Bluemoon
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| posted on 20/9/11 at 12:49 PM |
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^^ To much doom and gloom; the reason the UK has a kitcar industry is the manufactures and builders all got together to make sure Britain had an SVA,
so we remained EU compliment with type approval.
I think this is a testimony to how great the UK can be where else would you find a government supporting such an eccentric nation of kit builders...
All the people that think the UK is going down the pan are not really in the real world; it's our country and up to us what we want from it we
are the solution (and the problem!)...
Cost of the IVA is steep; but considering the hourly rate the SVA was effectively being subsidised by the tax payer; I would think the IVA meets
it's costs; I can't see it being justify-able to increase the costs outside of the inflation rate now.
The rub is if the EU makes the rules so tight SVA/IVA is no longer economically possible that would be the killer.
Dan
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morcus
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| posted on 20/9/11 at 08:20 PM |
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Reading this I think alot of the older members have quite a narrow view regarding young people. I'd agree that intrest in engineering may be
falling but knowledge of electrical and computing subjects is still something alot of young people have an intrest in and also amongst the large group
that all get labelled as boy racers are some people who actually know what they're doing. I know alot of people in there 20's (Myself
included) who want to start kit building or scratch building who just can't afford the space or time or money at the present.
Second point, 'The Government' haven't got it in for kitcars, collectively they probably don't care that much either way but
they give kits preferential treatment in taxation and exempt us from alot of laws which would make kits illegal. Does anyone here know how much CO2
their kit puts out and what tax band they'd end up in?
Last point, inflation. Alot of people are saying kits are more expensive but so is literally everthing else, I was amzed to see the new Fiat Panda
will be coming next year starts at £8500, my top spec car cost just over 9 (Without the 'box and paint it would have been below £8500).
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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bi22le
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| posted on 20/9/11 at 10:26 PM |
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Strange one this, having only just turned 29 i realised a while back i must be one of the youngest se7en owners on here. i also brought my first one
at 27!
I got my car because i love driving and really would like to do some form of racing. I thought learning kitcars was a good way to start. I also have a
free use company car which helps things.
my car costs me alot, my wife undrrstands that i NEED a fsst car because i love driving so much.
the main reasons i brought my car was:
they are fast for their cost,
look diffrrent to any other car,
as close to a bike as a car can get
something my wife can be proud of.
Something that i can learn from
soething that may help me get better ready for racing.
I have always been a tinker and have no fear to dismantaling and repairing anything. i have done it all my life. i am now an engineer and have alwas
wanted to be one.
I just wonder if i am very luck and you have to have surpless time and money young people just dont have.
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 21/9/11 at 09:17 AM |
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You make life what you want it to be - if you put the time and effort into what you want you'll get it. Most people don't know what they
want or how to get it and are not willing to save/sacrifice for it. Especially not when they're 18-25, hence the fact that most owners are
older. It's so much easier to buy a fast car and customise it by a drive-through raid on halfords than it is to make one.
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hughpinder
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| posted on 21/9/11 at 10:49 AM |
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Will kit cars die out? I don't know, but I'm sure of some things.
1. EU laws will try to tighten safety and emmissions every few years, making the cars harder to build, probably heavier.
2. In the past, cars rusted badly and could be had for next to nothing by the time they were 10 years old as the body was bad. this isn't so
true now.
3.When I first looked at kits cars in the late 80s, car performance was much less - 0-60 sub 6 seconds was very fast, so your kit could be a supercar
with a fairly low spec (by todays standards).
4. Back then, a lot of people had a garden big enough to stick their donor on while they stripped it.
5. Back then most people I knew did basic maintenance themselves, and had a tool kit (usually in the car as you would use it when you were broke down
- no mobiles then just a long walk to the phone box otherwise). Now most people expect their car will just work, and have a mobile for if they do
break down. People were therfore less frightened to take on a atsk like building a kit car.
6. High performance cars are available for a lot less money now, in relative terms, and probably cheaper to run (Petrol passed £2/gallon in 1981(bit
then dropped a bit and stayed at that level for ages, and modern cars are much more fuel efficient for a given power output).
