Ariel atom type cars... But cheap

Another thought, what do you like about the atom? Take a lightweight good handling car, put it on a severe diet and turbo the crap out if it. My next dream is a fiat x19

I like the simplicity. Yes, you can gut a street car and shed weight... but it looks gutted when you're done. I also envision them being easier to work on. And you get more performance for your money.

Don't get me wrong, I really like everything I've read so far on the Exocet, and it sounds like it's even doable in my price bracket. But I'm not sure how much of a project I'm ready for. I just parted ways with a 600hp Mustang, not because it wasn't a blast to drive, but because I was tired of working on it. I spent more time working on it and spending money than I did driving.

The other problem with a project like this is that I get carried away with the "might as well" disease. You've got this apart, so you "might as well" go ahead and upgrade. I can easily take a simple, affordable project and draw it out into a long, complicated and expensive project, haha. It's a curse. I can't leave well-enough alone.

Of course, if you want something already made and perfect, you're going to pay more for it. If you want something for $8000, expect a certain amount of quality bonding time.

Keith Tanner wrote: Of course, if you want something already made and perfect, you're going to pay more for it. If you want something for $8000, expect a certain amount of quality bonding time.

bonding, welding, riveting, grinding, drilling, cutting ...

Good luck with your search. I know what you mean about having the "Oh Well" disease. A build can get out of control.

I'm building my own inexpensive car using Miata parts. The frame is done. Yesterday I made some simple aluminum panels for it. Not done with that yet. Over the winter I'll finish up a 50's looking fiberglass sports car body for it. I just bought an inexpensive Miata that had body damage. It's supercharged, has a Torsen diff and some other good parts. I'll transplant the drive train and suspension into the new car. It's all about having fun.

[URL=http://s1143.photobucket.com/user/jmcbigbelly/media/phantomframefinal34hiside_zps443c3e77.jpg.html][/URL]

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Where to go for excocar info

bigmackloud wrote: But I'm not sure how much of a project I'm ready for. I just parted ways with a 600hp Mustang, not because it wasn't a blast to drive, but because I was tired of working on it. I spent more time working on it and spending money than I did driving.

I don't know what model Mustang that you had, but the chances are that it wasn't designed for 600 HP. That's why stuff was always breaking. The great thing about a well-engineered kit car is that the donor components become LESS STESSED as the performance increases. Such is the wonder of weight loss. Average brakes become awesome when they're stopping 1/2 the weight. Tires last much longer, drivetrain components have less torque applied to them because it takes less torque to get you going. et cetera.

Now I'm of the camp that thinks that that trying to make the Exocet attractive is kinda like dolling up Kathy Bates. But I have a lot of confidence in the US Exomotive crew. You can see by how they go about their business that they really want to do it right. I think that they'll have a damn hard time making money at their current price point. So if I were in the market, I'd grab an early one on the cheap, then throw the new and improved body on it when it comes out later. Because I doubt that prices will remain in the cellar the way they are now.

Oh, and keep an eye out for the guy directly above. He's the real deal.

And I don't imagine any kit car is going to be a "jump in and drive" affair. They are built for those who like tinkering as much as driving.

If you want a fun, no-fiddling car, might I suggest Miata? The FMII kit is very easy to install.

If you want to buy something already-built, fair enough. However if you're willing to do some welding you can have this for about the same price: Midlana video. Yes it's a big job - building a car always is, but the journey is the adventure.

Midlana.com

In reply to kb58: Jeeze Kurt, lot's of splashy edits and no action shots. What's next, drifting? Scantly clad vixens draping themselves over it? But seriously, it is more attractive than I expected. A nice, purposeful simplicity. I disagree with all your harping over front-engine, rear drive cars. If your brake reservoir is melting, it's bad engineering, not the configuration. And there's no reason that a front-engine car can't be quiet. Kind of lame, generalized put-downs.

bigmackloud wrote: I like the simplicity. Yes, you can gut a street car and shed weight... but it looks gutted when you're done. I also envision them being easier to work on. And you get more performance for your money.

YOu had me agreeing till you got to the money part. It's really about how much you are willing to do, but if you can put in the time, you can get more bang for your buck by doing more for yourself.

bigmackloud wrote: Don't get me wrong, I really like everything I've read so far on the Exocet, and it sounds like it's even doable in my price bracket. But I'm not sure how much of a project I'm ready for. I just parted ways with a 600hp Mustang, not because it wasn't a blast to drive, but because I was tired of working on it. I spent more time working on it and spending money than I did driving. The other problem with a project like this is that I get carried away with the "might as well" disease. You've got this apart, so you "might as well" go ahead and upgrade. I can easily take a simple, affordable project and draw it out into a long, complicated and expensive project, haha. It's a curse. I can't leave well-enough alone.

