>25k for this I don't understand why these cost so much

I don't know why, but you get a new miata for that.

Hand built in low numbers.

Handbuilt in bongistan

Because go-kart for rich people.

Low volume = expensive.

Download the plans and build one yourself if you want it cheap.

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Add carbon fiber and an Audi i5, and prepare to pay four times that.

>>14802658
>>14802663
They are literally just crappy kit car street registrable go carts.

Only the original lotus versions with lotus engines should be worth anything.

Importing one from europe fully built with a motor+trans is cheaper than a US spec kit.
Or just get any cheap rwd car, cut it down to the frame, and slap some sheet metal on it.

>>14802651
>what do I understand
Clearly nothing about grammar or basic proofreading

>>14802678
Considering OP is looking at factory assembled cars, theyre not bodged together ones. You can get them cheaper from smaller firms. There are a few companies that build them in the USA. They dont use the same engines but get similar results for cheaper.

The chassis is well designed but that doesnt help when bodge-it and Scarper are building it with JB weld and duct tape.

>>14802683
Honestly if OP wanted to build his own i would suggest using midlana plans.

the advantage being FWD cars are common as fuck these days.

Why so expensive?

Low volume, that's why.

Your VW Golf with Sat Nav and shit that's churned out 3k a day can be sold for 25k because of sheer volume.

But your little Caterham/Westfield/Comparable-kit-car which is made by say 10 a week needs to charge more for the overheads.

Plus, 3k Golfs will be very automated, needing minimal humans doing the basic stuff. 10 a week generally means more man hours per car.

>>14802683
I don't think you understand the difference between an open wheel racer and a miata.

Get a Morgan for 25% less.

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>i don't understand why this is so expensive.
it's essentially just steel tubes welded together, it should cost like $20

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fun

>>14802738
And 25% fewer wheels.

>>14802651
>buying it assembled
get the kit or get out, it's a waste of money to have it build by some brit dudes in their shed

>>14802740
I am not meming here. Why are bicycles? so horribly expensive?

>>14805513
I know someone who builds bicycles for a living. It takes a fuckton of work to cut, shape and weld those frames.

>>14805513
Because making things both light and good is not easy.

>carsales.au

there is ur answer OP anything yuropean is pretty expensive there

>>14805513
Fun fact: You can buy a custom bike frame for about $1500.

Adjusted for inflation, that's how much the Wright Brothers were charging for a custom frame.

Building a bicycle by hand takes a good deal of time and skilled labor.

Lots of fitting required before welding.

>>14802683
How much does a EU kit cost? I've always wanted a Seven, but they're so insanely expensive compared to building a T Bucket

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>>14802678
>crappy

>>14804384
My dream is to one day build my own.

>>14805513
>manufactured using decent materials by skilled people in low volumes in the west
>these people don't want to work for slave wages
>you pay more

>>14807995
Caterham kits start at 16k britbucks (Seven 160 without options, though to be fair that's pretty much already all you need, or not depending on what you ant to do with your seven. If you want to use it on the track, count 600 quids more for bucket seats and four point harness. If you want to take it to the road as an usual roadster, some stuff like a larger windscreen, a hood, wind deflectors...)
goes up to 50k queen's heads for the best model, but seriously the entry model is already great

>>14808051
I've heard that if you do it all yourself it can be done for £5k, including the donor car. Although you'd need to have a fairly equipped workshop and know how to weld already.

>>14808071
That sounds possible with some other kits, since some do not include engine or are supposed to be built over an already existing car. In that case the final price mostly depends on how much you spent for said car.

>>14805513

My crabon specialized frame costed me 1800 euros. Its literally more expansive then my car. Also, i dont give a fuck, it rides like a dream.

>>14802651

They're made down the road from me. The workshop is literally 2 miles from my house. Would you like me to go and ask?

>>14802651
hat's pretty cheap. New ones cost $35,000 to $50,000.

>>14802651
> Suspension components
> Licensing
> Work on assembling it is 5k+
> Chassis
> Decades of design work

If you want it cheap, just buy a 'supply your own engine' kit and assemble it yourself. Maybe go all 'murrica and drop in a small-block V8.

Kit cars are pretty fucking awesome if you can weld. They're also completely insane, because they're so small and light and your arse is a few inches from the road, and they just GO.

>>14808071
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locost
> Not just doing the whole thing yourself

Just buy a bunch of old sports car spares, some aluminium tubing, and a big engine, and go nuts.

>>14805883
Pretty much anything on carsales is overpriced.

>>14805883
It's not even a real european sports car it is just a pretend kit car version of one with a toyota corolla engine.

Can't you run a domestic American powerplant in one of these for shit and grins? Like some over 500 cu in motor

>>14810007
You totally could, if you modify the frame to fit everything. That's the beauty of Lotus Seven clones.

>>14805486
to be honest I'd prefer a 3-Wheeler over a caterham simply for the V2 sound and feel of the morgan

http://www.mitsuoka-motor.co.uk/roadster/
you think caterhams are overpriced
the misuoka is in effect a Miata
check the prices

>>14811652
With that style and that pricetag, I'd rather get a Morgan tbf

Is there such a thing as a decend Stratos replica kit?

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>>14814620
or do sick mods to an xk120

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check out midlana

>>14817651
>pushrod suspension
l-lewd

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>>14802651
Why pay so much for essentially the same thing?

>>14811652
damn the interior is almost exactly the same as my miata which cost less than 1/10th of what they're asking

>>14808071
The whole lot can be done for under £1000 assuming you can weld and get an MOT failure donor car for like £200

My dad turned a VW Beetle into a Lamborghini Countach in 1987 for £2400. He later sold it (in 1991) for £12,000

>>14810007
there are LS powered lotus seven kit cars

>>14815078
Hawk, Lister Bell
Virtually identical to the original except for the tub, Lister Bell make also makes one that accepts the V8 from a Mondial

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>>14817684
Welding your own chassis is the best way to make sure your car will never be road legal in lots of parts of the EU sadly.
Otherwise it would be pretty damn cheap.
But there are still tons of stuff one could do with an old shitbox and a proper kit
>this used to be a 2cv
>turned into that for 5500 yurobucks

>>14817722
Isn't Hawk pretty much dead though?
The last sign of online presence from them was in 2007, which is never a good sign.

>>14802651
Maybe the dog adds value

>>14817743
>Welding your own chassis is the best way to make sure your car will never be road legal in lots of parts of the EU sadly.
Glorious Britain allows significantly less stringent tests for "extremely low production" (<10 per annum) vehicles

I'm considering picking up the remains of an old BMW diesel out of a scrappy and making the worlds slowest hot rod

>>14817860
Do it.

>>14802740
The cost of production is much greater than the BoM.

>>14817757
>chuck a skid, pupper

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>>14817860
>turn a beaten up BMW in to a cold-rod
Do it.

>>14811652
Who buys this shit? It's ugly as fuck, it's also a Miata without any power increase.

>>14817679
>Caterham 7
>PT Cruiser
>same thing
One is a light-weight car build for performance. The other is an over-weight car build for looks.

>>14818781
> PT Cruiser
> Prowler
> Same thing

Bruh

>>14818907
Alright, let's put it differently
One is a light-weight car built for performance and easy modification/optimisation/maintenance ; the other is a heavy and underpowered "industrial hot rod" made by people who didn't really get what a hot rod is.