Oh, it’s not mythical after all!
And it’s for sale… but I’ll get to that in a future entry with some more photos. This was built by Bruce Kirk in St. Louis, MO in 1988 with his teenage son. It’s one of only seven believed to have been molded by Jim Edwards. It’s had numerous adventures, including being driven down to a car show in Indianapolis where they got to drive it around the 500 race track for fun. It’s currently sitting in his garage waiting for a little attention, or a buyer. Anyway, it’s great to see such a rare car finished.
The picture is nice and big — click to zoom in.
Brian (tuna_641@hotmail.com) is selling this very clean looking Mini 18 VW Beetle pickup conversion. It’s a very rare kit, and I suspect there are less than a dozen of them on the road (and not many more ever made). Brian’s has the original paint (does that matter in a kit?) and he says it runs and drives great. Appropriately it has an 8-track player and a vintage CB radio. Up until recently this car was a daily driver.
It’s on a ’73 Super Beetle chassis, with many new parts (including carb, gas tank, distributer, plugs, plug wires, air cleaner, voltage regulator, belt, master cylinder, wheel cylinders, seat covers, and carpet). Truck is located in St. Ansgar, Iowa.
Speaking of front-engine kit cars, an amusing faux-front-engine Bradley GT is for sale right now in Odessa, Texas. It’s got a big mean intake sticking out of the hood and Vette-style sidepipes, even though the actual power comes from a nice looking 1640cc Beetle engine in the back. It’s got Crager wheels and a flamed paint-job, and other than a dead fuel gauge is in “very good” condition.
Asking price is $4,500 — contact mikarjones@sbcglobal.net if you’re interested.
On the whole, this front-engine Avenger project seems a little sloppy (and I feel sorry for the seller who is letting it go for $500, after saying they’ve invested $5,000). It’s currently for sale on eBay (#160320097785) in Levittown, PA, and seems to be a stock car type chassis with the center section of an Avenger kit car slapped on. Personally, I can’t see this being worth buying since it doesn’t come with either the front or rear sections of the body — meaning an enormous amount of work would be needed to finish the project — but still, it’s an interesting idea and shows that there are some non-obvious ways of putting these cars together.
Surprisingly, this is not the first front engined Avenger that I’ve posted (and it’s certainly possible to build a low-profile sports car with a front engine setup, like the Eagle SS).
Steve (lascr@aol.com) in Greenville is selling this 1966 Avenger GT-12 for just $2,000. As with so many, he bought it with the intention of finishing what was already an ongoing project, but realized it wasn’t the time for it and is looking for another brave soul to tackle it. It’s a great starting point with good front and rear glass and solid floor pans (light surface rust). The body needs light repair and paint, and the passenger door needs some repairing. The interior has the dash and center console, but needs to be completlely done. It has the swing axle transmission but no engine. The reason you may want to jump on this one is that it’s the first generation body with the nice two-piece setup with a sub-frame and a flip rear end — most do not have this feature.
There’s a really beautiful Nova (UK Sterling) up on eBay (#330310994293) right now in Lancashire, UK with an asking price of £4,000.00 and a day to go. Seems like a fair price for a car that’s been completely overhauled — everything on it is new or rebuilt and it really looks good. Surely it’s one of the better ones on the road… but why, oh, why, does it have to have that ridiculous Lamborghini Countach wing pasted onto the back? I’ve seen that highly recognizable wing stuck on far too many kits, adding an obnoxious touch that wrecks the lines of the car. If I bought this Nova, the first thing I’d do is take the wing off — which, incidentally, is what I did with my old Aztec 7, which the previous owner had stuck the same wing onto.
As used car prices come down, sometimes kit cars cost more than the car they emulate… For example, you can buy a beat-up Lamborghini Countach for close to the same price as a top-of-the-line replica (which arguably is a better car, but that’s an entirely different and more complex argument). But a rare British kit car called the Lightning TS really takes the cake.
The Lightning TS, of which half a dozen exist, is a “copy” of a seventies Corvette, built on Cortina running gear with a 2L Pinto engine. It captures some of the lines, but none of the muscular charm of a real Corvette. There’s one right now on eBay (#270351775187, and also here) in Scotland with a buy-it now price of £3,500 (ie. $5,000 US). Stateside you can buy a functioning used Corvette for less than that (I understand they may be more rare in Scotland), and if you want something Corvette-like but small, you can also get a charming Opel GT for the same price. Sorry, I don’t know what sort of fool would buy this Lightning TS.
I feel dirty now… I hate to say anything bad about kit cars.
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