Price Of His Toys » One-offs

The ultimate Aztec 7

Shannon Larratt — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:47:48 +0000

Reading one of my favourite car blogs today, I saw this entry which managed to distract me from UFC100 — a post on Hemmings that linked to these pictures of the five thousand pound steam turbine “Barber-Nichols Steamin’ Demon” (currently for sale for a half million), an Aztec 7 kit car converted to break the steam-power land speed record, which it did at 145.607 mph on August 19, 1985 at Bonneville. Definitely NOT what Fiberfab expected when they originally designed this traditionally VW-based kit car! The previous record, set in a Stanley Steamer, had long held the record at 127.656 mph, set in 1906. A British team is currently working on a car to shatter this record, but this has got to be one of the longest-standing records held by a kit car.

Update: Click here for a little more info from the Fiberfab.org website!

Pegaus one-off truck oddity

Shannon Larratt — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:53:50 +0000

I just noticed an interesting vehicle posted over at Kit Car magazine called the “Pegasus”. Details are scarce, but it seems to be a one off vehicle built by Fantasy Cars on a ‘78 Chevrolet C1500 truck, presumably for a movie. It’s a ~~horrendously ugly~~ neat start, but to me it feels “unfinished”.

VW-Based Can Car

Shannon Larratt — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:09:49 +0000

Roger (who sent in the previous two posts) also sent along some photos of his own work (which you can find in more detail at RScancars.com). This is his second car in the series, labeled for promotional work for a local energy drink company in parades, car shows, and other events. It’s all fiberglass (which came as a surprise to me — I’d assumed it was metal when I first saw it) and sits on a modified VW Beetle chassis.

Mystery VW Kit Car Project

Shannon Larratt — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:08:25 +0000

This mystery modern kit car project was for sale on eBay about two years ago, molds included, so presumably it’s a one-off that was intended for something bigger that never made it. It’s VW-based of course, and is believed to have been originally marketed as the “Scorpion GT”, but other than that nothing is known about its history or current location — if any readers know more, please post in the comments.

Mystery One-Off Eagle Kit Car

Shannon Larratt — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:28:41 +0000

I saw an “interesting” mystery kit car on YouTube that was identified there as a “Lamborghini PMA P400″ replica, which obviously it isn’t, although it does have Lamborghini badges on it. I’d definitely put this in the category of cars that people have put an incredible amount of work into but have sadly produced something with limited aesthetic appeal. As far as I can tell this is built around a base of an Eagle/Cimbria type kit car (you can see the characteristic front and side windows), with a great deal of custom work.

Fastback Invader GT Concept

Shannon Larratt — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:50:17 +0000

A friend of mine wrote me this morning, commenting, “you are one of those rare individuals that who can see something good in just about anything as evident by your apparent love of the Invader.”

Hahaha.

He attached some pictures to help out with the flood of Invader content I’ve had lately, the first being a photo of his first kit car way back in 1981 — “the cars were skinnier back then and so was I… I wish I had half that much hair today.”

He bought the car from a guy in Sacramento who was advertising it as a Sterling for $1,000 — which of course it wasn’t. But he wanted the car anyway, and managed to talk him down to $700, not too bad a price since the body was in perfect condition. As you can see it was the particularly sleek model with the raked back windshield and the half-doors. Looks like a missile up on that trailer.

When the car was later sold, it was bought by someone who said they’d been involved in the Invader project from the start, and were planning on modifying this one and taking molds off it to create a new version. The second picture below is a card from his business that shows the concept car he was planning on selling it. I don’t know if it ever got past prototype, but I absolutely love the fastback design — I think it’s my favorite Invader GT variant of all. It retains the spirit and look of the Invader, while correcting its awkwardness and giving it a much faster appearance.

Lemans-style Bradley GT

Shannon Larratt — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:08:28 +0000

It will surely come as a shock to you that the car below started life as a Bradley GT! A friend of Scott’s gave him the car for free, so he figured that he’d customize it — the original front end was all cracked and missing the headlight covers. He sectioned and moved the windshield up a foot and is building a canopy for the top, and he’s widening all the tire areas. He’s also lowered the front beam five and a half inches.

The inspiration of course is Lemans prototype cars. He’s still molding the foam and plans to start fiberglassing when the weather gets warmer. I can’t wait to see updates as to where this goes! Click for a bigger picture of course.

A Collection of Manta Mirage Rear Ends

Shannon Larratt — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:18:14 +0000

For some reason, not everyone is a fan of the Mirage’s rear end, which is pretty much the opposite of it’s long pointy noise — flatly snubbed off. Personally I love it — it really exaggerates the car’s rocketlike appearance. As a quick reminder:

But, like I said, not everyone is a fan. For example, this Mirage has a wing molded into the rear, which actually does a nice job maintaining the race car appeal. The corners have been extended back and rounded off a little as well.

Here’s a Manta Mirage where it seems like the owner would have rather bought a Ferrari, as he’s spent hundreds of hours molding in the lights and rear deck from a Testarossa kit car instead. The problem with this, as I see it, is that the Testarossa is a very distinctive car and many people will recognize this vehicle as an odd Frankenstein’s monster. Nonetheless, a nice job that I’m sure will appeal to many. Just not me.

This one’s a little more “futuristic” looking — the owner molded in the rear section of a seventies Corvette and mounted lights from a Fiero. The connection between the Vette and the Mirage is a little awkward (you can still see the Mirage’s wing), and I’m not convinced the front and back of the car match aesthetically, but it definitely has a lot of potential.

I’ve saved the best for last I think. This Mirage has what I’m pretty sure is a Manta Montage rear molded in. It’s a great fit stylistically and really looks like it was designed that way. It does a wonderful job of extending the rear and making it look a little more natural, and gives the car a sleeker and less obviously aggressive look. Of the modified Mirages, this one is my favorite.

But does it float?

Shannon Larratt — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:07:42 +0000

The answer is no…

This hilarious and slightly decrepit boat/car conversion is up on eBay (#110336071819) in Northern Illinois. The auction is up in three hours and it hasn’t yet cracked $200 or the reserve, so I guess it won’t sell for now. To be honest, I think it would almost be easier to start from scratch than to pick up this project? Nonetheless, I appreciate the project.

When in doubt, add more wings!

Shannon Larratt — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:53:19 +0000

Here’s an update on Jim’s “X-Prize Aztec” — looks like three new front-wings have been added… I mean no offense to Jim’s honest efforts, but as I understand aerodynamics, wings increase drag as a part of increasing downforces, which is the exact opposite of what you’d want to do if your goal is a high mileage vehicle.