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Old 7th August 2021, 15:57
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Mister Towed Mister Towed is offline
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Possibly, alongside the boom in classic car prices, this kit-building lark has all got a bit expensive for the dyed-in-the-wool shed based enthusiasts who used to be regulars on here.

As an example, in 2011 my Sammio Spyder body, subframe, aeroscreen and grille cost less than the (admittedly beautiful) instrument cluster from Grassbank, while my running driving Vitesse donor car was £800 (I recouped all that and more when I sold off the bits I didn't need).

Fast-forward a decade and similar kits now cost three to five times as much and a rusty Triumph Vitesse is £3-5k, making the genuinely cheap 'new' project a thing of the past.

Those who desire classic race-car looks without the multi-million dollar budget now need much deeper pockets, and that seems to have led to a trend towards buying in the skills to achieve the desired result rather than building it yourself.

Look at Gary J's Formosa, the spiritual successor to the Sammio Spyder which sold in quite large numbers as a kit. I understand that there have been very few 120GR's bought in kit form, but Gary's order book for turn-key cars at £25k+ is overflowing (and bloody good luck to him!).

That possibly explains the dearth of new builders, as bunging a couple of grand at a project you might never finish is one thing for the average hobbyist, but when the costs start to rack up towards £10k and beyond it can be something that attracts too much attention from a significant other for many people.

I have to say that I'm also aware of one or two real enthusiasts who are still heavily involved in the scene, but dropped off the radar due to the sheer rudeness of some contributors on what had been a very friendly platform.

For my part, life has somewhat got in the way of kit building for the last five years since I retired from the Po Po, but I've now decided to give up work completely and get on with building my dream car(s), so hopefully I'll have some progress to report on my Speedster soon.

Anyway, I shall continue to follow the build threads we do have with interest, and I do regularly look back at old posts for inspiration and ideas, which was always the attraction for me anyway.
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