Celebrity status
Hi to all,
It's my first post, so please be kind to me!!!
I have had a read about the current topics regarding kit cars with great interest. I got the KC bug in the mid eighties when my dads friend had built a Dutton Sierra and it looked really groovy. After a few years driving minis, in 1990 I bought my own Dutton Sierra, RS2000 based (apparently). It was not a good advert for the industry as it posessed a catalogue of dangerous attributes due to bad assembly and/or poor maintainance... essentially a bit of a death trap! It was still a really good fun drive though, and I have followed the industry ever since.
Recently, I have been most impressed by the Onyx Mongoose, as something quite original. It really has the essence of early Lotus, it being basic in design and seemingly very effective in competition. It has the makings of a very pretty sports car.
I must admit, I was a bit disappointed that I did not see the above car at the 'Harrogate Kit and Car Builders Show' last month. In fact, I could not believe how few manufacturers and visitors there were (on the Saturday at least) considering it was quite a sunny day. I also felt let down that Robin Hood Engineering didn't turn up, which left me with the feeling that the industry is really in trouble (rightly or wrongly).
Does the industry have any celebrity backers? Am I right in thinking that Noel Edmunds used to champion the kit car industry? I guess he in too busy talking to his banker right now. Didn't Chris Rea also do Caterham some positive PR? Personally, I think Mr May and Mr Hammond also did the industry a service on Top Gear. OK, so the Denim clad one was not into the build, but he was happy enough to drive it away! After that episode, I heard people talking about Caterhams at work... quite unbelieveable!
As far as it goes, I would love another kit car. My current Astra does me proud, but I would love a sevenesque machine to give my garage some prestige. As far as a home-build goes, I now have not the time or money so I would have to go second hand. So, I look on ebay and see that roadworthy Dutton Phaetons, (circa 1980's) are going for the same as MX5's, MR2's, CRX's etc. No wonder the Max Power boys are keeping away.
Martin
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