpan, rear-mounted air-cooled engine and rugged mechanicals for a multitude of kit models. Although the 40-odd horsepower was a bit too timid for some in original guise, when it was paired with a lightweight glassfibre body, the car could be made to perform quite well. The huge numbers used mean that it will be some while before another donor gets near to it in terms of numbers, although these days its use is primarily restricted to powering beach buggies, trikes and air-cooled Porsche replicas such as 356 Speedsters and 550 Spyders.

There were an estimated 22,000 home-built ‘specials’ on the road in 1961, many of them unfit for the public highway, so the UK government introduced the ‘10-Year Test’ (with vehicles over 10 years old being subject to testing). This quickly became the MoT.

The Volkswagen Beetle is possibly the most frequently used kit car donor vehicle of all time. Even the most forlorn example is an ideal candidate for transforming into a Porsche 356, 550 Spyder replica or beach buggy.

The VW Beetle lent itself perfectly as the basis for a selection of replicas such as Porsche 356 Speedster …

… or a rather cheeky air-cooled Porsche 911 replica, a kit that sold well for Covin Performance Mouldings in the 1980s.

Manufacturers liked the Beetle because, with DNA linked to Porsche and the 911, its configuration gave them the opportunity for some rakish, swoopy designs, if not sparkling performance. As a donor vehicle, the Beetle was cheap and about as basic as vehicle mechanicals got. Tuning and upgrade parts were plentiful and easily available, and the VW body could be simply and easily un-bolted from the floorpan.

In addition to the beach buggy Baja bugs of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Beetle was also used to underpin the Covin 911 replica in the mid-1980s, while creations based on the Beetle looked like they had been conceived during an LSD-taking session. As far as 1970s kit car designers were concerned, the bulbous Beetle outline with its curves was out, to be replaced by their own drastic, sharp-angled glassfibre shapes.

THE SEVENTIES

If the 1960s had been a mix of excitement and recovery, then the 1970s were a time of experimentation for the kit car industry, with a multitude of strange-looking devices appearing. As had been the case with the taxation changes over the previous two decades, the introduction of Value Added Tax in 1973 put the brakes on a recovering industry, adding 15 per cent to every kit purchase. The likes of Lotus and TVR immediately and completely ceased kit production, offering their cars in fully built guise only. However, the kit car industry is renowned for its resilience and its ability to adapt, and the manufacturers that remained did evolve and, indeed, grow. They improved their products, became more imaginative with their designs and offered even better value for money.

The late 1970s also saw the introduction of a dedicated magazine for the burgeoning kit car movement, Alternative Cars, the first of a whole raft of titles published by Peter Filby, who had previously written a ‘Kit Bits’ column for Hot Car magazine for several years. Prior to this, Tony Bostock, later editor of Hot Car, had covered the specials and early kit car movement quite extensively in Car Mechanics magazine. Bostock would regularly publish guides informing readers about the bodyshells and complete kits that were available.

In 1973, Graham Nearn of Caterham Cars purchased the rights to the Lotus Seven and went from agent to sole concessionaire to manufacturer. He quickly made a decision that will go down in motoring annals as inspired. He initially bought the rights to the more angular Series IV, but, after selling fewer than 100 kits, he switched to manufacture of the classic Series III model. The rest is history. The Surrey-based firm has never really looked back, and the outline shape of the car is pretty much unchanged. Each year sees a new tweak and/or a more powerful engine fitment, and the Caterham Seven sits proudly at the top of the kit- or specialist-car pecking order, regularly shifting some 500 units per year, around 40 per cent of which are kits.

Other highlights of the 1970s included the arrival on to the kit car scene of Tim Dutton-Woolley, who created his prototype sports car in a garage behind his mum’s pub in The Ham, near Worthing. Before long, his Dutton Cars business would be the industry leader, selling over 100 kits per month for several years in a row. What Dutton did, via a vast array of models, was introduce the ‘pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap’ concept to the kit car industry, which ultimately would bring him over 8,500 kit sales.

Prior to the first standalone kit car magazine, Hot Car, edited by Tony Bostock, ran a monthly column on specialist cars written by Peter Filby.

Although the Seven is made in Dartford, Kent, these days, it will be for ever associated with the town of Caterham some 20 miles west. The company, now under the ownership of Tony Fernandes, is also now involved in Formula One and over the years has managed to deliver ever more powerful versions of Chapman’s 55-year-old original, such as this R500.

