Hi,
I'm new to the kit car world and looking for something around the 3.5k for a bit of local road fun.

I have seen one car advertised but when I do a search on the reg its showing as

Marque: Locost
Range: 7 Replica

My question is does this mean this is still a locost chassis build or could this be something else as others I have seen do not state they are a 7 replica?

Also, is a Locost much different to a Tiger Cat E1 as that was my other option.

thanks

When buying a used kitcar I would say “THE” most important thing is it’s correctly registered.
Second most important referees more to a home made chassis, and that is the welding of the chassis and wishbones looks to be of a good standard.

Everything else can be swapped, changed and upgraded as is your preference.

A lot of kits where copies of copies of copies. Tiger are a little bit different to most. Use different running gear. They also tend to be a bit smaller in the cockpit.
I would class the the tiger cat as more of a tourer. Early ones used the Sierra rear subframe. So a little heavier.

Thanks,
So from your knowledge of these cars would you say that this is a correctly registered Locost or something to stay away from?


Also there seems to be the option of a 2.0 Zetec, with 4 speed gearbox or 1.8 & 2.0 pinto 5 speed gearbox.

Is there a huge amount of difference between the Zetec / Pinto and running with only 4 gears instead of 5 with regards to performance.

I don’t know what your looking at so I can’t say if it’s correctly registered or not.

Things on a v5 I wouldn’t want to see in the manufactures section would be Ford, Triumph ect. Other no no’s are early kitcar makes that the car is obviously not. Dutton, Sylvia, Robin Hood, Pilgrim and countless more.
Other give aways are things like tax exempt, classic status, mot exempt.
If you build your one you can register it as anything. So it’s not straight forward. I think my first one is out there as a Big_wasa Sports cars, Locost Roadster.

Nothing wrong with a pinto, I had great fun last summer with a bog standard 1.8, all 85bhp lol I even took it around Cadwell park. With so little power it was hard to get into trouble.

I love Zetec’s you would be hard pushed to get less than 150bhp from a 2.0. They hold there oil much better than older ford lumps and a good one won’t burn any either.

My current car has been off the road this year for a charged Zetec transplant.

T9 is the common gearbox even with a Zetec they can be fragile, I wouldn’t think a four speed would be any better.

It’s getting to the end of the season and it’s been a rubbish year for the weather. I wouldn’t rush into one as I think it’s a buyers market and the choice will probably get better.