Car kits

Author
Discussion

chassis

Original Poster:

300 posts

273 months

Monday 4th February 2002
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*** MESSAGE DELETED ***

craigw

12,248 posts

289 months

Monday 4th February 2002
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is it just me or is this very confusing ?

Cotty

40,280 posts

291 months

Monday 4th February 2002
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quote:

Hello,

What' the difference between buying a car from your local dealer and getting a car kit?
What does the kit contain?
Every parts of a car?
Who sells the kits? The main company who designed and built the model or third parties?
If third parties, then doesn't the real company sue them for copying their model?
How does these things work?

Can anyone tell me the kit sellers of lamborghini, ferrari, mercedes and bmw?
Any links, addresses?

Why bother with car kits, why don't people just build the car' chassis and body and buy the parts from a local parts dealer?
What' the real big deal about these kits?

Anything else I should know?


are you refering to kit cars, take the Ginetta G4 as an example it costs £17,000 but you can build it yourself for £10,000, all parts included.

Hot Rod suppliers usually make the body and chassi and let the builder do the rest.

Merc/BMW car kits ???? not sure what you mean

Paul

ninja_eli

1,525 posts

274 months

Monday 4th February 2002
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Correct me if I am wrong but I am assuming that maybe you are thinking that the kit car replica is built by the same people as a real one. It is not, the kit car is a fibreglass copy, which are sometimes "quite" realistic (mainly in the Lambo guises) but are built upon either a donor car (i.e. Pontiac Fiero) or something like a tubular chassis.

It is pretty easy to spot most replica's as they clearly are not up to the same standard as the real thing but my neighbour had a Lambo Countach that looked quite good, had all the connolly leather etc. But then it cost him something like £28,000 so for a little more you could have the real thing.

I think you are confusing kit cars and replica cars (although sometimes built in a similar way).

Also regarding suing, the replica manufacturers are generally so small time that company's like Lambo and Ferrari don't bother with them. The kits are not good enough to steal sales from Ferrari/lambo and also they don't come with any Ferrari/lambo badges etc.

chassis

Original Poster:

300 posts

273 months

Monday 4th February 2002
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but there' a risk that sales maybe stolen when models can be found cheap even though materials are different and the building company is different, right?
So, there' a chance to be sued!
How to avoid this?

adeewuff

567 posts

277 months

Tuesday 5th February 2002
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When someone wants to spend 100k on a car they are not exactly going to be tempted away by a 20 grand clone are they? Believe me, if I had that kind of money only the real deal will do!!

The performance luxury car sector and the performance kit car markets are miles apart and they are not competing for the same customers.

The only time a large manufacturer will get involved is if you are trying to sell a kit as the genuine article.

domster

8,431 posts

277 months

Tuesday 5th February 2002
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People who buy Lamborghini Diablo replicas (for example) are a very different breed from the people who buy Lamborghini Diablos.

I'm not sure you've seen a replica Diablo or Countach vs the real thing - apart from a number of different details, the point of a Lamborghini is the V12 engine and Saint Agata pedigree. A Rover V8, no matter how lovely, and a provenance of a Cheshire Industrial Estate is not quite the same.

The reason Lamborghini hate the replica manufacturers is because passers by often confuse them with the real thing, look inside the window at some dodgy workmanship and then think Lamborghinis are badly made (which indeed they used to be ;-))

chassis

Original Poster:

300 posts

273 months

Wednesday 6th February 2002
quotequote all
quote:

Correct me if I am wrong but I am assuming that maybe you are thinking that the kit car replica is built by the same people as a real one. It is not, the kit car is a fibreglass copy, which are sometimes "quite" realistic (mainly in the Lambo guises) but are built upon either a donor car (i.e. Pontiac Fiero) or something like a tubular chassis.

It is pretty easy to spot most replica's as they clearly are not up to the same standard as the real thing but my neighbour had a Lambo Countach that looked quite good, had all the connolly leather etc. But then it cost him something like £28,000 so for a little more you could have the real thing.

I think you are confusing kit cars and replica cars (although sometimes built in a similar way).

Also regarding suing, the replica manufacturers are generally so small time that company's like Lambo and Ferrari don't bother with them. The kits are not good enough to steal sales from Ferrari/lambo and also they don't come with any Ferrari/lambo badges etc.





Sorry, I am new with cars.
What' a:

replica, lambo?

WHat do the kit cars contain?

domster

8,431 posts

277 months

Thursday 7th February 2002
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- a replica lambo is a kit car that is a near identical copy of a lamborghini countach or diablo.

- a kit car is a vehicle supplied in kit form, for self assembly. It normally excludes the engine, gearbox and other assemblies such as the hubs and brakes. That is because there are many suitable 'donor' components available on the open market, i.e. taken from main stream production cars. Generally, you will get a chassis, some bodywork and the 'bespoke' parts needed to complete the kit. Cost can vary between 250 quid (Ron Champion's book!) up to about 50k for an Ultima.

In all cases, it helps if you have some technical knowledge, a workshop, and a familiarity with cars...

GregE240

10,857 posts

274 months

Thursday 7th February 2002
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God, looking at these posts apropos chassis, I salute you all: you have the patience of saints !!

Reminds me of a quote from Fawlty Towers:

: "Please try to understand before one of us dies."

Roadrunner

2,690 posts

274 months

Thursday 7th February 2002
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ar$e

englishman in LA

291 posts

280 months

Thursday 7th February 2002
quotequote all
quote:

Reminds me of a quote from Fawlty Towers:

: "Please try to understand before one of us dies."




chassis

Original Poster:

300 posts

273 months

Friday 8th February 2002
quotequote all
quote:

God, looking at these posts apropos chassis, I salute you all: you have the patience of saints !!

Reminds me of a quote from Fawlty Towers:

: "Please try to understand before one of us dies."




You think that everyone understands what a car kit is in the uk?
No?
then what' wrong if I ask anything about it?

GregE240

10,857 posts

274 months

Friday 8th February 2002
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Okay, my fine foreign friend,

Why not check out:

www.kitcar.com

Should answer a few of your questions.

By the way, it also offers details of kit Lamborghini Diablos and Countach's, so there's a starter for you.

Hope this helps (no, I really hope it helps)

Kind regards,

Greg

PS - the Fawlty Towers reference was a typical use of something us English people called "irony".

For example, if you're waiting for a bus and someone says to you "hey...lovely weather..", they're not stupid, they're just being ironic. So, when you're at home and you perhaps burn some toast, you can use your new found skill and say "Hey ! Lovely weather."