Back in the late 60's I was all fired up about building a Fiberfab Valkyrie - I think I still have the big manual for it somewhere. I see there is a website saying they are still (or again) making it. Does anyone know anything about this new Valkykrie? Back then the Corvair parts it used would have been easy to find, not now anymore.
Isn't every 32 and 34 "Ford" built from a combination of fiberglass or steel body, over the counter frame, suspension, and running gear also a Kit Car? All those cars from high end shops that start with a specialist frame and a nice body from Brookville or somewhere else are also kit cars. They have no original or even modified parts from what they resemble. So while they may look like a real hot rod they are actually just "kit cars". Jerome
great idea....i will send ya the capital needed, plus a little more for shipping them to customers, from my nigerian account naturally. please forward the extra shipping money to my personal account... skull
These are cool looking cars; picture "borrowed" from http://www.gatsbycars.com/griffin.html Last time I posted this company the owner Emailed me to see if I was interested in a purchase... I wish I had the money! (but I don't...)
Not really a kit but... I bought my cheetah body from Bob Auxier out in AZ. As far as I know he's the only Cheetah builder sanctioned by Bill Thomas. I thought about going with the shell valley roadster but to me, without the coupe top on it, it's just not right proportionally. My '30 Coupe will be on the road this summer. Hopefully I'll have the Cheetah finished in 20 years or so. LOL
Ultimate hotrod "kit" '30 Ford roadster body, '32 ford sedan frame and radiator, '48 Mercury running gear and engine.
I dig the cobras. If I were to ever own one, it would defintely be a kit.....kinda like my 34 ford 3w. I know, I just hippo critted all over my little quote, lol.
The more I research vintage sports cars and old Kit cars the more I realize They are hotrods just the same and I like them just as much...The body above is a Meteor and its the shit for sure... From this link... http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/
And don't forget "Total Performance" T kits which have also been around for decades. They are now owned by Speedway Motors and you can buy one in many different levels of "completeness". We built this from a kit made by "Real Hot Rods": They only sold 18 of these and I know of at least 5 others that were finished. I've seen two of them in person and the other 3 in photos. Of all of them, ours is the only one that DOESN'T have a small block Chevy in it. I know there are some on here who demean kit cars, (And I'm surprised this thread has gone this far without the haters chiming in!) but this was a great way for us to build a hot rod in a relatively short amount of time without needing a lot of specialty equipment. Some have said I didn't really "build" this but I got dirty, tired, frustrated sometimes, and my knuckles shed some blood just like any other project. If you care, here's the link to photos of the entire process: http://public.fotki.com/2002p51/our_hot_rod/our_hot_rod/
My 36 Jaguar SS100 replica, Ford V6 drive-train. I found it on eBay a couple of years ago for $500..running.. and drove it from NY City to Annapolis.
Very nice. How has it held up now that you've had it a while? The appeal of a kit car, to me, is that everything is new. I've had several old cars and everything was worn out and needed repair the moment I bought them. The only way to buy an old car that's not worn out is to find one that's been sitting in a garage, untouched for the last 50 years. Even if you buy one that's restored, there are still things that are worn on it - like the choke cable, door lock hardware, hood latch, seat springs, etc. So, what repairs have you had to make in the last 5 years of ownership? How have those tires been compared to your daily driver? How many miles a year do you put on it? Would you do it again? What would you do differently? Do you enjoy it as much now as you thought you would before you bought it? Thanks for the advice.
Great choice Chaz. Always loved the Cobra's. Awesome build. And Al-uminum, I must of dreamed of building a Sebring MX for two years. Great job, yours looks fantastic. 2002p51 - your little roadster screams "FUN" from every angle, even building it. Once I got interested in street rodding, I went to the 1991 Oakland Roadster Show, and came across Speedway's Lowboy Roadster and thought I would love to build one of them. Twelve years later, I came across one and am just now getting to drive it after many years of personal modifications. I never imagined building a car from the ground up would be so satisfying. Here's a pic of my fiberglass/kit car and much thanks to Speedway Motors for all their support and endless supply of just the parts I needed. Keep safe out there guys. See ya on the highways.
This does not fit my definition of a "kit car". These are not for the faint of heart. You have to know your shit to get one of these on the road. I will take more than an 800 number and a credit card. The Kellison that I had in the middle 60s was about the same as far as completeness. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was in over my head. With 40 more years of experience, Id love to try one now.
It has held up great. No major repairs at all. The only problems we've had with it had nothing to do with the kit or it's quality. They were mostly carburetion, and HAMBer Uncle Max solved that for us. The tires are bias plys from Coker and ride like you would expect bias plys to ride. The rear dirt track tires are noisy at highway speeds and are dangerous in the rain. But they look great and I wouldn't change them. I'm not sure how many miles we drive it because it doesn't have a working odometer. If I had to guess I'd say somewhere around 1,000/year. Would we do it again? In a big fat minute! Building this car was fun and satisfying and driving it is one of my favorite things to do. The only thing I would differently is build a more practical car. That's why were now working on a '47 Mercury coupe to add to the "fleet". If anything, we enjoy it now more than ever. It's not practical for any real purposes, it's strictly a toy but my wife and I both love it. It took a little while to get things sorted out but now it runs and drives well and turns heads wherever we go.
