While I have nothing but the deepest possible respect for the Davids and Stephens Walters Gossin and Mercedes (Streeters, not Benzes) of the world who will happily toil on the rustiest, crustiest conveyances and convert them into driving expressions of their automotive taste, I absolutely cannot with wrenching on the sort of well-hammered hardware they get up to. I won’t even do it with project bicycles, let alone cars.
My wrenching zen comes from assembling and installing new or at least not-neglected pieces and parts, and when I used to while away my Sundays (was it Sundays?) with The Power Block, I was always much more envious of the guys who got to build up a fresh small-block with a flotilla of parts from JEGS than I was the poor souls doing their best to get a piston to budge in some lump rescued from the dump or possibly the bottom of a lake.
Extending that all-fresh-parts engine build into a whole car is the real dream, and I’ve been fascinated with the concept of kit-cars since kid-dom. This was due in no small part to Dad having a Beetle in the garage that, in five-year-old me’s imagination, could become an exotic sports car in, what, a weekend? How hard can it be? At least order the FREE pamphlet Dad, come on.
Lola Marauder? Let’s see how lo-la we can go-la. Fiberfab Jamaican? Ja-makin’ me crazy. How about a Sterling with the trick roof? Imagine dropping me off at school in that! What happens if the car rolls over? I dunno, just don’t roll over, problem solved.
Of course, one may want their fast-and-powerful-looking kit car to actually be fast and powerful, or at least faster and more powerful than the thrust and velocity a Beetle engine can provide – though I kind of like the silliness of it all, to be honest. But I get it, most people want show and go. Suppose we do that, but keep things Beetleish? I give you the Doyle Motor Works VeeDub ReDub:
“Looks great. What is it?” I’ll let Doyle Motor Works explain:
The VeeDub Redub Platform replaces the Beetle’s antique torsion spring suspension with modern double wishbone suspension.
Say goodbye to carburetors, distributors and valve adjustments. We’re using a modern VW engine now. The VeeDub Redub Platform is designed specifically to be powered by a Mk7 GTI engine and DSG transmission. Stock power is decent but throw a stage 2 tune at it and you’ll be over 300 horsepower.
And you can build your own in just three steps!
Step 1 – Order a VeeDub ReDub Chassis
Step 2 – Obtain and Strip Mk7 GTI Donor
Step 3 – Obtain Beetle Body & Exterior Parts
Note, there may be more steps within each step. Probably definitely more steps.
Hey man, whatever it takes, it’ll be worth it. Building a VeeDub ReDub looks like it would be a lot of fun, and I gotta believe driving it is a hoot.
While I would certainly be satisfied with hot-Golf output in that rad (and no doubt featherweight) chassis, some of you may be scoffing at mere GTI-level power. Thankfully, there are ample kit offerings for those who want big cubes for their bespoke build. And all the better if it looks like you’re driving a spectacular piece of history, hence the proliferation of Shelby Cobra replicas. Factory Five has the whole Cobra thing dialed:
Gorgeous indeed, and the thought of uncrating all kinds of fabulous parts, spreading them out across four stalls’ worth of epoxy floor, and tucking into them with the entire contents of a Snap-On truck is the stuff dreams are made of … but if I’m doing the dreaming, I think I would can the Cobra in favor of another Factory Five, the GTM Supercar:
Man, that looks sweet, right?
OK, your turn! You’ve Got The Tools, Time, Cash, Space, And Skill To Build Your Own Car – What’ll It Be?
Top graphic image: Bring a Trailer
Does this have to be a real kit cat if we’re talking unlimited funds?
Cause what I want to build is a 1993 Saab 900 with Viggen powertrain swap, in Scarabee green on tan interior? If we’re going to be talking about pure fantasy here.
Clarification: Coupe of course. Duh.
I pretty typically use the term ‘bucket list’ with a hard sneer and a wince chaser. It just seems so… /hipster/, really, to me.
and, yet, an ongoing battle with what /should/ be, by all accounts, a relatively minor medical issue that has spiraled into something more resembling my own personal WW1 or something and is now less than three weeks from entering its third year (!!!) of essentially running a wrecking ball through my life, half-drunken teenage heartthrob ‘singer’ and all, plus the fact that, midway through next year, I will be at a point in my life where I can uncomfortably admit to sharing the description by way of film title, accurately, of the eponymous character of a certain Steve Carrell rom-com, at twice the weight, none of the bike-riding ability, and a Disability check instead of a Blockbuster-knockoff pay stub once a month…
Yeah, that has me thinking about some things.
Mind you, I never actually learned to drive. I just can’t handle it, juggling all the different controls and watching the gauges and indicators and mirrors and traffic and…
No, it’s /not/ like when you were first learning. I’ve had that discussion.
