Voice your opinion: WHAT IS A KIT CAR?

If I'm not mistaken, a Kit car is a British concept and product going back to the early years of the automobile that gets by or used to et by their hefty new car taxes by coming under the "Kit," owner providing final ***embly designation.

My favorites are the Devins.
http://www.devinsportscars.com/

 

To me a "Kit Car" is something built on a VW floor pan, most of them looked like **** from 50 feet, however if you got close to some they were turds with good paint jobs. About 99.9% of all Cobras you will ever see are "Kit Cars". The only Hot Rods that fit into the "Kit Car" group are the Total Performance T buckets, and any fibergl*** body on a new aftermarket ch***is. I don't count a turnkey Brookville roadster or 3Window as a kit, that is a reproduction in my book.

 

a revell 32 3 window that comes in a box with a tube of glue and flame decals for about 5.99.

 

Who gives a ****? Are you going to tell the Australians that their gl*** bodied cars are KITS? I'd pay high dollars to see that in person.

This subject is ****ing beat to death like ratrods.

BTW, KITT wasn't a Camaro...........he was a FIREBIRD.

 

Looks like Brandy invited a comment from Australia.

From MY perspective, a kit car is one that comes from ONE manufacturer as a kit, with instructions, and "simply" requires ***embling, with NO fabrication

Anything that requires fabrication, modification or imagination, ain't a kit.

But that's just my opinion, and opinions are like ****cracks .........everyone has one, some are just bigger than others

 

The first time i noticed what were labeled kit cars, they were fibergl*** copies of steel cars. Now of days you can buy steel kit cars. Most always they came in boxes. In either case when there done, they try to look like the originals. Lets say a kit looks like a 32 Ford but is it a 2007 Ford, is it a Ford? Maybe if they pay Fords license fee not just picking on Ford, GM collects fee

Where do you draw the line on the year thing and the make. States can make this a pain, heard some horror stories on that subject. Car show guys have many different opinions. Then the are auctions???

Just put a 32 Ford Roadster repo up against a the real thing see where that goes.

I have no desire to win awards they take up space and collect dust. A guy i know lived to win awards, when he died he had 134 car awards noboby wanted them.

 

This is a kit car,,,just add glue,,, HRP

 

This is very true. The little troll behind the counter at the California DMV had no clue what to do with our car. It wasn't a brand new Camry, so he was lost. His supervisor wasn't much better. Even when I showed him the page that explained how to register a car like ours printed off their own web site, he didn't know what to do!

It was completely different when we got to Tennessee. The lady wasn't sure at first, but she dug in and found out. Her at***ude was; "How can we make this work, so you can drive your car"

To me, registration is the biggest downside to building a car, any car, from a kit.

 

The guy that made the credit card statement (no pun intended) must have ****ty credit.. Im on my 3rd gl*** car. I may do a repop steel on someday too. Kit cars are street beasts and cobra stuff that come with directions.. My cars are hot rods. They are built by me with my brain and no instructions.. I dunno why these posts come up all the time but im thinking some people are just jealous..
Dave

 

7. A hotrod is built from pieces most of which brand new with the exception of an original frame

8. A hotrod is built from all brand new pieces (OK THAT ONE FOR SURE IS A KIT CAR)

The question should be whether or not "kit car" is always a negative thing. Back in the early 80's a friend built a car out of Popular Mechanics (I think it was). Spitfire frame, gl*** body and a diesel tractor engine. It wasn't a hot rod but it weighed nothing. He could drive that thing for weeks on a tank of gas.

I wouldn't mind having it now as a daily. LOL

 

Not long ago "kit car" was the term thrown about by some general public types to make themselves sound knowledgable. Now, they fancy the term "rat rod" because they think it sounds cooler than hot rod.

 

some guy down the block from me has a lamborgini(?) yellow gl*** body on his pontiac car, deep dish wheels and all.. looks kinda neat when your driving by.. but once he starts it up.. you kinda feel embarr***ed for the guy.. i kinda always wondered if he pulled one over on his wife and she thinks its real.. :/
thats a kit to me. just my 2 cents
-Anthony

 

a car ***embled from bought parts! simple.
jimV

 

as opposed to stolen parts? sorry, couldn't help it.

 

Just for kicks,
Have you ever looked at the public profile of the people that express opinions on poll type questions like this one ?,.... when you get to the kind of cars they own things get interesting and it's easy to see why they feel this way,...

