<VV> Cobra kit cars - Non Corvair

[Ken Campbell]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Borrrris at aol.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 2:33 PM
Subject: <VV> Cobra kit cars - Non Corvair


.
> My bro-in-law visiting from Spring Hill, FL tells me he is really
> considering building a Cobra kit car and showed me brochures from several
mfgrs.  The
> more he researches , the more questions he has, but knows no-one who has
"been
> there-done that" to ask.
********
Yep:: be scared, very scared .....  99% of kit car suppliers are underfunded
and probably under-ethical .....  glowing advertisements are your first clue
....  if it seems to be too good, it probably is ... demand a list of at
least 20 people who have the kit already and actually got it together ....
personally go and talk to them, look carefully at the cars ...  they might
be relatives of the sales guys ... go by what the Suppliers * HAVE DONE *
not what they say they * WILL DO * .

99% of the people in the kit car business are either in Jail, under current
investigation, bankrupt and abscounded with the funds, or are in witness
protection programs from former customers   .....

*********
Do I have your attention?
*********
That said, there are some decent folks out there ...  just make sure they
actually have an office, not just a phone booth ...
*********
One neat outfit ( I think ) was Beck in Pomona Ca., I visited their shop
about 20 years ago, and always wished since I had got their kit for a
Porsche Speedster... it was a pretty little thing, went like a 100 horse
go-cart ...   and pretty simple ... I wonder if they are still in business
???

About 1990 I bot a pretty nice project kit from Classic Kit Cars (? ) in
Fargo ; heh heh, a kit for a " Sebring MX " , which will eventually turn
into an AHealy 3000 on steroids .... eventually .... I got busy in our job
shop, ran out of room ... etc. etc., which is very common with kit car
projects ... they take about 8 hours a day,;, anyway, I think it is a good
kit, and the company is * sort of * still in business ..... ( google up
Sebring MX ...) maybe only 3 or 4 changes in ownership and major law suits
....  BTW, this outfit has a Cobra Kit still, I believe.

********
Be careful...  the body shell of a kit car does not make it a repro of the
real thing ...  does your friend want an Independent Suspension , or would
he settle for a solid axle + frame car ??  Those Mustang trailing link solid
rear ends are really pretty dang good for American roads ...

About 1987 I visited an outfit in Phoenix that had a great kit for the
Cobra, used Jaguar rear end ... and was working on a GT40 kit for a Fiero
Chassis ... I am not sure they or their descendents are still around ...
but they were gorgeous ... as I remember it was $20K for a turnkey Jag based
car ... heh heh, I got a buddy who built a fantastic 427 Cobra kit in his
basement, had to knock out a wall and build a ramp to get it out (g) ...  it
was a .... Kuntz ???   sp?   kit from Cal., I think someone shot the kit guy
later or something .. but the kit was terrific ... 1977 or so ....
********
Be afraid, very afraid ... I think it's like gambling ... don't take your
lunch money to Las Vegas ... (g) ..

regards, ken campbell,   " can't eat kit car parts" in Ioway