7. People are more risk averse, and open cars are percieved as more dangerous.
8. I think banning kit cars completely on safety grounds is unlikely, as motor bikes are far more dangerous and would have to go first.
9. People are more used to luxury in their cars now - power steering and power assisted brakes for instance, and find the lack of these as a turn
off.
Regards
Hugh
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FASTdan
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| posted on 21/9/11 at 11:30 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by hughpinder
8. I think banning kit cars completely on safety grounds is unlikely, as motor bikes are far more dangerous and would have to go first.
Regards
Hugh
Very good and obvious point lol.  Saying that though, you are applying logical reasoning......yet as an example there is little logic in the bizarre
process the government have in place for getting a kit on the road (can drive to the IVA but not to the DVLA inspection??!), so a ban on a kit whilst
leaving 2 wheeled death traps on the road wouldnt surprise me.
Depressing post. I dont think its as bad as people are making out, I'd say as has been said prices since 2004 wont be that far above the rising
cost of living. But also as said the alternatives to a kit are much more abundant - particularly the likes of a TVR, that whilst still needing
maintenance/overhaul offer just that bit more refinement that you need to make it properly useable.
There's still no substitute for the absolute total and utter BUZZ the MK gives me though, I really cant see anything this side of a
GT3/fezza/lambo/atom getting anywhere close. I actually think we have it pretty good at the moment in terms of legislation considering what you are
actually doing (build a car in a shed with your own welder etc, bolt it together spend £500 or so on IVA and away you go on the public road.....).
There's still a lot of young tinkerers out there - Im amazed at the number of enquiries I get for bike carb manifolds for alsorts of hot (or
not) hatches as well as kits.
NEW danST WEBSITE NOW LIVE! Bike carbs, throttle bodies and more......
http://www.danstengineering.co.uk/
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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daz928sb
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| posted on 29/5/15 at 09:18 AM |
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oh dear oh dear
whats the matter with you people!! kit cars will NEVER EVER die out!!
the fact that they are rare, not everybody has them but the thrills and excitement you get from driving one of these is second to none!!
isnt that what all of us petrol heads aim for in a car!!
easy to repare, will hardly rust out like a normal car!!!
personally i have never heard so much cobblers!!
kit cars will live for ever!!!!
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adithorp
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| posted on 29/5/15 at 09:45 AM |
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Well they haven't died out in the 4 years since the last post on this thread... 
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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alex1991
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| posted on 29/5/15 at 11:16 AM |
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Young people are still interested in kit cars!
I'm 23 and I own a kit car, sold my modified tintop for it. I wanted something cheaper to run (insurance and fuel is massively cheaper while
being faster and more interesting). I make most of my savings running a boring diesel to drive to uni and being able to fix stuff myself.
I also have a sports bike (which is silly cheap to insure and tax) and I generally think its not that expensive owning second and third vehicles, I
don't drink or go out anymore though. I'm a student and seem to afford them all ok while paying a mortgage. Granted I don't have
kids.
All my friends love the kit car too with one considering getting rid of his mx5 for one.
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gingerprince
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| posted on 29/5/15 at 11:42 AM |
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coozer
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| posted on 29/5/15 at 11:57 AM |
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Couple of things I would like to point out..
Youngsters are not as engaged in cars these days cause they are all crap. I grew up with rwd cars and they were interesting.. My first fwd was a £300
montego turbo, boy was that interesting!
The cost, iva rolling roads etc is just a consequence of the times. Emmisions are one thing that will get tighter but while car manufacturers drag
their heels bringing out clean engines it will trickle on...
I hope you all vote for an OUT in the euro referendum and THEN lobby your MPs for more say in our transport industry.
So far Cameroon has started rolling the historic tax cutoff again and has exempted pre 60 cars from mot. Are they not steps in the right direction?
I hope it lasts long enough to get started on my Midlana, which is the next progression using the fwd drivetrains from any fwd car....
The fun is in the building, and the unique driving experience.
Chin up, crack on building/driving, whichever one youmenjoy the most.
And shows? Not enough support from kit car owners IMO. I reckon its time for clubs to step up and organise rally's, some of my best weekends
have been in a field with a band and hundreds of other scruffy bikers😯
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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