This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.
Hi. I'm actually quite impressed after visiting the samio motorcar company website. out of interest the doner Triumph herald can be used, but for better & more upto date performance & handling I noticed the Toyota mr2 mrk2 (as used in the f355kits)
has pretty much the same wheelbase 91.3ins as opposed to 91ins. Your views on this Please.
Feel free to have a go with any donor car you can get to fit inside the body, it'd be a heck of a challenge.
For me though, it's not about performance and handling - my modern car performs and handles really rather well - it's about the experience of building and driving something that feels as if it's from a bygone era where you actually had to drive the car to get the best out of it.
I would agree with Mister Towed comments, the appeal of these cars for me was the feel of an older bygone era car that you wouldnt get with a modern donor. I have no doubt that it could be done although you would need a custom frame and it would be much more work than going with a triumph donor.
I do like the MR2, Im actually looking to buy one this week strangely enough to have a good look at the viabilty of designing a kit around it although cant say much more than that at the moment.
yep, the beauty is the simple eep: registration inspection and the fact that you keep the original donor reg number and reg date. For me this meant mine is a 1964 Sammio Spyder Sports on the log book with historic tax exemption.
The fact I can open the bonnet up and it all looks period means that most people think it is not a kit car at all, but a real 1950/60s sports car!
As Mr T says, it is the driving experience and if you want a modern driving car then build it on a modern chassis, and running gear and go through the IVA route. If you want to re-live the past, then ideally get a Vitesse donor, and build from there!
Either way, it'll be nice to have another Spyder on the road! All the kit car shows are full of Caterhams and Cobras and all the classic car shows are full of VW camper vans and Jaguars!
Variety is always welcome - we can all borrow ideas as we solve our different problems.....sorry, challenges.
When I fiddled with historic Formula Fords I used to love the fact that there were only two wires attached to the engine - distributor and low oil pressure.
My plan is to be as close to that as possible.
Rev counter, water temp and oil pressure were all "solid" connections. Yes, that was a pain in the backside and I will make some concessions.
Variety is always welcome - we can all borrow ideas as we solve our different problems.....sorry, challenges.
When I fiddled with historic Formula Fords I used to love the fact that there were only two wires attached to the engine - distributor and low oil pressure.
My plan is to be as close to that as possible.
Rev counter, water temp and oil pressure were all "solid" connections. Yes, that was a pain in the backside and I will make some concessions.
That's pretty standard for a Herald/Vitesse donor - my rev counter, speedo and oil pressure gauge are all mechanical. Only the fuel level and water temperature gauges are electric.
eep: registration inspection and the fact that you keep the original donor reg number and reg date. For me this meant mine is a 1964 Sammio Spyder Sports on the log book with historic tax exemption. 