Hi All,

I'm thinking about buying a 2nd hand car-engined Locost, getting spanish registration for it, then try to sell it (a sort of experiment? ).

As this involves quite a lot of money on top of the price of the car (shipping, SVA, insurance, tax and so on), I'm looking more into a Locost for pleasure rides / meetings / outings that I can get CHEAP. I think this could be of interest here as people in the streets ask me about buying a car without knowing at all (or caring at all) that my particular one has 300 bhp/ton.

So what I need to know first is how much would I need to spend to get a decent quality 2nd hand Locost. Although in the Locost spirit with no fancy stuff, it has to be decent quality because the owner will say he bought it from me, if you know what I mean, so we don't want things falling apart after 6 months of use.

So I thought I'd ask you for comments / brief description of the car I want (engine, suspension, chassis), then when I have a rough idea I'd look for UK adverts (to check prices), then I would add all the remaining costs (shipping, SVA, MOT, insurance, taxes) and finally I can probably give up in view of the ridiculous total price!!

Thank you for any thoughts.

Cheers,

Alex

a locost from 2 grand upwards, a manufacturer chassis from 4 upwards probably. Dutton Phettons (sp?) can be had from £500 i think.

Cheers Joel.

What about engines? Are crossflow good, do I want to go Pinto or CVH? I'm clueless!

Providing you can get the parts, the engine is not an issue. If it has an early xflow then you sell the car at a cheaper price that say a CVH. You will probably be asked to get hold of parts too so that's another income to be had!!

[Edited on 21/7/05 by donut]

Are you suggesting that a BEC is not 'pleasurable' to drive on the road?

You'll get your nadgers cut off for that one!!!!!

Alex,

I would think that buying a car from a known manufacturer may be better. It may make it easier for you to sell it as prospective customers can research the make and know what they are buying. That's certainly not to say that locosts are not as good as kits, but people like to know what they are buying.

I would look for crossflow or pinto engined cars as the engines are generally simpler and cheaper, therefore cheaper and easier to maintain for you and the buyer.

Sounds like an interesting idea by the way

Nick

Thanks!

> You will probably be asked to get hold of parts too so that's another income to be had!!

Hurray!! I'll get rich

Well if everything went nice, ideally I would end up providing / coordinating some services either directly or indirectly, so of course you are right. But for now I'm thinking about selling one car to see if it makes sense money wise.

> Are you suggesting that a BEC is not 'pleasurable' to drive on the road?

Yeah that's my overstressed ears speaking!! Honest, traveling at high rpms steady and / or with an engine of such narrow power band and low torque makes no sense to me!!

However, I'm not thinking CEC because of that. I'm thinking CEC because budget CECs are cheaper than budget BECs and they're as good for the intended purpose

> You'll get your nadgers cut off for that one!!!!!

No chance, I'm a convinced biker and I wouldn't change my BEC for a CEC!! (but still it's cr_p for motorway cruising!!, although second to nothing for small roads, city and track).

> I would think that buying a car from a known manufacturer may be better. It may make it easier for you to sell it as prospective customers can research the make and know what they are buying. That's certainly not to say that locosts are not as good as kits, but people like to know what they are buying.

I would agree that brand chassis would be generally better for what I intend, but for a different reason I think. I mean, people here know absolutely nothing about kit cars or Locosts, so effectively there is no "known" factor to be considered. However, being in Spain, it's very important for me to get as much info on the cars as possible before anyone goes to see the car. In other words, "MK Indy chassis, no rust" gives you much more information (if you have seen a MK chassis before) than "homemade chassis, superior quality, no rust" (which could be anything)

> I would look for crossflow or pinto engined cars as the engines are generally simpler and cheaper, therefore cheaper and easier to maintain for you and the buyer.

Advice taken, thank you!

Cheers,

Alex