Buying your own car is rewarding, at least for a while, but building your personal car brings a whole new level of accomplishment that’s unparalleled by owning any production car you might dream of.
There’s something special about building some thing from scratch with your own two hands, and if that something is a car that will you’ll get to drive one day, the reward and satisfaction will exceed any expectation. And all a person need will be some money to buy a kit, time, plus your very own garage. Or a friend’s. No special skills and no advanced tools.
When most people think about cars, they think about those built in huge factories by big car companies and sold for lots of money, yet kit cars are an affordable way to create your personalized dream ride.
Kit cars have been around since the beginning of the automobile era, but have been mainly overlooked by the wide automotive community. Despite that, you can find a huge variety of options on the market to satisfy your hobby.
Let’s take a look at some of our favorite kit vehicles you could build in your own garage:
twenty. Aldino K/O
A replica of the gorgeous Pontiac Fiero, the Aldino K/O is usually a custom kit that combines styles from big industry names like Ferrari and Lamborghini to offer a superb old-school design at an affordable price.
The kit is supposed to get somewhere between 70 and 150 hours total, depending on your skill level plus the end result should will definitely make heads turn in awe.
19. Sterling/ADD Nova
Originally constructed by the particular Automotive Design and Development based in the United Kingdom, after the company collapsed, the particular kit style and license was bought by Nova Cars, to sell it under different names in several countries.
Today, the kit is sold by the Sterling Sports Cars, wearing their name. Throughout its history, the kit hasn’t changed much and it’s based on the Beetle donor car.
Motorization comes in a variety of engines from various manufacturers, plus the 1970s design is still gorgeous today as it was back in its beginnings.
18. Kirkham Motorsports 289 Coupe
The Kirkham Motorsports 289 Coupe is dependent on the legendary Shelby Daytona Sports coupe and the particular attention to detail with which this was created is so good that will if you don’t know the real vehicle by heart, you’ll never see the differences.
Featuring an original Roadster ladder-style chassis with trellis-style backbone stiffing tubes and the superb aerodynamic bodywork, the 289 Coupe makes for a wonderful vintage car.
The price though, is spicy, starting at around $175, 000.
17. Ultima Evo Coupe
Inspired from the Le Mans Group C racers, the Ultima Evo Coupe is an exotic model that benefits from over 30 years associated with experience of development and racing, offering racetrack performance within a street-legal package.
The particular kit comes powered simply by an LS Chevy V8, which, based on how it’s tuned, can output between 350 plus 1, 020 horsepower. With a carbon fiber chassis and the highest specs, the car is capable of race from 0 to 60 in only 2. 3 seconds, with a total speed of over 240mph. The transmission is a Porsche six speed manual.
And when you think it stands up to some associated with the fastest cars in the world at only $120, 000 starting cost, you’d be crazy not to desire one. The cockpit is definitely beautiful plus refined, making for a plush trip.
16. Deco Rides Boattail Speedster
The Deco Rides Boattail Speedster can be a gorgeous kit vehicle inspired from your 1930s design of the classic Auburn Boattail Speedster, with a little more nuance to the particular its lines and a more Avante-garde style.
Although available as a kit, it’s the little bit trickier in order to build because one would have to do much of the metalwork themselves, so this beauty might be a skip for most kit car fans.
15. Factory Five 289 USRRC Roadster
A superb replica of one of the particular six 400-450 hp 289 Small Block USRRC (U. S. Road Racing Championship) Shelby Cobras built back again in the day with regard to the ’64-’65 season , the Manufacturer Five 289 USRRC Roadster follows both the style and the motorization from the original.
The particular performance of this kit car is identical to the particular original version through the 1960s and what’s more important, it is street-legal, thus you may enjoy one of the most fun vintage cars ever created on any road you can dream of. And that regarding just a little over $20, 000.
14. Manx Meyers Manxter Dualsport Package
For those whose passion for driving goes beyond the asphalt roads, there’s the Manx Meyers Manxter Dualsport Package, one associated with the most iconic dune buggy ever built.
Its origins lie in Southern California in the 1960’s, developed as a desert racer by Bruce Meyers. Those great times are long gone, but the particular kit is certainly still produced today, with even a little bit extra – the tougher and rougher DualSport spec package.
The kit is based on the super famous Type 1 VW Beetle, built with a fiberglass body and dash, along with polished steel bumpers both front plus back and features everything necessary to be road-legal.
The particular VW base engine is usually small, but with the very lightweight fiberglass body, it’s more than enough. Despite that, some choose to equip more powerful engines for a lot more fun.
13. Vetter ETV
For something out of this particular world, there is the Vetter ETV, or “Extra-Terrestrial-Vehicle”, the kit vehicle that looks like it is taken away in the latest Sci-Fi movie.
The ETV can have multiple donor vehicles at the base, from Honda and Toyota to Porsche, Chevrolet or even several electric vehicles. The bizarre design will surely make heads turn when driving around town, because this kit vehicle is fully street legal.
12. Exomotive Exocet
With the 1990-2005 Mazda Miata as a base platform, the Exomotive Exocet is an amazing and affordable option for those on the lookout for a fun plus sporty car.
The Exocet comes within three variants, base, sport and race, and features improved stiffness and reduced weight by using hand laid composite body panels. The price ranges from $6, 999 to $8, 299, yet that doesn’t include the Mazda donor vehicle.
11. Spyder Creations 550
On the a lot more expensive side is the particular Spyder Creations 550 package, which is a superb replica of the Porsche 550 Spyder, so no wonder you’d have to pay well more than $300, 500 for one.
