so my neighbor comes over and says... "one of my customers has one of the 'kit cars' that her dad was building and he died and so now she wants to sell it. you wanna look at it?" so i says "why not" so the lady comes over and we get to talking and she starts telling me an abridged version of the story about the car....i asked her about what it was like and her response was that it was like the 'monopoly car". so i asks her to sends me some pictures so i can see what it is and what its all about... so i gets this in the email yesterday... no, this is not a replicar so to speak...its a continuation car as the story goes, (i'll be getting more info as we go along) It was built at the Kurtis shop. Frank Kurtis' son used all of the original molds and such to form the body parts and it is a true to form Kurtis 500S. i need to get a little more on the provenance of the car, but needless to say it will be up in the classifieds soon.
How sweet would that little toy be with one of Ferguson's Arduns? I especially like the gel coat finish on the nose & tail...but that's just me.
I used to have a number for Frank's son, Arlen Kurtis. He built all new jigs to his dad's old blueprints, and fabricated a few frames after he did a car for himself. Yes, the body parts are from the original molds. The Kurtis 500S is a true classic. You are indeed very lucky. Arlen has moved from his shop in Bakersfield, but I'll see if I can track down a good phone number for you.
couldn't thank you enough. a solid ph# would go miles for the lady. i'm just trying to make sure that 1) the car is properly documented and appraised 2) the lady does the right thing with it (i know she will after talking with her) 3) she gets what its worth.
Nice, finished "continuation" Kurtises have been selling in the $30-60,000 range lately - with prices definitely NOT going up - so this incomplete, unfinished project car is probably not worth as much as she imagines it to be . . .
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