THE EIGHTIES

COMMERCIAL GROWTH

As the arrival of Dutton Cars began to yield significant sales in the early 1980s, other manufacturers of note also started selling their own kits. Notable among them was Westfield Sports Cars, founded by historic racing driver and engineer Chris Smith.

The first Westfield product was a Lotus 23 replica, which was commissioned by an American customer and then made in a further small batch. Chris Smith then switched his attention to the Lotus Seven S1 and then the Series III. This of course incurred the wrath of Caterham Cars, which brought a lawsuit against Westfield, forcing Smith to alter the shape of his cars. Westfield would go on to sell around 10,000 kits of their altered models.

Robin Hood Engineering, run by Richard Stewart, took the Dutton Cars concept and tweaked it further by offering more in the basic kit package and a longer list of options. Between Dutton and Robin Hood, some 20,000 new customers would enter the world of kit car building.

Another company inspired by the Dutton philosophy was Pilgrim Cars, which launched a humble but effective, small traditional roadster called the Bulldog. It sold some 2,200 units in total. Pilgrim’s biggest seller in later years would be the Sumo, a cut-price Cobra replica that gave those who dreamed of an AC/Shelby 427 the inspiration to build their own version. Most Cobra replicas were based around Jaguar mechanicals and a V8 engine, usually Rover in origin. However, Pilgrim’s masterstroke was to base its car on Ford Cortina (later Sierra) mechanicals, meaning that customers could use a four-cylinder engine. The purists were not pleased, but the four-cylinder Sumo kit appealed to many and was eagerly snapped up by a new wave of kit car builders.

Dutton Cars changed the way in which kit cars were sold, adopting the ‘pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap’ philosophy and selling over 8,500 kits between 1971 and 1991.

Pilgrim Cars developed the Dutton approach further with their Bulldog model, which made the traditional 1930s roadster (hitherto quite expensive in kit form) affordable. Kit prices started at just £500 when the car was launched in 1984.

Pilgrim Cars did it again with their Sumo Cobra replica, which, until it appeared in 1986, had been relatively expensive and out of the reach of most enthusiasts. The Sumo, which acquired its name following a competition in Kit Cars & Specials magazine, offered Cortina rather than typical Jaguar donors and four-cylinder rather than V8 engines.

THE REPLICA PHENOMENON: COBRA AND COUNTACH

In 1981, two Cobra replicas arrived on the scene, in the shape of DJ Sportscars’ Cobra (later Tojeiro) and Unique Autocraft’s Python, with the former beating its rival to market by literally days. Coincidentally, both hailed from Harlow, Essex. The Cobra replica would dominate the industry for several years, with a number of manufacturers offering their version of the legendary car.

Also notable was the arrival of the Lamborghini Countach replica. In 1986, a consortium of Manchester’s budding Countach replica makers, who had been dabbling with their own lookalikes, hired a genuine Lamborghini Countach from a car rental company called Town & Country, and proceeded to make a mould from it over the course of a weekend in a dodgy backstreet warehouse in Salford. The resulting replica was a game-changer as it was completely accurate in terms of shape. The result of that mould-making session spawned a number of ‘instant’ manufacturers, including Conan, Venom, Sienna, Silhouette and Prova. Other notable manufacturers of the time included Sylva Autokits, NG, GTM and Autotune.

The first Cobra replica to be commercially available in the UK hailed from DJ Sportscars in 1981. It is still available today.

The Cobra replica remains the stuff of dreams for thousands of enthusiasts and there are still about ten manufacturers who can supply a kit package, including AK Sportscars.

The next big kit car phenomenon arrived in the mid-1980s, with the advent of the Lamborghini Countach replica. Several companies such as Panache and Kingfisher Mouldings had made attempts that were not of the best quality until a Manchester-based company hired a car from Town & Country Rental for a weekend and took a mould from it, creating an as-original body. Legend has it that they returned the Lamborghini in a sorry state, complete with a bag of nuts and bolts they had not managed to re-fit.

A GB5000S, one of the manufacturers that became big news for a time in the 1980s, along with others such as Conan, Prova, Sienna, Silhouette, ABS and Venom.

KIT CAR RACING

The 1980s also saw the dawn of kit car racing events, as Dave Bradley from the 750 Motor Club conceived the idea of the Kit Car Challenge Series. Chaotic but fun, the early days of racing saw the most unlikely of cars taking to the tracks. The series introduced many people to motorsport who would not have contemplated having a go without it.