/ahem
I’ve always been a lonely fella, not many friends, that sort of thing. Asperger’s Syndrome does that. But, as it turns out, I worldbuild like an amateur Tolkein. So I’ve got this whole amazing… well, multiverse, literally, in my head. One of the primary characters inhibiting an alternate near-future Earth in that imagined multiverse, one that’s very, very close to me, emotionally, has this remarkable three-wheeled minitruck he’s built out of scrap, junk, refuse… literally whatever he could scavenge or salvage. It’s got an alcohol-fueled Stirling engine at the front, built out of everything from paint cans and picture wire to electrical conduit and shopping-cart wheels. The flywheel is cast iron off some 30s-era machine tool or treacle sewing machine or the like. The transmission is made out of bike parts. The burners are modified ex-marine alcohol stoves. The pickup bed is made from scrapped retail shelving, part of the chassis is a literal aluminum ladder, and the back of a blue pleather school bus bench seat serves as part of the accommodation for driver and passenger.
It’s a straight-up miracle of junkyard engineering, and since that character makes his living as an everything repairman and handyman (“from leaky roofs to flooded basements and everything in between, appliances large and small, furniture, installs, repairs, I can do it all!”), as well as a junk hauler /and/ a used/rare/salvage parts buyer/seller/trader, it’s essentially a rolling advertisement for his skills and services.
Someday, somehow, before I (eventually,
I hope) die, I’d like to build the contraption, and learn it well enough to at least putter around an empty parking lot for a half hour or so. Obviously such an insanely mental design will never /ever/ be allowed on public roads IRL, but, hey, a fella can dream, right…? :3
Ive always wanted to build a hotrod Cadillac. Something in my skill range would involve an engine swap with something that had a good, somewhat moddible engine to start with.
So that would be an 80-92 RWD sled. Nothing against the 77-79 cars, I just dont care for the styling as much as the 80-92 cars. 80-81 cars had the 368 cube inch Cadillac big block, so swapping in a built high compression 500 cube Cadillac motor is a bolt in affair, factory equipment is a TH400 trans and a beefy rear end. 82-85 cars had the miserable HT4100, weak 200R4 trans and a smaller 7.5″ rear so hell no. 86-90 cars had the 307 Olds motor, which you can directly swap for a built 455 Olds with 400hp, once again weak 200R4 trans, not sure on rear end. 90-92 cars had the TBI 305 or 350 Chevrolet v8, all kinds of hotrod parts on those. Pretty much same drivetrain as a 1/2 ton pickup, 700R4 trans, 8.5″ rear end isnt the best thing but its stronger than the crap rear end they put in v8 fbodies
If not custom: Ox Truck
If Custom: Fat tire “moped”.
Start with a Stein Trikes Wild One Fat tire full suspension recumbent trike, put hub motors on all 3 wheels and put on a motor controller. Regenerative braking for most braking, cables for when the regenerative braking isn’t enough Delete the pedals, chain etc. and put a foot brake for the rear wheel where the pedals were. Put in a large actively air cooled battery pack. Make sure it runs and drives, then put on a velomobile style body that is aerodynamic, weatherproof, and has a decent amount of cargo space. Register as a moped if legally required and drive it everywhere.
Yes it would get crunched in an accident with anything larger than a quad, but it would do the job I need it to do in town and such.
Some kinda weird EV flivver with motorcycle hub motors for wheels, inspired by early 20th century car designs like the Olds Curved Dash.Toyota pickup restomod with a Prius drivetrain turned longitudinal and driving the rear diff. (Not “from scratch” but same level of effort probably.)Impreza drivetrain in some kind of lightweight tube-frame chassis. There must be a kit for that right? Edit: Oh, right the Factory Five 818 is pretty much what I have in mind.
That VDub ReDub looks amazing!
Does the Golf engine go in the front or back? If set up for the original air cooled VW engine, turbo subie engine should fit too.
A Citroën H Van body dropped on a more modern truck chassis. Or a resto-modded Pinzgauer II. Oh, hey, how about the Citroën body on a Pinzgauer? Hmmm…
I love the idea of the H-Van. There are people who put a (slightly) more modern 4 cyl OHV engine in them for “you can go on a highway” power.
Honestly, I’d like a sports sedan or wagon. 4 door. And boxy like any number of mid 60’s European sedans?
And I’m not sure why a kit car couldn’t be built on a Toyota Tacoma chassis. Simple, robust mechanicals, easy to work on. Can be made to handle well enough.
Who’s gonna get on that project? I’ll be the first buyer.
Is there Austin 7 kit car? because that’s the first car i thought of, but with a modern small engine.
Also Riley Elf and the Beetle.
I have a very hard crush on the Alfa Romeo Carabo concept from the 70’s. So I’ll build the closest kit I’m aware of, the Aztek 7.
If I had FU levels of money, skill and ambition, the Factory 5 GT 40 or the Cobra Daytona coupe, but w/ AC and, perhaps a Ford Voodoo engine hooked to a 6 speed transaxle.
Of course I’ve demonstrated already demonstrated none of the prerequisite talents w/ the Datsun 510 2-door sitting in my storage space.
?!?!?!?!?!
