hey everyone. what is everyone's view on Birkin kits? are they even considered 'locosts'?

they seem like halfway between a Caterham, and a Locost..

has anyone here built one?

if i build one, am i still welcome here? or am i lumped in with the caterham owners?

cheers

Never heard of them....all are welcome here though....Oli.
Even the catterham owners....they're just too stuck up to speak to us (sweeping generalisation I know!)

As I recall Birkins are much closer to Caterhams than to locosts (certainly in terms of price!), but I'm glad to confirm you will indeed be welcome here

More of a We_tfield level I think. It's all cars, what's the difference?

Sat in a Birkin at the last Stafford show, I'd say with the right publicity they'd take customers away from Caterham!

Build quality and price are very comparable. Stunning bit of kit tho.

ATB Dan

There was a big legal kerfuffle a few years ago, brought by Cateringvan against Birkin for copyright.

Birkin bought the rights from Chapman yonks ago to produce one of the 7 variants, and cateringvan didn't seem to be aware. Needless to say, the company based in Caterham lost their proverbials.

SO, Birkin is a very close clone of one of the early Lotii, built with CC's permission!

Cheers,
Syd.

yeh, they seem to have really great quality. ive heard from one builder that the kit has excellent fit and finish, and there was no fabrication needed.

i cant quite put my finger on it, but theres something in the styling that just makes it look that much more aggressive. i dunno.

when I was looking to buy and spoke with them at stafford I got the impression that they were EXTREEMLY expensive. even more than caterhams. the quality and fit was extreemly good too but you certainly paid for it. too small for me to feel comfortable in, same as caterhams but all that's history.

under no circumstances did I consider them locost but as has already been said all are welcome here

im not sure who you were talking to, but on birkin.com.au (only site i can find with pricing) theyre priced at $18,999aud (£7,500 i think).

and thats for the IRS kit. it seems to include everything like wheelhubs, brakes, and everything. all that i would need to supply is an engine, tranny, and diff+axles.

thats about half the price of a self-built Caterham Roadsport 1.6, and about 1/4 of the price of a factory-built Caterham CSR200

Very popular here in the colonies. Imported as kits by PRB http://www.prbaustralia.com.au/ for a long time, but now sold by a separate group http://www.birkin.com.au/ .

Said to take just 100 hours of assembly, and there's certainly plenty on the roads here (out of all the clubmans, I mean). Generally nicely finished, and well supported here in Oz

Impreziv,

Birkins are VERY nice cars, but small as has been mentioned. Have you tried sitting in one?

The other thing to consider are the issues with Transport Canada. There are people who get kits into the country, but it is not legal (for road use). You can, however, legally purchase kits that are built in Canada, and there are a few of those available (Deman, COLD, Caterham etc,).

Good luck!

Shaun

ps: The best place to learn about Birkins in North America is the birkinowners Yahoo! group:

birkinowners

[Edited on 30/10/06 by smdl]

quote:

---

Originally posted by smdl

The other thing to consider are the issues with Transport Canada. There are people who get kits into the country, but it is not legal (for road use).

---

YMMV

Good luck.

Shaun

Ha oliwb im a caterham owner and I will speak to you guys any time

Dodge Viper Blue Zetec Caterham 23,000 miles in 15 months half it around Europe

Verrry late reply, but seeing I'm from sunny South Africa I just had to add a few cents.

Birkin is produced in Durban, South Africa. IIRC it is an "exact" reproduction of a 1967 Lotus 7. It was launched officially at the 1983 SA Grand Prix at Kyalami. The launch was attended by Colin Chapman's widow Hazel, and the Lotus Formula One team drivers, Nigel Mansell and Elio De Angelis. The intitial production run was even sold through Lotus agents!

I am pretty sure there is a US agent for Birkin. And as far as I know, there is no problem bringing a frame into Canada - you may have to pay for shipping from SA directly to Canada. Same applies for the Earley Motorsports Leitch (made in New Zealand - Graham Earley (in Illinois) is a nice guy from my correspondence with him).
I went with a locally made frame (Deman, Glencairn, ON), which I could talk to you about on email or u2u.

www.wirewheel.com

These are at least one US dealer

Birkin is the best Seven way above Cateringvan in quality ---- parts are a mixture Ford & Toyota.

They are built in South Africa -- hence better value for money than Cateringvan however the the agent importing to UK has had problems with a certain companies lawyers.