Sometimes I dream of building a kit car that is stomach crushingly fast, can pull over a g-force around a sharp corner, and can stop so fast that your tongue sticks out. I need a car (or truck?) so disturbingly fast that I get sick when I drive it. I want to reach the end of a road before it even begins. If I were to stuff about 900 horsepower into an AWD “kit” car that weighed around 2000 lbs, it would likely plaster me in the drivers seat pretty well. I know what you are saying. “AWD!? Blasphemy!” I too am the type of guy that loves breaking the rear tires loose and getting the car sideways at every possible opportunity, but launching an AWD car at high rpm is really quite impressive. “The feeling of 4 tires vigorously ripping away at the pavement during extreme acceleration” really should be the definition of “Excitement”. I should contact Websters Dictionary on that.
Ok, so back to “reality”. Locost? GTM? MK4 Roadster? Factory Five 33 Hotrod? Porsche 356 Kit? There are so many more options, what would you guys & gals build if you have the space, time, motivation, and funding??
Images from Locostusa.com, factoryfive.com, VintageSpeedsters.com
I *am* building a Lotus 7 variation at some point in my life. After driving one nothing else really feels the same.
AWD would be an interesting complication for a kit car. I can't think of any readily available transmissions for a mid engine kit car. But maybe you could do a rear engine setup with something like the Audi 2.7t drivetrain spun around. There are a couple shops pushing close to 800bhp out of those.
Have you heard of Palatov Motorsport? http://www.dpcars.net/
kit cars, check
awd, check
400hp engine based on two hayabusa heads, check
next 48 hours of your life wasted reading every word of his build logs, check
also, the Rally Fighter from Local Motors http://www.local-motors.com/ is a really neat idea, but there is much about it that scares me.
p.s. – great blog, keep up the good work!
Hi Micah, I had never heard of that website, but from the looks of it, it is exactly what every gearhead needs. You are right about the next 48 hours vanishing, I can already see them slipping away.
Also, Thanks for the kind words! Tell your friends! 🙂
-Jeremy
Helped a buddy of mine put a 327 in a bug…had a kit to turn the transaxle around and put the V8 in the back seat area…and it even had seat belts! not sure why, there was a steering wheel and an 'O my God' handle for the passenger. Porsche-E-let! Can you believe mankind survived the pre-lidigation days of the 50's, 60's & 70's!
I hate kit cars, but I think I would go with an alloy Cobra, done as close to original as possible. NO fuel injection, NO huge wheels, etc…
How about a Porsche 914 stuffed with a Saturn engine W/5 speed it would be fast and get great gas mileage too.I am going to try this one myself and a 1974 Porsche 911S with a Subaru JDM engine twin tubro.
It would have to be the factory five 33 it has all the looks that speak of American history but yet has the sleek chassis of the sixties. Perfect , I am not into the exotic roadsters . this one would fit my personality perfectly
a 400 Pontiac engine would be a must with the 33 ,just added that for the Pontiac lovers out there.
I think that mabey a ford drivetrain might work,like the 85′ EXP or mabey the MERKUR XR4TI same era with the 2.3L power plant which has so many inexspensive bolt on high performance parts add a turbo or super charger, besides an awd merk xr4 would be cool. Top speed of the stock XR4TI 147mph but thats totally maxed w/o intercooler. Turbo impeller will fail very dramaticly after a few mins.
Anyways the d-train on these cars are rwd with independent suspension rear half-shafts.I believe a mod can be made for the front through the sides of the trans kinda like a reverse vw trans axle.
Whats your take on that idea?
My boss built a FF Mk IV. That car was stunningly beautiful and capable of rearranging your internal organs. He sold it, and is now building a FF ’33.
From my personal dream garage: I would like to build a Porsche 550 Spyder body on top of a WRX drivetrain.
But, I lack those skills. So I keep dropping hints here in hopes of Jeremy and friends doing it… 😀
Keep it up! Crazier things have happened! 🙂
I want to let you know that the picure you used for ” Locost Kit ” is actually my car and it’s “NOT” a kit !! I built the car in the late 90’s from scratch . It’s road legal and I had a ball driving it for over ten years but I find as I get older I like softer seats and AC more and more. The car sits in the garage so if you interested in a deal get in touch !
Hi Bob! I’d say you are one heck of a craftsman for building a car by from scratch! I’d love to have one, but if one arrived in my driveway right now, I would probably have to sleep in it. Maybe you could add A/C, a canvas roof, and some softer seats to it and enjoy it again? 😉