If someone had a 48 Hudson 4 dr. and was at a event and all the attention was on a "dead on" traditional gl*** deuce highboy,... they might be tempted to say,... "yeah but my car is all steel !
that's just a kit car,... anyone could build that !"

I have, and had both,... sorry guys I like them both, and each one is as much work in different ways... this subject is beat to death.

BTW, I wasn't picking on people with 48 Hudson 4dr.'s, in fact if I could find one in fibergl***,... I might be tempted to build one, Oh thats right they don't make em' in gl***, and steel ones are pretty easy to find,... that must be why there all steel

 

lots of good advice here , my 2 cents if it comes in a box with "some ***emby required" plastered all over it , its a kit .. but i have seen some cool kit cars .. to each thier own im no purist

 

LOL So, if it's an expensive gl*** '32 ready to drive, that any smuck can buy, it's not a kit, in your opinion? That doesn't make sense.

 

Hey, I have a great idea here.........let's take the phrases "kit car" and "rat rod", put them in a paper bag, light the bag on fire and let it burn itself out, thus ending this BS about what is and what isn't. Now we can get back to good ole hot rodding.

 

Exactly...Both the amount of work in different way's and being beat to death.
I've added my thought's to this post as well and probably should have just read it and laughed to myself instead, but i didn't. No matter what everyone is going to have thier own opinion's.
Call em kit car's, tupperware, fake, whatever.. When the owner get's in it and enjoy's the hell out of it i'd be the dosn't give a **** what anyone call's it..he's enjoying it and in the end that's all that matters..and all that should matter..

 

Haven't seen this one for a while . . . I'm guessing Faith is asking cuz she gets the same comment/insult that I do with my petroleum based 32.

Here's a pic for all you "Steel is Real" guys.
It used to be a totally gennie 29 roadster.

Picture taken from my 32.

Except for the exhaust system that I originally built, didn't use and gave him that required a couple minimal changes, this car is way more a Kit Car than my 32 is.

A complete bolt-together with not much done in the way of owner built stuff.
To top it off, the guy's done a lot of engine & suspension swaps for others and is an excellent welder.


I think the Kit Car term came into being with some of the early gl*** bodied Sports Car kits being described as "complete."
Their use of "complete" is way different than mine.

The beautiful Cobra "kits' of today are a far cry from the older stuff - as many things are.

Folks who finished these early 'kits' to the point of actually being able to drive them were few and generally stick-to-it types very much like HAMB'rs of today who actually drive their cars.

When the re-pro stuff got popular and a lot of it was being used, a lot of dip**** yayhoo's like to use the term as an insult.

Yesterday, at the Kingman, Wheels and Wings Airshow, Car show and drag racing a couple of guys were looking at my 32.
One guy asked his pal if it was a gennie, the "expert" got mad at him, called him a dumb MF since he couldn't tell a gennie Ford body from a re-pro.
I had the pleasure of stepping out of the trailer and telling him the car had a modified Deuce Factory frame and Wescott body.
When they walked away, the MF was pissed and the friend was smiling.

Felt kinda good about that one....

Felt even better here . . . at the top end and that ain't engine smoke coming off the rear tires . . . a touch of skating around.




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Quoted from 2002P51, "It was completely different when we got to Tennessee. The lady wasn't sure at first, but she dug in and found out. Her at***ude was; "How can we make this work, so you can drive your car"

California has a lot of DMV folks like her.
Go to a nearby small town.
The DMV troops in the big cities like to use their 'authority' whenever they can.

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Credit cards be cool.
I only have a few bullet holes in mine....

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The guys and gals hunting down real steel and old parts are a lot like the resto troops.

It's more about the 'hunt' than it is the car....

 

That leaves me out . . . a lot of my stuff I traded for and other things were handed down or simply given to me....

 

I hope I didn't start this subject with my comment about the yellow car as being a kit car. To me it is. Only the drive train was ever a part of an old car. He has every right to be proud. I have every right to not be in awe of the painted and ***embled parts. To me this is day and night...self explanatory.

I've seen some beautiful period hot rods built the same way. You identify the So-Cal parts, the TCI frame, the Ch***is Engineering axle, the Brookville body by the name of the manufacturer. Beautiful work, but it's not me.

I bet half of the HAMB answers to questions are the web sites for part$ that bolt on to ***emble a hot rod. Nothing wrong with that but I enjoy the ones that explain how to restore the parts that we have.