Spyder ski jacket Creations justifies the high cost through the use of genuine hand-beat aluminum pieces intended for the bodywork and the original Porsche 4CAM engine to power the car. Only the motor itself is known to sell to get more than $250, 000, so there’s your own money.
The interior is surprisingly similar to the particular original cockpit, rising to the same high standards of the 1950s model.
10. Meyers Manx Kick-Out SS
Another dune buggy pertaining to the off-road enthusiasts, but a more cute 1 than the previously mentioned Maxter Dualsport, is the Meyers Manx Kick-Out DURE. It’s a modern replica of the iconic beach buggy.
What’s modern about the new buggy is a good improved design, better handling and stability on the road and more potent Subaru engine under the particular hood. The kit is based on the same VOLKS WAGEN Beetle as the original buggy plus sells meant for the foundation price associated with around $5, 700.
9. MEV Exocet Miata
The particular MEV Exocet aims in order to be the most affordable and easiest to build kit car on the planet while offering enough performance to be enjoyable to drive.
A top notch tubular plus fully triangulated space frame chassis makes the car super lightweight, while the suspension and linkage system of the Mazda Miata donor car makes it affordable plus widely obtainable, since it’s compatible with a number of older generations from the famed car.
The Exocet also has the benefit of using the particular many aftermarket upgrade mods of the Miata for even better overall performance. Besides that will, it’s road legal, so you can drive your friends home. One at a time.
8. Superlite Vehicles SL-C
For all those who want a racetrack ready high efficiency machine, the choice has to be the Superlite Cars SL-C. It’s designed to rival the best of the particular best in modern supercars, while still keeping the road lawful status.
It’s designed with a full aluminium TIG welded semi-monocoque framework and full fiberglass bodywork to keep weight to a minimum.
The package is divided into a total of sixteen stages, and you can opt for the crucial parts just, but the total will set you back around $50, 000, which is light years away from the manufacturing cars which offer exactly the same performance.
7. LB Specialist Vehicles STR
The particular LB Professional Cars STR is centered on the world rally legend car, the Lancia Stratos, which had one of the majority of recognizable plus appreciated designs of all time.
Given the entire world wide fame associated with the initial, the UK based POUND Specialist Cars, known initially as Lister Bell, has decided to produce an exact scale replica of the Italian racing car.
It’s designed with a semi monocoque chassis and integrated roll cage and comes with several options for the energy train, through the 190hp 2. 5L Alfa Romeo V6 to the 350hp 3. 5L supercharged Toyota V6 found inside the Lotus Evora, or even the V6 or even V8 Ferrari transverse motor.
6. Race Car Replicas RCR 917
For those who dream of iconic Porsche race cars of the particular past, there’s the RCR (Race Car Replicas) 917, which is a more affordable edition of the original Porsche 917 sports car story.
The RCR 917 features a full fiber glass body, with an aluminum monocoque in the particular center and tube-frame upon the front and back again.
For individuals who want it street legal, they can have it as it comes along with DOT approved windshield, headlights and taillights. The powertrain options include a Porsche flat six or a Chevrolet OF V8.
5. Cape Advanced Vehicles (CAV) GT40
The South African based company Cape Advanced Vehicles offers a superb replica associated with the well-known Ford GT40 that’s true to the authentic both in aesthetic details because the competent performance.
The kit includes a monocoque framework from stainless steel and full leather interior and arrives powered by a 450hp Ford Racing small block V8 able in order to push the car from 0 to sixty in 4. five seconds, or the Ford Performance V8 with only 410hp.
Additional functions include period inspired wheels, adjustable lightweight dampers or Wilwood brakes.
4. Factory Five Mk4 Roadster
Another Factory Five beauty is the Mk4 Roadster, dependent on the particular iconic Shelby Cobra, yet few people could tell the difference whenever seeing this on the particular road.
The particular kit is composed of laser-cut body panels, Mustang based suspension and Koni shocks plus running gear from any kind of Mustang built between 1987 and 2004.
a few. Ultima RS
Another The Mans inspired supercar from the British sports car maker Ultima, the RS comes since cheap as $65, 000 and as good as any modern day supercar.
The strength options come in the form of the Chevy LS (LS3/LS7/LSA) or even LT(LT1/LT4/LT5) OF V8, with even the bottom one adding enough power to the ultra light package to make it beat established supercars on the racetrack.
2 . DF Kit Vehicle Goblin
Probably one of the most fun and inexpensive options out there, the DF Kit Car Goblin is just super easy to build inside your own garage.
It comes along with a space frame tube chassis and can be equipped with any engine of a Chevy Cobalt donor vehicle, ranging from 145 to 260hp.
The total price of the particular toy comes in at only around $6, 800, therefore it’s on the affordable side.
1. Caterham 7
One of the most known kit car companies in the world, the UK based Caterham has started their background with the replica of a Lotus Seven within 1973 and they’ve gone a long way since then.
Today, their own Caterham seven comes in with a 2. 0L Ford Duratec motor and an already assembled body plus core, building it the perfect kit car for a complete beginner, since it doesn’t even need a subscriber car.
And with a performance that matches the likes of McLaren P1 on the track, it is hard not to consider owning one associated with these impressive toys.
Final Thoughts
Though mostly ignored from the auto community close to the world, kit cars are probably the particular most inexpensive way in order to have your own version of the most enjoyable cars in the world.
Choices are plentiful, but we have selected the particular best 20 options, so that you can have a starting point. Only through Caterham you could get at least 20 different versions of the beautiful Caterham 7.