If you ever wanted a TVR...

Hey Keith,

I would be glad to do a build sheet sheet for everyone. I will try and pick up a donor in January to get started. Just like with any build it all depends on what your expectations are and of course who you know. I will be getting several items at cost or free but I will put full retail value on everything just to be fair. For this example I will not be doing an engine swap as part of the build.

Because I assume most people who would buy these would be doing most of the work on their own I will not add my labor to the build cost. Just parts.

Again this will most likely not happen till sometime in February. Just have to much on my plate right now haha

Keith Tanner wrote: An optimistic attitude is a prerequisite to being in the kit car business! That's not a criticism, there are so many reasons not to get into the industry that you have to be an optimist to take it on. I'd be interested in seeing a spreadsheet of actual costs incurred in an actual build. Paint for a high quality kit around here - a Catfish with all the panels loose so there's no masking - will run about $5k. Btdt. When Traklite wheels are being held as a high-end option, we're talking a tightly constrained budget. My ballpark for a realistic build was also in the $20k range.

Going to have to agree with Keith. After countless kitcar builds for myself and other people that is really really cheap price to build. In the US it is very hard to meet that price point.

What does shipping look like to the US. Because with the exocet's way back in the day it was up there.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

I priced shipping from Latvia to my door in NC at $1000-$1500 with a container cost at $3400. This was based on the weight estimate and crate size I had at the time.

Leaving labor out of the cost makes perfect sense, but labor for paint prep (usually done by the paint shop) should be acknowledged as optional at least. As anyone who's done painting knows, that's a skill. I look forward to seeing a well-documented, quality build.

$1500 for shipping seems awfully good compared to the shipping/import costs for a Westfield, but this is likely a smaller crate by a fair margin.

Keith this kit is coming out of Latvia. I know of an Formula Drift Driver from Latvia who shipped two drift cars via air for $8000 each. I did not believe the price at first but i did get multiple quotes shipping out of Riga . I want to say the duty rate is 2.5% but I would have to double check that number

There is not much to the kit to be honest

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Keith not sure what you mean a solution to the trunk opening. Are you on about a parcel shelf inside?

Hey Wayne, quick question, what wheel setup are you running on the white car you showed in the video? Specifically I'm wondering about width and offset (including any spacers).

In reply to GameboyRMH:

I asked Wayne this same thing a while back . Here is what he told me ...

18x8 et40 front with 43mm spacers. 18x9 et40 rear with 53mm spacers.

wayneb1408 wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: Keith not sure what you mean a solution to the trunk opening. Are you on about a parcel shelf inside?

In the video, what's under the hatch looks crude. You've got the well the top used to go into, a piece of exterior metal and then the old trunk opening, all with flanges that aren't really designed or intended to be in view. That piece of shiny exterior metal really stands out and highlights the fact that this is a car with a body kit. A bit of attention there - without affecting structure, which may not be easy - would have a big effect on how finished the car looks.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Hi Keith we did have a parcel shelf design that sat in there which looked good but it just wasnt to my taste so i scrapped the idea and am currently working on another design that sits flush inside the gap. Will then carpet it over completly with maybe even some small speakers in there to give the image of a larger shelf. Alternatively you could alter the structure to gain a larger area but this would be up to the builder. In reply to lights as well we have decided to include the rear lights and wiring in with the kit price as we know they will be harder to source out the US. Im sure once our agents start selling they will also keep spare stock in the event of damage. Front lights are available everywhere.

NickD wrote:

Damn. I like the looks of that kit - a lot - especially in white with black wheels like that. But I think I like the graffiti wall behind it even more.

Kitcarguy wrote: Hey NoHome and others. Figured I would chime in as well. My name is Donnie and I run a popular kit car website that has been around since the late 90s. I have been involved in kit cars in some form or other for about 25 years. I have owned 30+ kit cars in that time with the better part of half of them being built by me. I have been following this kit since the day it started and will have one here North Carolina) in Feb if all goes as planned. [ ... ]

Are you the guy behind "Price of His Toys"? I pop by there every now and then just to see some of the crazy stuff people have built. Great site!

I would LOVE to see a build thread here if you get one of these kits. With lots of WIP pics!

In reply to Jay:

Hey Jay. Yes I'm the jackass behind price of his toys and a few others lol.glad you like it.

I Been working with Wayne for the better part of this year. I let him know that I will be doing a complete build thread as well as build sheet on the website and Facebook.

Looks like a few magazines are interested to see how it plays out and a well know parts supplier is on board to provide parts for the build.

I personally like the car. Much better than anything out there for the miata. But just like everyone else it is my personally taste.

I can tell you I will not be able to start this till Feb or sometime in that area. I just have to much happening.

I think that stuff like this (similar to the Smyth kit and the Flying Miata Exocet kit) are great. These are built on stable non-V8 platforms that have good aftermarket support.

I hope all you guys succeed this is an underserved market by quality builders

Smyth truck kit is brilliant if you ask me. I have been thinking of doing a tdi for some time haha

wayneb1408 wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: Hi Keith we did have a parcel shelf design that sat in there which looked good but it just wasnt to my taste so i scrapped the idea and am currently working on another design that sits flush inside the gap. Will then carpet it over completly with maybe even some small speakers in there to give the image of a larger shelf. Alternatively you could alter the structure to gain a larger area but this would be up to the builder. In reply to lights as well we have decided to include the rear lights and wiring in with the kit price as we know they will be harder to source out the US. Im sure once our agents start selling they will also keep spare stock in the event of damage. Front lights are available everywhere.

All sounds good! I think you could keep most of the structure back there, but it just needs to be cleaned up. It's on display when you pop that hatch, of course.

I think this kit is a great addition to the market. The only other complete kit for the Miata that looks any good at all is the Italia, and that's no longer available.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

It's available if you want Jim Simpson to build it for you lol

The mx250 by Tribute automotive is nice

I'm going to disagree with you there. It's a perfect example of a bad body kit. The proportions and surfaces are all wrong. If carefully photographed, it can look good. But get it from another angle, and it's terrible. It's possible that the nose would work well as the start of a Breadvan copy. The 250 GTO is a gorgeous car, the MX250 is not.

I don't think Jim offers the Italia "classic" anymore, only the later iterations.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

I see what you mean...

The first pic - "hmm... not bad..."

Second pic - "Gahh!! Kill it with fire!!!"

Different strokes for different folks. Your idea on what looks good and mine are different. My websites is filled with horrible looking cars I like. We all have varied personal tastes.no harm there.

I guess if you where going for an exact copy you would either buy an original or build an exact copy.

What's funny is I also like the italia but it is still nothing more than a "tribute" car. It is smaller, and not very accurate compared to the original 275 gtb nart it was designed around.

The Miata based kit I'd like to see in person is the one by MEV that replicates a Aston Martin DBR: http://www.miatakitcar.com/miata-based-dbr1-kit-car/

I'm still a big fan of the Pit Crew conversion kit.

In reply to Ian F:

I to would like to see it in person. It does appear to be a pretty nice kit.

The pit crew kit is cool as is the "cobra" style kit from s2 racing.

Again I guess it just all depends on what you are into.