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Just wondering if any other guys in the US are thinking about getting a Ribble kit.
I am interested to know if shipping 2 kits would be much better than one?
Dollar-wise I mean.
Shipping 1 body is very expensive. I had one of the original Sammio bodies shipped to New York.
I'm not sure how much cheaper, per body, 2 would be. The cheapest way is to get enough orders to fill a 20 foot container.
I am in upstate NY in the USA. The body I purchased was from the original Sammio producer. For several reasons I did not use the body I purchased. I destroyed it.
I recently purchased molds for one of my favorite cars of all times. I'm just starting to prepare the molds to lay up a body. I am going to build a dedicated frame that will use Miata suspension and the Miata engine (I have a supercharged engine to use.) bolted to Mazda 323 front wheel drive transaxle. It will be a cool little mid engine car. I am not a potential customer to get bodies from the UK at this time.
redratbike is correct. The molds were pulled from an original 1966 Fiat/Abarth SP 1000. The construction of the molds is of good quality but the mold surfaces weren't in great shape. I'm starting on Monday to refurbish them so that the finished parts are of good quality.
The 21 car has a fiberglass insert that attaches to the windshield flange and fiberglass side panels that attach to the top of the door. Plastic wind deflectors are attached to those. Those will be removable and a legal windshield will be installed so that I can make it street legal. I'm not building a race car. I want to drive it in the mountains where I live.
This is a small car. The wheelbase is 86.6 inches and the body is 63-64 inches wide at the rear wheels and 60-61 inches wide at the front wheels.
I think the car is beautiful and I can't wait to build it. I had 2 heart attacks in 2014 and just received the green light from my Doctors on Friday to work in my shop.
I saw the moulds for sale on cars and classics website then I saw that you had bought them... That last pic I did a double take looking at the size of the driver to car scale..... the car does look small but what a beauty
Very pretty car. Small = fast and agile, it'll be a whole lotta fun on mountain roads I'm sure.
Good luck with both your build and recovery from your health issues, I'm sure the one will be good for the other.
Keep us home built special nuts up to date with progress, I'm sure there'll be plenty of people this side of the pond who can't wait to see it on the road.
Very nice car,I read all the discussions about what type of motor you
would need.
I wondered why nobody suggested to use the complete Fiat X1/9 unit
as it was a mid engined car(even the" ïtalian"wheels could fit).
Possible a quick and affordable option....
Thank you for the kind words and encouragemnet. I'll post updates.
I have thought about using the Fiat X19 and I think that it may work. I would need to see one with the body stripped off to see if the cowl is low enough or could be made to be low enough. The other problem is that they are not very common here. The ones I've seen for sale are pretty expensive and I also worry about getting parts. It's certainly worth looking into though.
From a dutch club forum I understood that they have been sold a very long time in the Usa,even longer then in Europe.
At the end they we,re sold as "bertone"and hat 1500 cc fiat engines with
80 hp.
This engine was also used in a Fiat we know as Ritmo(very much sold,so enough cheap parts!)
Ritmo was called 'Strada' in uk and had up to 130bhp in Abarth guise. Not sure if they ever marketed it stateside though.
X1-9 initially used 1300cc motor and 4 speed 'box from Fiat 128 Sport/Coupe/3p Berlinetta. Only 75bhp but a lovely, free revving SOHC engine that came on cam at about 3000 and pulled hard to 7500rpm (way above red line) without breaking a sweat, or breaking. My 3p could keep pace with 2 litre Capris and Cortinas back in the day and outhandled just about everything on the road at the time (Peugeot bought the innovative passive rear steer suspension setup Fiat used on the 128 and put it to good use in the 306).
The later incarnation X1-9 had a five speed 'box and 85bhp from 1500cc's, and I've always wondered if the 1.4 from the Uno and Punto Turbo ie models would bolt straight up to the gearbox. With 115bhp and loads of torque from its water cooled turbo, that motor would be very interesting in a lightweight road racer.
Failing that, Honda have made some cracking front-drive cars over the years that sold well in the states and could donate their mechanicals for not many pennies (or cents).
I'm sure a suitable drivetrain will present itself sooner or later.