Bought it sorta disassembled, decades ago. Committed the fatal error of removing the front suspension to cut the front struts shorter (and paint the engine compartment). Very long story slightly shorter, it sat in my backyard for a long time, I picked it up and moved it when I retired and put it in the RV shelter of my new to me house and there it sits. The struts are shorter w/ the appropriate inserts in them, but I haven’t even cut down the OEM springs to fit under the hats. Of course any tires I had that would let me roll it around (if the front suspension were intact) disintegrated years ago. But I have removed and cleaned out the fuel tank. 🙂
2-door 510s are rare as hen’s teeth these days, it would be really cool ride even if you swapped stock struts back in (and all the other stuff it would need…)
I’d get with Toecutter and build something fast, safe, and slippery.
The Sterling is a great idea. I’d dress it up like the Condormobile. Me and the ten other people that saw and still remember that movie would get a big kick out of it.
I’d really like to do a Porsche 550 replica.
Glad I’m not the only one that remembers the condormobile.
I would build the one piece at a time Cadillac. As close to the song as possible.
Just don’t forget the A-dapter kit!
That has been done (at least visually).
Realistically, it would be a Cobra Kit car. But it wouldn’t be a normal one.
ERA makes a Slabside 289 Cobra replica. I would go with full interior, an underbody exhaust and maybe even wire wheels.
Transmission wise, I would go with at least a 5 speed, perhaps a 6 speed if that was available, so it could have a short first gear without buzzing at interstate speeds. Engine wise, I would be thinking a mild 302 dressed up to look like period 289 with a TBI hidden so it starts and runs easier would be the powertrain.
The result would be a quiet British sports car that looks somewhat like a Cobra and would look more like most real Cobras of the time and less like the more famous (and rare) 427 S/C.
With a mild engine, 5 speed transmission, a heater, a quiet exhaust, a mild tune and EFI, it would be a daily driver except on a really hot sunny day. But with 300 ish hp and modern tires, it would still be far quicker than any car I’ve ever owned.
I would consider other kit cars but kit car companies come and go almost weekly, it seems, while ERA has been around forever.
As for building a dream car off a production car, I would not. I’ve run into hidden rust on those projects and I don’t want to get anywhere close to it again. Rather have brand new powder coated parts bolted to fiberglass ones.
If we’re talking kit cars that exist, either the Bradley GT (with a Subaru EJ25) or the Ultima GTR (with an Aston Martin V12).
If we’re talking about crafting any car, then I’d like to make an Acura 1.7EL wagon using a 7th-gen Honda Civic Hybrid (with the 5-speed) with the rear of a 2nd-gen Honda CRV (using the Fullmark rear door without the rear-mount spare) grafted on. I guess it’d technically be a 1.3EL given the hybrid uses a 1.3.
Well. Really is one best answer Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Adding… With modern tech, Chitty would fly.
I have a lot of kits in mind to build.
*Meyers Manx
*Meyers Tow’d
*Meyers SR
*Kelmark GT
*Bradley GT
*Meyers Manxter
*Parma Jeep (from 1973)
*Dearborn Deserter
*Rickman Ranger (British Suzuki Samurai knockoff)
*Hoppa Street Buggy (a rather odd-looking but really nice British roadster)
*Arctic 4×4 (British off-roader based on the Suzuki Sidekick/Vitara or Geo Tracker)
*EMPI Sportster (1960s kit based on a VW Beetle platform and with an aluminum body; you can consider it a DIY cheap Jeep or the forerunner for today’s side-by-side ATV)
*Sears Rascal (rebadged Meyers Manx or Kellison buggy)
*Factory Five XTF pickup
Google them all.
PS: I miss Petersen’s Kit Car.
I just fell down a rabbit hole of “copy, google search” and found out I can order a Meyers Manx kit. Thank you kind sir. Now I can imagine how easy it would be to build and sell the idea to my wife.
I think the cool build would be the VDub Redub with a old kit car designed to go on the VW pan.
About a decade ago I went so far as to order a set of California Commuter plans:
http://www.inventordoug.com/03CalifCommuter/03d.htm
before finally acknowledging significant personal shortcomings with respect to tools, time, cash, space, and skill. I’ve still got the plans, though…
John from Survival of the Fattest, but with some changes.
I would probably turn the rear into a living area, like box-beds or japanese capsules, and in the front turn the crude storage into a galley. Kind of like a reverse teardrop trailer.
I have heard about a guy who is making a true-to-form replica of an Alfa Tipo 33 Stradale, using a frame construction to the original Autodelta space frame and a modified Alfa Romeo Montreal v8. I would kill to have the time and skills to do something like that.
550 Spyder. Hands down.
Unimog ambulance SHTF vehicle.
I have wanted to build a CJ like a CJ-7 or CJ-8 From scratch. The frames, bodies and dang near every single part is available online and or in catalogs and have been forever. Bodies, frame, engine, transmission, transfer case, axles, and suspension would actually be the easy parts. The wipers and other fiddley bits would be the hardest parts and even most of them are online.
I’ve been thinking for a while that an old CJ (or other simple, old offroader), especially a flat fender, converted to EV would be a great local vehicle. Especially if it had tracks for the winter.