National Kit Car Show today

[garethj]

I went to this to see the state of the kit car industry and to ask a few owners about how their cars were constructed, I'm quite keen to have a go myself so it was a good opportunity to see lots of stuff.

 

The place to be was the NAC in Stonleigh, Warwickshire.  Site of many other car shows over the years and it's always more than likely you'll get lost and discover an entire hall you didn't realise had things in it.  Of course there was the usual load of people selling drill bits that never blunt, car polish that gets rid of any grime, bits of carpet, trim parts but you don't care about that, you just want to see the cars, don't you?

 

This was my first stop, the Gentry owners club.  I'm not too familiar with the TF but the proportions definitely aren't quite right, however the owners were friendly and very helpful.  Triumph Herald based, natch.

 

 

Next up, the Midas.  Based on (I think) Metro running gear, this is a later one with round headlamps and puffed up wheelarches.  Earlier ones have square lights and I think the later ones have Rover 100 lights.  Ugh.  This one is a stunner though

 

Ginetta G33.  What a beautiful car this is, and with a Rover V8 under the bonnet too.  I'd love one, as long as I wasn't fussed about arriving somewhere covered in dripping rainwater.

 

This is a Sherpley, surely the most Autoshite of kit cars.  Based on a Sherpa, looks sort of like a Bentley if your 4:3 TV doesn't view widescreen programmes properly.  Here's a close up of a prime safety feature, fuel splashes straight onto the exhaust.

 

Caterham 21.  I worked for the company that supplied the radiators for these in the mid '90s and went down to the factory once to look at the installation.  It turns out that to get the Cortina header tanks under that low nose they tilted it forwards so it wasn't perpendicular to the airflow.  On the bright side I got a test run out in it and the handling was unbelievably good.  I got talking to the owner and had a sit in this one, I'd have one tomorrow.  Just wonderful.

 

 

 

Yeah, looks like they didn't take my advice about turning the radiator to face the airflow.  They always had problems with the headlamp buckets steaming up so here you can see the unorthodox but effective solution - pumping warm air from the back of the radiator into the back of the headlights to dry them out.  I think I loved it more at this point.

 

How long have they been knocking out these Stratos replicas?  Nice though

 

 

The fibreglass equivalent of MGBs.  Flippin' everywhere.  And Cobras are equivalent to Capris.

 

Fibreglass E Type replica.  This is the one that's in proportion, there was another with bulged rear arches to take a wider rear axle.

 

Dunno what this is.  Looked lonely in the corner of a field.

 

Give me a W!

Give me a T!

Give me a F!

 

Give me a WTF!

 

This looked honest, but even its best friend wouldn't call it pretty.  Electric, for extra shite points.

 

I was 100% certain this was a Dellow.  What a pity it turned out to be called a Leige.  Reliant power and made for trials racing.

 

You know when you stand back and think "hmmm, that didn't turn out as I'd hoped"?  Looks like that didn't happen.

 

This is called a Dunsmore.  Based on bits of a Sherpa with Jaguar engine.  The owner had a flying jacket and I can't say I blame him.

 

Authentic vintage steering linkage and outside handbrake!

[pompei]

Brilliant  -  I went there two or three years ago and had a great time, even though I can't really call myself a kitcar enthusiast.  

[Mally]

Not the place it used to be IMO.

In the early days you could build a Dutton or similar for next to nowt, MOT it, and register it as brand new, or not, as you saw fit.

Now its mainly mega money and many more hoops to jump through.

I last went a couple of years ago and it was in decline then.

Newark closed through lack of interest, killed by red tape really.

Good thing about it is the old Kit Cars still running have risen in value.

[Tamworthbay]

I built a Robin Hood as the SVA came in and it was stupid how you built crap on to pass the SVA knowing full well it would be taken off the next day. The Robin Hood 2B was a bit of a joke really but I had a lot of fun with mine.

[Mally]

I had a series 2 Robin Hood, loved it. Was about to order a kit off Richard and a fully built one turned up for the same price.

