A Locost is a home-built car inspired by the Lotus Seven. The car features a space frame chassis usually welded together from mild steel 1 in × 1 in square tubing. Front suspension is usually double wishbone with coil spring struts. The rear is traditionally live axle, but has many variants including independent rear suspension or De Dion tube. Body panels are usually fiberglass nose and wings and aluminium side panels. Each car is highly individualized according to the resources, needs and desires of each respective builder.
The Lotus Seven is a small, simple, lightweight two-seater open-top sports car produced by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars between 1957 and 1972.
A kit car is an automobile available as a set of parts that a manufacturer sells and the buyer then assembles into a functioning car. Usually, many of the major mechanical systems such as the engine and transmission are sourced from donor vehicles or purchased new from other vendors. Kits vary in completeness, consisting of as little as a book of plans, or as much as a complete set with all components to assemble into a fully operational vehicle such as those from Caterham.
The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 to 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni". Its name came from the Spanish word for mountain range.
Westfield Sportscars are manufacturers of both factory built and kit versions of several two-seater, open top sportscars. Their main product line is a Lotus Seven inspired car – vehicles originally designed by Colin Chapman with only the bare essentials for motoring in order to give the rawest and most exhilarating driving experience.
Ashley were manufacturers of body shells and chassis for specials from 1955 to 1962. They also offered a range of products for special builds: radiators, header tanks, lighting sets, steel tubing, sheet aluminium, various suspension parts, water pumps, tires, tubes and wheels. The company also made bonnets and hardtops for other mass-produced sports cars, including the Austin-Healey Sprite and Jaguar E-Type.
Ginetta Cars Limited is a British specialist builder of racing and sports cars based in Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Dick Johnson Racing, is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team currently fields the #11 and #17 Ford Mustang GTs for Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison respectively. Founded by Dick Johnson, the team's drivers have won ten Australian Touring Car Championship titles and the team has taken four victories in Australia's premier race, the Bathurst 1000.
Falcon Shells was a British company that produced specials/kit cars from 1956 until 1964.
Pelland Engineering was a British engineering company that produced kit cars and made an attempt on the world land-speed record for steam cars.
Sylva Autokits is a kit car manufacturer based in Lincolnshire, England. Sylva was founded in 1981 by Jeremy Phillips and has developed and produced a number of small and lightweight sports cars. Sylva cars have won a number of 750 Motor Club Kit Car championships.
Burlington Cars was a British kit car company originally based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. They moved to Northampton in 1988 becoming the Burlington Motor Company reforming as the Burlington Design Group in 1989. Kit production seems to have stopped in around 1992. Founded by Haydn Davis the cars were at first of the "plan and pattern" car) type similar to the JC Midge. Like the Midge it uses a Triumph donor and constructs a body of plywood on top of it, i.e. a body-on-frame design.
The Ford Falcon (XD) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1979 to 1982. It was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XD)—the luxury-oriented version.
Marlin is a British sports car manufacturer founded in 1979 in Plymouth as Marlin Engineering and now located in Crediton, Devon, England.
The Ford Falcon (XF) is a full-sized car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1984 to 1988. It was the third and final iteration of the fourth generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XF)—the luxury-oriented version. Between 1993 and 1999, this series provided the platform for the Falcon utility that was sold alongside the fifth-generation Ford Falcon sedans and wagons.
Haynes Roadster is a replica of Lotus Seven home-built according to a book Build Your Own Sports Car: On a Budget by Chris Gibbs (ISBN 1-84425-391-0). Ford Sierra is used in the car as a donor for drivetrain and suspension components.
Eagle Cars Limited was an English company, based in Lancing, West Sussex, originally operated by Allen Breeze, although it has undergone a number of ownership changes since. Originally making a Jeep lookalike called the RV, between 1981 and 1998 they built several iterations of a gull-winged car called the Eagle SS. The SS was based on an American kit car called the Cimbria, and was brought to the UK by Tim Dutton. In 1988 Eagle Cars moved inland, to nearby Storrington.
Mills Extreme Vehicles (MEV) is a kit car design and manufacturing company based in Gloucestershire, England, founded in 2003. As of January, 2016 they manufacture the Exocet, an exoskeletal design which uses donor parts from the Mazda MX5 Mk1 sports car. An enhanced version of the Exocet, the MX150R, can participate in UK race series regulated by the 750 Motor Club and the MSA.
The Dax Rush is a lightweight two-seater sports car. It is offered as a kit, and is a popular choice among Kit Car builders. It has a multi-tube triangulated steel space frame chassis, front engine and rear wheel or four wheel drive. The body is constructed in Glass-Reinforced Polymer (GRP) with optional aluminium side panels and bonnet. It complies with the Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) scheme. Two optional rear suspension technologies are offered; De Dion and the IRS. The car is known for its 0–100 km/h performance of close to 3 second runs.
New Zealand had a long history of small garages and vehicle enthusiasts modifying and creating sports and sports racing cars. Out of these interests grew the New Zealand kit and replica car industry with the introduction of fibre-glass car bodies in the 1950s.
