How You Can Own a Million-Dollar Ride

Meyers Manx Inc.
The first popular "kit car" was the Meyers Manx dune buggy designed by California surfer Bruce Meyers, says Jim Youngs, editor of Kit Car Builder magazine. "Bruce saw someone driving a modified Volkswagen Beetle chassis on Pismo Beach," Youngs says. "He realized it would work better with a lightweight fiberglass body." In 1964, Meyers built 12 VW-powered buggies with his own chassis, but his business exploded in 1966 when he offered an easy-to-build, $495 body kit that fit a shortened Beetle pan. The car appeared on the cover of Hot Rod magazine, and Meyers couldn't keep up with the orders. Other companies, including Sears, copied his idea, and hundreds of thousands of similar kits were sold worldwide. Meyers produced about 7,000 Manx kits before the company closed in 1971.

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Meyers Manx Inc.
Bruce Meyers, now 86, got back into the kit-car business in 2006 with the Manxter, an update of his original that uses a 1968-'74 Beetle standard-length chassis, which makes it easier to build and long enough to seat four people. The base kit is $5,595. The Manxter DualSport kit ($8,250) has long-travel suspension and an extended wheelbase for better off-road performance. The Manxter can be powered with an air-cooled VW-style engine or with a much more powerful, liquid-cooled flat-four Subaru engine. Meyers also offers an updated version of his original short-chassis, 2-seat dune-buggy kit, the Kick-Out Manx, for $4,495. By the way, Meyers is still on the California beach every day.

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Texas Motor Works
The Birkin S3 is a replica of another progenitor of the kit car, the Lotus Seven, which was produced in England as a club racer from 1957 to 1972 and often sold without an engine to avoid a tax. Dozens of companies have since built replicas offered as kits, but one of nicest is the Birkin S3, imported from South Africa by Texas Motor Works as either a kit or an assembled "roller." The base kit starts at $19,500, and the car can be completed for about $35,000 with a 2.0-liter 185-horsepower Ford Duratec engine. A well-designed chassis makes the most of this car's light weight and low center of gravity. It's a hoot to drive on the street or the track.

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Factory Five Racing
Of the several thousand kit cars sold each year, 70 percent are tributes to the 1961-'67 AC Cobra. More than 40 companies offer a Cobra kit, but Factory Five is the most popular, having produced 8,000 chassis in its 17-year history. Factory Five is focused on "buildability" and strives to help its customers complete the project. It does not offer any prebuild services. The base Mk4 kit starts at $12,990 and requires a Mustang GT donor car for the drive train and suspension. Or for $19,990 order a complete kit to which you add a Mustang engine and transmission, tires and wheels, and paint for the unfinished fiberglass body. This is not a perfect Cobra replica, but it's an affordable and doable project.

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Superformance
The Superformance GT40 is a licensed continuation of the Ford GT40 that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1966 to 1969, so authentic that two-thirds of the chassis parts are interchangeable with those from an original. The GT40 is assembled in South Africa and imported "turnkey minus," without an engine or transaxle. It's the buyer's responsibility to buy and install a powertrain, typically a high-performance Ford V8, but a Superformance dealer can connect buyers with shops to handle that job. Base price for the GT40 roller is $89,900, and a typical completed car will cost about $125,000, which is a bargain.

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Regal Roadsters
This replica of the original 2-seat Ford Thunderbird can be built as a nearly authentic reproduction, right down to the original wheel covers. The basic component package ($17,995) includes a complete body in the T-Bird's 1955, 1956 or 1957 styling, pre-assembled and installed on a custom frame ready for mechanical and electrical parts from a Ford Mustang. Regal will also sell a roller, complete except for engine and transmission, for $30,000, or a turnkey Thunderbird with a Ford 5.0 V8 engine starting at $65,900. That's about the same price as a vintage Thunderbird, but the Regal T-Bird is arguably a better-performing vehicle, thanks to its modern frame, powertrain and suspension.