The 1980s marked a hugely prolific period for the kit car industry, with each week bringing new models. The output may have been significant but it was not necessarily all of a high quality. Some of the models sported peculiar design aesthetics and dubious engineering, which did nothing to promote the image of the industry to a wider audience. The kit car movement needed to make progress, in order to improve its standing among general car enthusiasts. Its reputation was not helped, either, by the mainstream press of the day, which often treated it as a laughing stock. That stigma has always been hard to shift, even to this day.

THE NINETIES

The industry’s buoyant period, with solid sales numbers for most manufacturers, came to a shattering end with the dawn of the 1990s and widespread economic depression in Britain. The picture looked grim, as kit- and specialist-car manufacturers began to fall by the wayside. In addition, quality of car builds started to become more of an issue. By the mid-1990s there were rumblings coming from the government that things had to change, and that it would have to stop allowing anyone to build a kit car and drive it on the public highway without any real checks (bar the MoT test, in some cases). Most kits were built to an acceptable level of competence, but there were still some shockingly unsafe vehicles on the road.

In the 1990s, Robin Hood Sportscars, run by Richard Stewart, showed an innovative approach by offering replicas of the Ferrari Daytona. It sold in modest numbers, but when Stewart introduced a budget Lotus Seven-based model, sales went through the roof. Robin Hood would go on to sell over 10,000 kits.

‘LOCOST’ BUILD PROJECT

Another notable landmark in the UK kit car industry’s history was the publication in 1997 of a humble how-to book from Haynes Publishing called ‘Let’s Build a Kit Car for £250’. Written by an Oundle schoolteacher called Ron Champion, it sold like hot cakes, encouraging thousands of would-be kit car builders to attempt a scratch-built Champion-designed Lotus Seven-inspired sports car. Plenty of advice was given, including chapters on how to fabricate chassis and laminate glassfibre. It is doubtful whether many of its readers actually managed to bring their build in on the £250 budget of the book’s title, but the Locost certainly proved popular, with several businesses being spawned to service the demand for parts and bodywork.

THE SVA AND IVA

Originally seen as some kind of spectre that would kill the industry overnight, the Single Vehicle Approval scheme, or SVA, was introduced on 1 July 1998. In fact, it proved to improve standards immeasurably. The original SVA scheme has now been replaced by an amended test procedure called IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval). Like its predecessor, the IVA test checks things such as internal and exterior projections that could cause injury in an accident. It also provides a set of regulations with which all amateur-built cars that use a purpose-made or amended donor car chassis have to comply. Even three-wheelers have their own test, known as the Motorcycle SVA (or MSVA), with which they have to comply. The only kits currently exempt are body conversions that use an unmodified chassis.

As a result of the SVA/IVA, the industry has settled down, adapting to the requirements of the legislation and raising the quality of its products to an all-time high. As a result, today’s kit cars are of an incredibly high standard. The days of the funny-looking contraption that small boys threw stones at have gone for ever and, although recessions may come and go, this redoubtable industry will surely survive for ever.

The advent of the Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) scheme in July 1998 meant that all new-build kit cars had to undergo a strenuous roadworthiness test prior to being registered and driven on the road. It was replaced by the amended Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) in July 2009. Unless a kit car is a body conversion based on the unmodified chassis of a production car, it is subject to IVA.

CHAPTER TWO

CHOOSING THE RIGHT TYPE AND BUDGETING

CHOOSING THE RIGHT TYPE

Even if you know the type of kit car you would like to build, there is a very good chance that there will be several manufacturers making a similar type of car, so you really need to do some serious homework. How much it will cost? What will you get for your money? How many kits have been sold? Is there an owners’ club? These are all serious points to consider.

As an example, in the Lotus Seven-inspired sector, there are around 25 manufacturers in the UK offering a kit based around the theme. The kits range from those offered by market leader and custodian of the Seven name, Caterham Cars, right down to a model that can be built on a low budget, inspired by books such as Let’s Build A Sports Car for £250 or How To Build A Sports Car. Your choice will depend on taste, your skill level and, of course, how much you want to spend.

Glassfibre: the raw material underpinning the vast majority of kit car bodies made since 1955.

Coremat offers added strength and rigidity in areas of stress on the bodyshell.

Laminating glassfibre properly takes skill.