They were an improvement on the Dutton Pheaton, but as you say SVA was the begining of the end for many

[Tamworthbay]

Did the series 2 still have the coil over/ wishbone front end? The 2B had a sliding pillar type abortion made out of the sierra front struts. The resulting 'suspension' moved about half an inch if you sat a blue whale on it.

[purplebargeken]

I like the two dark green ones. Not the small electric thing though.

[sutty2006]

used to go every year with the Manta club but havent been in a while!

[fordperv]

^Is that because no one drives their mantas because they are scared of the front swan necks rotting 😂

[matty879]

missed it again this year,as i was pissing round with a car that should of been going,hopefully have it done for tatton park next month.

[strangeangel]

I would 100% roll the EL-JET

[Sigmund Fraud]

The El-Jet is not a kitcar, but a proper* electric car made by a Danish company called Kewet.

 

I recall reading a test drive in "Auto, Motor & Sport" in around 1993, they concluded it was completely unsuitable as a means of transport. I've wanted one ever since !

[wuvvum]

I remember sitting in a Caterham 21 at Earls Court in the mid-'90s and thinking at the time that it had the most natural-feeling driving position of any car I'd thitherto experienced.  I'd love a bash in one.

[Timewaster]

I remember the Caterham 21 launch at the NEC.

I really like the look of it but it was totally overshadowed by the new Lotus Elise unveiled a few stands away.

 

Felt bad for Caterham really.

[Snipes]

If I had a garage I'd love to get a G32 and do a full nut n bolt resto. Not strictly a kit car as factory built and type approved but pretty close.

[sutty2006]

^Is that because no one drives their mantas because they are scared of the front swan necks rotting 😂

No one bothers to organise a club stand.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......because we're all too busy welding 😂

[Mr_Bo11ox]

WTF is that silver thing? It looks like someone wanted an Ariel Atom and 'built their own' from train parts.

[cobblers]

WTF is that silver thing? It looks like someone wanted an Ariel Atom and 'built their own' from train parts.

And those cigarette bins you find on the wall outside office buildings

[Mally]

Did the series 2 still have the coil over/ wishbone front end? The 2B had a sliding pillar type abortion made out of the sierra front struts. The resulting 'suspension' moved about half an inch if you sat a blue whale on it.

 

Yes wishbone front and Sierra rear on mine IIRC. 

Did you ever visit the factory? Toilets were made entirely from polished Stainless, was like a hall of mirrors.

Robin Hood was well built but no holes in the dash for demisting the screen, think they were extra!

Had many different kits back in the day, Duttons x5, Mini Marcos, Dax Rush, NCF, couple of self built 2CV three wheelers, 2 Reliant Trikes.

Eldest son has a Cobra at the moment.

[Tamworthbay]

Yes wishbone front and Sierra rear on mine IIRC. 

Did you ever visit the factory? Toilets were made entirely from polished Stainless, was like a hall of mirrors.

Robin Hood was well built but no holes in the dash for demisting the screen, think they were extra!

Had many different kits back in the day, Duttons x5, Mini Marcos, Dax Rush, NCF, couple of self built 2CV three wheelers, 2 Reliant Trikes.

Eldest son has a Cobra at the moment.

I picked mine up from there on the 'distribution days' where thirty or forty people all picked up at the same time and you had to go around the factory and pick up stuff from different places on a trolley. It was complete and utter chaos. The guy who ran it (Richard?) was a bit weird and I remember him saying how they categorised customers as clueless until they proved otherwise and it was listed on the index card for your car! And this was at the open day before I bought it! It was all 'you have to do this, if you can't then bigger off now', quite the salesman. And the build videos.............

[Supernaut]

 

Paint it black, hang a couple of half-dead people off the front of it. WITNESS ME!

[twosmoke300]

Ooooo I can sense the scotch locks , dexion engine mounts and smell of cables melting on exhausts from here !

[twosmoke300]

That's all kit cars not just the last abomination posted

[Tamworthbay]