Those who never stopped playing and are looking for new challenges would surely be interested in the easiest and cheapest kit cars to build. But let’s just put a reminder here first: neither kit car building is easy, nor the prices are a low budget in general.
So, being interesting and fun activity, building kit cars is not the cheapest hobby to have. A kit car can cost you more than $50,000. But anyway, if sharing your enthusiasm with friends, you can split the costs and have a cheap fun by building one of the easiest and cheapest kit cars that we will see here. If you also have the preferences towards other transportation devices, take a look at 5 Easiest Kit Airplanes to Build from Scratch.
If you are into this kit car thing, you probably already know about Factory Five kit cars. Factory Five is a US company that produces kit cars and has been on for more than 20 years. They produce some of the classy and fancy models, that really look amazing, old school and steampunk(ish), such as Roadster, Hot Rod or Hot Rod Truck, for example. But, Factory Five kit cars are also not among the cheapest of course, but it also depends what you choose. Roadster, for example, is among the cheapest Factory Five kit cars and is $12,990 which is not that high actually.
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Apart from buying a kit car from a vendor, of course, another (or maybe the first) option would be to make something of your own. That means that you would choose and find parts for your kit cars by yourself, which would impact the price, and probably would be much cheaper. But, on the other hand, you would need to have some experience in car mechanics. So, back in 1996, there was a manual published by Ron Champion named “Build your own sports car for as little as £250,” and that is how Locost kit car term was introduced. The manual was not precise as in following each step but giving a reader very good basis and accurate starting point on how to build your own kit car. The prototype for this manual was the famous Lotus 7 racing car of the sixties. The name Locost refers to the low cost of course as the first association, but to the Lotus as well.
As for the popular kit cars nowadays, there are those such as CAV GT or 917 Replicas concerning racing cars. But having prices $45 and higher, these certainly are not among the easiest and cheapest kit cars to build or buy. But probably Lotus 7 replicas still remain among the favorites concerning the kit cars.
So, our search began first having in mind the best kit cars for beginners. Some of the suggestions and opinions about that we have found on Mad Mechanics and Piston Heads forums. And then, concerning the price, we looked for cheap kit cars in USA and elsewhere at some websites such as Mad About Kit Cars, Axle Addict, VWvortes and again new topic from the Piston Heads.
And as you might have noticed, some of these threads are relatively old seeming to be out of date. But it might be so because kit cars aren’t as popular as they used to be. That is why you will usually be able to find already built cars of older generations. But even so there are still companies producing and improving kit cars, such are some we have mentioned earlier.
So whether you are going to prepare for some thrilling races or looking for kit cars to build for sale, take a look at the easiest and cheapest kit cars to build on our list below.
11. Westfield Mega S2000
Price: around $21,000
This racing kit car model is produced by British company Westfield Sportscars. It is among their cheapest models, but also one of the best racing kit car models as well. It is a two sear minimalistic sports car, equipped with a 6-speed gearbox and powered by a 2-liter engine. But this engine is naturally aspirated, making in among the most powerful 2-liter engines with maximum 240 BGP and 800 rpm!
10. Tiger Avon
Price: around $20,000
This price we have put above is the price for the Avon model, and it is the state of October 2017 prices for the Tiger kit cars. But, since Tiger Sportscars are popular among kit car enthusiast and racers, older cars, built cars or spare parts and be often found on the internet, for example, there is a Tiger Owners Club (Britain based though) where Tiger owners exchange useful information. So, Tiger cars are among the best ricing kit cars out there, so if racing is your piece of cake, Tiger kit cars would probably be your first option.
9. Hot Rod & Truck
Price: $19,990
These are two kit car models that we have seen earlier, both being priced $19,990 for a complete kit. And these are the prices for the brand new models, as it is ’35 Hot Rod Truck which is a 2018 model.
8. GBS Zero Mazda
Price: around $18,300
This kit car is produced by the Great British Sports Cars, as one of the several Zero options, which you can build on your own. It is a two-seat sports car, and Mazda MX5 is the best donor car for this kit car.
7. Roadster
Price: $12,999 (base kit) and $19,990 (complete kit)
Here we are with the cheapest models of the Factory Five company, but not only being among the easiest and cheapest kit cars to build, but is also a best-selling, best-engineered and best-performing replica of all time, as they say themselves. It is a replica of 427 Cobra, a model of the sports car of the sixties, having the 427 prefix for the Ford 427 engine it uses. Anyway, Factor Five had been producing Roadsters since 1995, and the models had been improving ever since.
6. MEV Replicar
Price: $12,999 (base kit) and $14,999 (premium kit)
This is one old school replica kit car, having Aston Martin DBR1 sports car from the mid-fifties as a model. It is produced by the Exomotive company which chose DBR1 as a model since it became very popular after winning a 24-hour race of Le Mans in 1959 (actually both first and second place on this race were won by the DBR1). Anyway, approximate building time is around 12 weeks, so for those who like a historical background and the old school looks this is one great option for the money.
5. Vaydor
Price: $11,000
Vaydor is one of the modern looking kit cars for those who prefer this characteristic. Anyway, it stands among the easiest and cheapest kit cars to build, with the base kit being only $11,000, and needing just about two months to finish building it. What makes Vaydor having this relatively low price for the performance and the quality you get is that around 90% of parts needed to build it come from the donor Infiniti G35 (but only 203-2007 models).
4. Exomotive Exocet
Price: under $10,000
Another model by the Exomotive company. Now this one, according to company’s own words, the Exomotive Exocet kit car is among the easiest and cheapest kit cars to build. Apart from the fact that this kit car model can be built under a $10,000, it takes only about 100 hours to finish building it.
3. 427 Cobra Replica
Price: $9,900-$15,000
There are several choices of which Cobra kits you want to purchase. The vendor we have found is Shell Valley, a company that has been producing Cobra Replicas for over 40 years. They offer kits that are very easy for building, having all the holes drilled and cut holes for roll bars for example, and what is also one more thing, you can purchase the vehicle at any building stage. Meaning, you can start from a scratch or buy only the body or the frame or any other piece on that matter. This is yet another Cobra replica on this list, but the price might be the decisive factor if you really want to build a Cobra.
Pixabay/Public Domain
2. Quantum Xtreme
Price: around $4,200 (£3000) for base Xtreme kit
Quantum is produced in Britain by the Quantum Sports Cars company, founded in 1987. The Xtreme basic kit ranks second on our list of easiest and cheapest kit cars to build. It is one of the cheapest there is if you are a beginner in the kit car building and the one of the old models still being produced. It is a two-seat sports car inspired by Lotus 7.
1. Locost
Price: N/A
Of course, the easiest and cheapest kit car to build would be the Locost. We have mentioned Locosts earlier as you remember. But let’s summarize here: Locost is basically what you decide a kit car to be. Locost is not a kit car model per se, but a name that encompasses the idea of kit car building proposed in manual named Build Your Own Sports Car for as Little as £250 originally published in 1996, as a guide for how to build your own kit car. In this case, this was based upon Lotus Seven sports car from the sixties. So, whether you would like to build a kit car also based on Lotus Seven or whatever else, the price and the building difficulty level will depend on you (or the manual you decide to use).
Pixabay/Public Domain
This wraps it up for our list of easiest and cheapest kit cars to build.