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Euro-Works Exotics
Intended to evoke the Lamborghini Countach, the Mirage is a body kit that attaches to the space frame of a Pontiac Fiero, a popular kit-car platform because its plastic body panels can be removed and replaced to change the look of the car. The Mirage S kit requires that the chassis be cut and stretched by 5 inches, which produces a more authentic Lambo profile. The most complete Mirage S kit is priced at $9,995. Both kits feature scissor doors. Members of the Fiero cult know how to put real power in this midengine chassis, but the car has been out of production since 1988, and good donor examples are getting hard to find.

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Sterling Sports Cars
A redesign of a classic VW-based kit car from the 1970s, the Sterling RX now features its own tube chassis designed to carry a midmounted 2.5-liter Subaru engine and transaxle, which can be tuned to well over 300 horsepower. The body shape is similar to that of the original Sterling and retains that car's distinctive canopy entry: the windshield, roof and side windows are raised and lowered in place of traditional doors. The kit costs $19,800, and you'll need to supply the powertrain and a lot of other parts, including gauges, a steering column, lights and a gas tank, plus paint and wheels. It's not a project for the beginner, but the finished car is retro-cool.

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Special Edition Inc.
Sold only as a completely assembled roller, the Beck 904 is a very nice tribute to the 1964-'65 Porsche 904 GTS, scaled to match almost perfectly the proportions of the original, which is a million-dollar collector car. The Beck features a highly rigid tube/folded stainless-steel chassis and floor, a period-correct leather interior, VDO instruments, Hella lights and, like the original, a fiberglass body. The chassis is designed to accept a modern Porsche 911 engine and transaxle, and a mild 3.2-liter 250-horsepower version of that engine is claimed to produce a zero-to-60 mph time of 3.6 seconds. The $60,000 roller is delivered painted to order, and the company can help locate a third party to obtain and install the powertrain.

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JPS Motorsports
The rear-engine Volkswagen Beetle is a perfect platform for a classic Porsche replica, which used a similar powertrain, and a thoroughly reconditioned Bug is the foundation for the Classic Speedster replica from JPS. The pan is shortened to the correct wheelbase and fitted with new brakes, a rebuilt suspension and a new VW-style 1,776-cc engine. The fiberglass body is painted to order, and the interior features period-style gauges, steering wheel and seats. The car is finished with reproduction Porsche brightwork. Pricing starts at $27,550 and all kinds of custom options are available. JPS sells only complete, turnkey cars, so you are really hiring them to build your kit car, which might be a good idea.

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Thunder Ranch
A tribute to the 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, this quality kit features a custom tube frame that is designed to accept vintage Volkswagen Beetle suspension, brakes and other components, and a midmounted Beetle engine that you can hot rod to your heart's desire. The Basic kit ($7,745) includes just the frame and unpainted body. The Deluxe kit ($11,958) includes a windshield, wheels, exhaust, fuel tank, lights and seats. You'll still need a number of VW components to finish the kit, plus bodywork and paint. Thunder Ranch also sells a turnkey 550 Spyder for $39,500.

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Superlite Cars
This Superlite kit is engineered like a prototype race car, and in fact a competition version won the 2011 National Auto Sport Association's Super Unlimited National Championship. The car is based on an aluminum semi-monocoque chassis braced with a 6-point cage, with custom billet-aluminum push-rod suspension components. Brembo brakes, a GM-sourced steering system and Digitdash instruments are just a few of the components included in the kit, which also features a full interior and an air conditioning and heating system. The entire roller kit costs $43,995. You'll need to supply an engine — a General Motors LS-Series V8 is popular, affordable and easily hot rodded — and a surplus Porsche or Ricardo transaxle. Figure at least $65,000 for a finished street version, and budget for speeding tickets.

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Veteran moto-journalist and Wisconsin-native Charles Plueddeman has been driving, riding and testing automobiles, motorcycles, boats, ATVs and snowmobiles for more than 20 years. He is a regular contributor to Boating Magazine and Outdoor Life, and his product evaluation articles have appeared in Popular Mechanics, Men's Journal, AutoWorld, Playboy, Boats.com and many other national publications and Web sites.

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