I'm too tied up in the history of hot rodding. 50 years from now people will be seeking out genuine Brookville bodies that were made back in the day...the turn of the century.

This is a religious question that no one will be able to "convert" the others. If you state what you really think, you get ragged on for feeling that way. I've said too much already.

A kit car is in the eye of the beholder.

 

This all went to **** when we hired a President who could debate the meaning of the word 'is'.

C'mon, if the ****in' car comes in a kit, then it's a 'kit car'.

If it didn't... GFC*, I can't believe I'm replying on this thread...

BTW, there are some real cool kit cars. Think Lotus 7, Meyers Manx, Cheetah, a whole lot of Formula Vees, etc.

All the same, I'm not exactly foaming over an 8/10 scale Glenn Pray Cord...


-bill

*GFC = Geezus ****ing Christ... courtesy of my illiterate friend Mike

 

My opinion is better than your opinion.

 

My opinion is that I don't have an opinion.

 

Lux pretty much pegs it.

I guess you could call Wilbur's Stude a kit car it was pretty much in pieces when it rolled into the pork 'n' bean ranch.

 

Go work on your cars, Kit or otherwise.Sheesh

 

Street Beasts=KIT CAR

 

Bib Overalls is that your roadster on your avatar? It looks a lot like mine, can I see more pics??

 

Harmsway, ARE YOU PSYCHIC? This is funny because this is EXACTELY what happened last friday at Bob's. I had this "unpleasant" conversation with this car owner, who's belly size was only surp***ed by the size of his ego. This is what the conversation sounded like:

(and aaaction - yes time for popcorn)


Scene 1 - Exterior, Night - Bob's Big Boy parking lot.

Faith gives a big hug to Tom Spark who then goes inside the restaurant to eat. She walks to the back of her deuce to open the trunk and get her jacket. A car owner (older, fat and stupid), sitting on his fat *** (oh did I already mention he was fat? so sorry... ) on a lounge chair behind her car immediately addresses her in a snoody tone of voice. He's got one of these really expensively restored cars with a $15,OOO red paint job.

CAR OWNER
This car is from Long Beach, right?

FAITH
Well, no actually it is from Minnesota but I did find it in Long Beach.

CAR OWNER
It has a gl*** body.

FAITH
Yes, it is an older custom fibergl*** body from the seventies

CAR OWNER (looking down on the roadster - snoody tone of voice)
So it's a kit car.

FAITH (still polite)
No, it is a real 32 car but has had a body swap in the seventies.

CAR OWNER
It's a KIT CAR.

FAITH
The frame, grill shell, insert, radiator, hood, gas tanks are all 32 original. It's a hotrod you know, modified, the brakes are original 40's with original 60's buik finned drums, the hubcaps are original 40's ford the...

CAR OWNER (cutting her off)
If it doens't have a 32 original body on it IT IS A KIT CAR.

FAITH (getting ticked off by his condescendent tone)
No, a kit car would be, in my opinion, made with all brand new parts ready to bolt on and ***emble.

CAR OWNER (getting a bit nippy - how dare a girl argue with his all emcompasing wisdom and knowledge??)
Well, I have had many 32 roadsters and ALL of them had original bodies on original frames...

FAITH (now has just about had it with him) (sarcastic tone)
Well I am sooo happy for you (she bends down and taps him on the shoulder in a patronizing way with a big smile on her face) (she straightens up and the smile is now gone) but I don't really care.

She turns around and walks away leaving him pretty pissed off and thinks to herself: "You can say anything about me, but don't ever talk smack about the deuce! Kt car! Tell that to all the 9 previous owners guys who worked on restoring and modifying this car! Tell that to Eric, who boxed and braced the original frame himself! HA!"

END OF SCENE

And since I am not from here I started to wonder whether maybe he knew something I don't. Hence the thread cause I wanted to be SURE. OK, so I guess I am sure now.

I agree with all you guys said and I think the whole thing is completely juvenile / stupid. This man was clearly jalous because people were taking photos of the DOS cause they heard about the upcoming film. His car was beautiful but did not get as much attention - But who cares? Is this a contest? I go to BBB to hang out with my friends, not to compete with other car owners. Steel cars, gl*** cars, hotrods, customs, stock cars, rat rods, I love them all. If they are done tastefully that's all that counts.

As for me, I LOVE my hotrod more than anything. And that's the only thing that matters.

Oh and, the next dude who talks smack about the DOS gets slapped.