I think you are coming at this from a street car perspective in both of those paragraphs.

To get more performance out of your mustang, you gained performance by adding 50-100 % of the HP on a stock car, on most kits, you are getting the same performance gain by reducing weight.

Therefore instead of way overstressing the parts, you are actually understressing them.

Also, once you added all that power, you had tons of other things that were constantly needing to fix all other parts that were now overworked.

All this talk of an Exocet makes me want to sell the Ducati to fund a cool car build.

To clarify, I wasn't comparing the Exocet to a mustang. I was simply conveying that I just got out of a bad automotive relationship, haha. And it wasn't that I was breaking things with the hp. To be honest, I spent so much time working on it and so much money, I couldn't bring myself to abuse it. I had an oil pump failure which cost me the motor. Then the engine shop didn't set the clearances correctly on the main bearings, which cost me another motor in less than 2k miles. And every time I tackled a project on the car, I couldn't just "fix" the issue, I had to make it "better." Which again led to more work, more money, and less driving.

My point in all that rambling was my concern that if I start down the road of building an Exocet, I'll over do it and blow my budget and take twice as long before I get on track. (Not to imply that I've ruled out an Exocet yet)

I agree to all the pointed out advantages of a light weight track weapon. My thought though was to see if I could skip the building stage, find one already built/used for a similar price. If I've learned one thing, it's that the second owner gets a much better deal than the guy who built a car. (Just ask the guy who bought my mustang, haha)

toad9977 wrote: All this talk of an Exocet makes me want to sell the Ducati to fund a cool car build.

You should ask the owner about that plan. That's exactly what got him into this mess.

In reply to bigmackloud:

I know an Exocet owner that wants to sell his current one (that is very nicely done) and start-over with an all-out v8 build...

I think he'd take (very) high teens for his car. Very clean, comfortable seats, even has a stereo. PM me for contact info.

Why has no one done an exo car using a c5 rolling chassis? It seems like it would be a good starting point. I see them on ebay all the time for 5k to 8k.

In reply to pimpm3:

Hush. I'm waiting for the first person with the capital to have me (and a small team of specialists I've already assembled) design it right from the ground-up. With the right experience, tools, and methods, there's no reason why something like this couldn't be a steetable LMP2 car. The technology to make it affordable for just about anyone exists now, too. I've got the development and production costs itemized and everything. Angel investors, PM me (hah).

Lets get this Exocet thing squared away first, though.

pimpm3 wrote: Why has no one done an exo car using a c5 rolling chassis? It seems like it would be a good starting point. I see them on ebay all the time for 5k to 8k.

JMC14 a few posts above has done Corvette-based kit cars. Here's his website. No exos though:

http://www.dragonmotorcars.com/

Thanks for the plug Kreb. I was one of the owners of Dragon Motorcars. I started it for fun a number of years ago with my brother in law and a close friend. I had built a car from scratch. Some people that saw it wanted one so I set up a side business to sell some kits. A contracted with a large Kit Car company to make the frames from my jigs and bodies from the molds that I made. But, I am no longer involved with Dragon. I am not involved with Dragon anymore, in anyway. I moved to take care of my aging parents and have been working on the Miata based car as a way to keep busy, and have fun. My brother in law, Paul, continued on selling Dragon Kits.

That being said, I am considering selling the frames and bodies for the new car that I am doing. It's a hobby as I am retired and don't need to make a living from selling kits. I just can't stop designing and building. It's what I do.

As far as Corvette based cars. I do have a lot of experience building cars with C4 and C5 parts. I have one now that is the best performing car that I have ever driven. It has interchangeable bodies. With the hot rod body it is 1800lbs. I also have a Cobra tribute that I built from scratch. It has a Cobra body but I built the frame and it uses all C5 parts. It's a fantastic combo.

While building the Miata based car I have also been building the same basic frame to accept C5 parts. (I had most of the C5 parts already) The body, with flares will fit the C5 frame. The new car will have functioning doors, DOT windshield, flip up front end.

Well you can have a proven, shaken down, good looking tr-42 right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261291599171#

It has been in the back of this esteemed mag for a couple of months and I have it listed on ebay. Want more power? Easy, just add money

Dayum that thing looks GOOD! That's what I had in mind when I was talking about angular panels for the Exocet.

The Exocet has an engine in the front, that's going to have an effect on the styling of the nose

I realize it can't be as low in the front, but it could have a similar shape.