Good morning my GRM family,
I have always been fascinated by how the aftermarket automotive industry works.
With companies selling aftermarket frames/chassis for classic domestic cars in the 50s-80s. Do you think that eventually there with be aftermarket import things like- 240sx frames, miata frames. 1.6l mazda crate engines?
Any thoughts or know if anyone how this works?
Dave
Miatas are unibody so no. I don't know about 240s but I bet they are too.
I doubt that there will ever be Japanese bodies available the way they are for cars like the early American muscle cars. The effort needs to be authorized and or carried out by the original builder and there is not enough profit or motive to do so. Building a tub is easy enough, building the quality of the original requires resources well beyond what a cottage industry could ever provide.
Nissan did a neat thing when they tried to rebuild 240Zs to "As new" a couple of decades ago, but that never caught on and has served as a lesson to others who might try. I don't know enough about the whole project to tell you what the lessons were, but nobody has followed since.
Only frames I am aware of are for Jeeps. Bodies, I've only seen Jeeps, 1960s Mustangs and Broncos and some Brit cars like Minis and MGs. AMD does a good job of providing individual parts to repair rotten cars of the 60s-70s.
I don't think a supply of good Miata donors would ever diminish below what the market has for buyers. Plenty of non-rusty ones out there.
Plus, the cost of those replacement bodies are not cheap. You have to be really committed to drop Dynacorn money on a project.
It's not exactly what you're asking, but I know Mazda and Nissan have factory restoration programs. In some cases they've also spun up new stock parts.
ddavidv said:Only frames I am aware of are for Jeeps. Bodies, I've only seen Jeeps, 1960s Mustangs and Broncos and some Brit cars like Minis and MGs. AMD does a good job of providing individual parts to repair rotten cars of the 60s-70s.
There are a variety of aftermarket frames for lots of muscle cars. As for bodies you can get first generation Camaros, 1950s and 1960s Chevy trucks, Chevy II Novas, 1955 - 1957 Chevys, first generation Chevy Blazers, VW buses and others. Don't forget Model A Fords and 1932 Fords in steel, plus a number of early Ford fiberglass bodies for the street rod market.
Any of these things depends on demand, if there are enough people who want to buy them someone will tool up to build them.
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