I poked around the web a bit, and it looks like that Cheetah body is about 5 grand. If so, that's a steal! There was a Cheetah replica at Detroit autorama a few years back. It had Corvette running gear, and while pretty nice, The fit of the body over the Corvette rear was a bit awkward. It was a beautiful body however. The folks who engineered and built all those early fiberglass bodies were real pioneers. Fiberglass bodies werent easy to do back then, and the amount of time spent pattern and mold making must have been staggereing.
Cool plastic Cobras . I'm sure, they are fast too ,cos they weight allmost nothin. But offcause original is much more valuable , but these are cool rides too.
If it's for beating around on the streets or even track. I think I'd rather drive the kit car. I'll bet some of the new kits handle better than the originals, I know you can make more horsepower now, and I just wouldn't be comfortable driving a 6 figure car on the street. Larry T
There is a big Shelby/Ford show in Brown County Indiana in the spring called "spring fling". I haven't been in a long time but there used to about ten Cobra replicas there each year and two or three originals. Two of the owners of the originals would take people for rides pretty much all day long just so you could say that you'd been in one. One was a red small block car and the other was a blue big block competition car that shook the Earth when it ran. My brother jumped in line for the blue car and I opted for the shorter line in the red car. As the roads wound tightly through the fairly steep hills of the park, you'd get out of view of the public pretty quickly. As we ascended the first hill, I looked at the owner and coyly asked "So are these things really as rip your face off fast as everyone says they are or what?" At that point the owner dropped the hammer and I found God. They really are as rip your face off fast as everyone says they are. I can't imagine the big block version. The owners of these two cars deserve those two cars. They do more for the hobby than they ever know.
Yeah, driving an irreplaceable classic in today's traffic seems a wee bit unwise when you can build a decent replica that handles, stops and performs better for a fraction of the cost and replace it easily if it gets wrecked. Store the classic. Drive the replica.
I built this Kellison GT40 and sold it about a dozen years ago. It was fun putting together and really scary to drive! Mike
I started out building a 29 Ford Roadster ( the one in my photo album )with a perimiter frame from JW Rod Garage in Wisconsin, and a fiberglass 29 Roadster body and fenders from Riverside Roadsters in Watertown Wisc. I found a rear end at a swap meet, built all my own crossmembers and suspension brackets and laid it all out and welded it myself. Alot of trial and error. Did all the steel reinforcing, hung and latched the doors and deck lid, built a hood out of aluminum, made my own windshield posts by modifying a pair of Speedy Bills aluminum posts. Pulled a 350 Cu. In. SBC from the warranty bin at a Chevy store and coupled it to a 350 trans I found at a garage sale for $50.00. In short, I built a Hot Rod that is solid, safe, and looks good from all angles,,,, a kit car ? Not so much!!! I think the term kit car is over used. There are alot of Hot Rods on the road that have glass bodies but are not " kits ". I think the true kits are intended for those who have more money then ability. There are alot of good deals on bodies and parts like I found and it allows more people to get involved in the hobby, I think it's a matter of wanting to be the fabricator rather than the assembler. That's my nickels worth.
True enough. Hahah I'm 31 now and the Cheetah has been my dream car since I was 14. I figured if I had to wait 17 years just to get the body I wanted, I can be patient, do things the right way and be driving it in another 20 years. Seriously I'd wait 20 years to get it done right. My 'A' coupe is just to tide me over. I plan to sell it eventually to fund the cheetah project. And just some quick FYI on these cars... the original ones had worked fuel injected 'Vette engines. The 4spd trans was mated directly to the rear with a U joint. Talk about engine set back! The rear was IRS from a Vette as well. The front end was a tubular control arm setup utilizing heim joints. Wheel base of 90". Front and rear track widths of 59 and 57 respectively. Yes it's an insane car. The kind of stuff myths are made of. One of these cars reportedly did 215mph at Daytona in '64 with four wheel drum brakes. LOL
Here's one I have for maybe 8 years now, not been out of the garage for the past 2. I'll tell ya when you put your foot into that 68 HP it's like , well like what you'd expect from 68 horsepower, I have had joggers beat me to the next traffic light but it does handle very well.
Wow, can' believe this thread hasn't been thrashed and locked already. but since it's still going, I'll pile on too (I would NEVER start my own thread for this here). I'm building a Factory Five '33 kit. The quality is excellent, the kit is very complete and the company is very good to work with. I had to supply the engine, tran, rear, wheels, tires, battery, fuel pump, body work and paint. These are some mockup pictures.
Saw that pic when I was trying to figure out what the hell a "Jamaican" was,prior to buying mine.Shows a good refernce as to how small these old tupperwares were!
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