corvette kit cars???
#1
Burning Brakes
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corvette kit cars???
was watching the speed channel the other night. had a show on about Shelby Cobras. i guess i didn't realize they only made a few hundred of those. anyway, show said you never (almost never) see a real Cobra on the street. they're too valuable. ones on the street are all reproductions, kit cars made from scratch. made me wonder, are their corvette "kit cars"? how much does it cost to build one? if not, why not?
#2
Melting Slicks
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I doubt there are any corvette kit cars. No need for them. You can pick up a beat up corvette for cheap, and restore it how you want it and probably still be below the price of the kit car. Kit cars also lack the small details that production cars have.
#3
Melting Slicks
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I've seen a few on E-Bay (typically drag cars or some wacked VW conversion). You can purchase all the body panels from the catalogs and put together your own "kit". Not sure what chassis you'd put it on. A C4 chassis would make the most sense...high(er) tech guts combined with pleasing outward looks.
Why do you see replica Cobra's and not replica Vette's? Did you ever price a real Cobra?
D. Ocean
Miami, FLA
Why do you see replica Cobra's and not replica Vette's? Did you ever price a real Cobra?
D. Ocean
Miami, FLA
#8
The nicest Cobra replicas are from Poland and S. Africa. You're talking maybe 6 figures for those. Originals are around and many are raced and quite aggressively. A "few hundred" is suspiciously low - I think they made a significantly larger quantity over the course of about 6 or 7 years they were sold to the public thru Ford. There's about 8 or more legit manufacturers in the US. They can't call them "Cobras" due to the settlement agreement w/ Carol. You pay for two biggees... a good stout frame w/ minimal deflection and IRS. Personally I'd go for a reputed good frame but could probably live w/o the cost/complexities of IRS and go for a live axle - cheap and can be set up pretty good at least for my needs. I'd ball park one you do yourself starting in the mid to high $20s minimum and they only go up from there. Probably safer to say $30K as an 'average' if such a thing exists in this world. If one can be done for much less it may be of dubious quality or you're forgetting a ton of nickel dime stuff or have an angle on a free Mustang donor or your own paint/body shop or a final car that involves significant compromise like cheap guages and wheels... Or a slightly used or uncompleted one - those might be the only 'relative' bargains?
A Corvette kit car? Hello... the C3 IS ALREADY a kit car! albeit pre-assembled (well not always)
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ElCid79 - If SuperPerformance is just down the road - I didn't know you hailed all the way from S. Africa!
A Corvette kit car? Hello... the C3 IS ALREADY a kit car! albeit pre-assembled (well not always)
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ElCid79 - If SuperPerformance is just down the road - I didn't know you hailed all the way from S. Africa!
#9
Burning Brakes
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obviously it wouldn't make any sense to have a C3 L48 car kit. i was thinking more along the lines of a replica 63 split window or a 53/54 or a C2, L88, vettes that sell upwards of 100K (sometimes 200K).
#10
Race Director
Originally Posted by 69L68
About 10 years ago I saw a Corvette kit car. It was a 67'. You had to use an 80's GM car like a Regal. It looked horrible.
Steve
Steve
#11
Originally Posted by greyghost79
was watching the speed channel the other night. had a show on about Shelby Cobras. i guess i didn't realize they only made a few hundred of those. anyway, show said you never (almost never) see a real Cobra on the street. they're too valuable. ones on the street are all reproductions, kit cars made from scratch. made me wonder, are their corvette "kit cars"? how much does it cost to build one? if not, why not?
http://da-corvette.com/pricing.asp
#13
Race Director
Originally Posted by mike229
#14
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You can build a Factory Five Racing Cobra kit for around 30-40K. They are about the most common. Superformance and ERA kits are top-shelf and run between 40-60K depending on drivetrain, paint, and wheels. The correct side-oiler FE engine is pretty spendy...think ZL-1 spendy. The correct Halibrand pin-drive wheels are also pretty expensive. You all know what good paint costs on a curvy fiberglass body.
I priced an ERA before I got my '68 Vette. I optioned it with a 428 FE engine, Top-loader, decent paint, and Halibrand wheels. Price was reight about 50K. I have a friend with an ERA who did stainless exhaust and a proper 427 side-oiler and show-quality paint. He's a little over 60K. They are VERY correct cars and DON'T lack the details of the production cars. They actually prefer to be called replicas, not kit-cars.
I priced an ERA before I got my '68 Vette. I optioned it with a 428 FE engine, Top-loader, decent paint, and Halibrand wheels. Price was reight about 50K. I have a friend with an ERA who did stainless exhaust and a proper 427 side-oiler and show-quality paint. He's a little over 60K. They are VERY correct cars and DON'T lack the details of the production cars. They actually prefer to be called replicas, not kit-cars.
#15
Melting Slicks
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#16
Originally Posted by greyghost79
obviously it wouldn't make any sense to have a C3 L48 car kit.
Originally Posted by CGGorman
You can build a Factory Five Racing Cobra kit for around 30-40K.
(Crazy as it may sound - I think I'd seriously consider shooting the paint myself and going w/ a flattened paint and the rat-rod look - then I wouldn't be paranoid about scratches or chips and just drive da sucka)
In the past there have been some pretty shady operations giving this small industry a bad name which usually starts w/ too good to be true pricing and gets worse from there... But hopefuly the schlocks have been weeded out - things like the web and a maturing of the industry has probably helped a lot.