CREATING A SHORTLIST

When it comes to comparing like-for-like, visiting the major kit car shows, where most serious manufacturers will exhibit, will give a feel for all the products. You will be able to look at the quality at first hand and speak to the people behind the company. You will be able to gather price lists and brochures and then, after some online research, create a shortlist. Using this shortlist, you can then arrange to visit a number of manufacturers. This might involve a few Saturday trips out, but it will be worth it because you will be able to see the premises and generally get a better understanding of what is involved. Be aware that most are low-volume businesses, so you should not expect a carpeted showroom and a smart coffee machine. However, you can reasonably expect a friendly welcome to the premises, and should not come across a bombsite, with a general air of disorganization!

There should be a demonstrator on site so that you can take a test ride; due to insurance restrictions, most makers these days will not let you drive unaccompanied, but you should still get a chance to feel the car in action. Any test ride is better than no test ride.

Micron Plastics marketed, and sold, a large number of glassfibre shells under the Microplas name.

Air Vice Marshal Don Bennett founded Fairthorpe Cars and made decent early kit cars, including the Electron.

Could they find the keys easily? Is the car clean? Did it start first time? Did it perform satisfactorily? These are all basic questions that you should be seeking to answer in the affirmative. Have a close look at the areas of the factory where parts are manufactured, such as the laminating shop where glassfibre bodies are made, and the fabricating area where they make their chassis. If nothing else, this scrutiny should prove interesting.

Some manufacturers like to make everything inhouse, while others contract out all or at least some processes to trusted sub-contractors. Glassfibre, for example, can be smelly and nasty stuff – some manufacturers close to residential areas have had neighbours complaining about ‘gas leaks’ – so it is often better dealt with elsewhere.

Ask the manufacturer for an idea on estimated build budget, bearing in mind that you should always allow some contingency for the unexpected – upgrading a component, for example, or perhaps for some unforeseen problem. Manufacturers will want to convince you to buy their kit, so they may quote a rather unrealistic final figure that you will have no hope of matching; diligent homework and seeking advice from other owners will help considerably to give you a more realistic idea of what you will end up spending.

Visiting a company on a Saturday morning can be extra-beneficial in that many of the busier set-ups have an open-house policy at this time, and owners who live nearby will turn up to buy parts, have a coffee and generally shoot the breeze. This represents a great opportunity to seek independent opinions on the kit in question. Generally, kit car owners are only too happy to help with advice. They will tell you how easy the car was to build, or otherwise, how helpful the manufacturer was, and, of course, how close they were to achieving the quoted build figure!

The arrival of the Austin ‘Frogeye’ Sprite in 1959 hit kit car sales badly.

MAKING COMPARISONS AND CHOICES

Although they are important for basic comparison purposes, kit prices should be treated with caution. Some manufacturers include more components in their basic kit price, and, just because a price seems more expensive upfront, this does not always tell the full story. If manufacturer ‘A’ charges £1,250 for its basic chassis package and manufacturer ‘B’ charges £3,000 for chassis, suspension, brakes and body panels, ‘B’s kit will probably work out to be more cost-effective.

Some manufacturers will also offer a ‘kit-in-a-box’ option, with every single last nut and bolt, including the engine, in one package. This allows the builder to take advantage of all-new or refurbished parts and makes for an easier build that will not involve searching for various components at each stage of the build process. While some people like the simplicity of this, others prefer the thrill and adventure of seeking out the best parts at the best prices, while also doing a bit of scrap-yard scavenging.

It is also important to be confident about the donor car that a particular manufacturer uses. Sierras are becoming very scarce but the majority of the Lotus Seven-inspired manufacturers in the UK still use it. You need to find out whether they will be able to help you with donor parts, or at least advise you where to get them from. It is probably fair to say that you can buy all the Ford Sierra parts you will need off-the-shelf without going near a Ford Sierra.

Meanwhile, other makers have started to use the BMW 3-Series (E36 or E46 generations) and also the Mazda MX-5. How happy would you be to use that particular donor? If you own or have owned an MX-5 then you will have a head-start, as you will if you are a BMW enthusiast. However, some love the Ford Sierra and will not be shifted. For many traditionalists, ‘Ford means kit car’.

The Lotus Seven-inspired sector is also the main home of the bike-powered kit car. Bike engines have been used in three-wheelers for many, many years but these have primarily been of the V-twin variety, rather than the screaming inline, water-cooled four-cylinder unit usually found gracing the Yamaha R1, Honda Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX12 and Suzukis GSX-R1000 and Hayabusa. These give amazing performance and a Formula One-style soundtrack, but it should be borne in mind that a bike engine purely for road use can quite quickly become rather wearing.