Hey guys,

Three years waiting, literally blood, sweat and tears producing my car. A huge amount of money and it's finally built and road legal.

Insurance and tax. I can go out whenever I want and yet..

I've lost interest.

I spoke to someone else who said they enjoyed the building more than the driving and i think I'm the same!

Think I'll keep the Indy until the spring then sell it.

It's just sat in the garage now. It's mad. The most challenging thing I've ever done and now I've lost interest.

Anyone else had that happen?

yep,
sometimes the fun is in the building.

i have built a few cars and sold them more or less straight away.

i have modified a few cars and kept them a bit longer

the most fun i have had in cars are ones i have bought and not done much with

i suppose it is a time spent working on / time spent driving them balance

cant really work it out but that seems to be the case for me

Yep same here the building was the achievment but if you just keep on and find a healthy group to met up with you will have hope.

Anyway the car is never finished and as you drive it more and more you will find fault, upgadeitus follows and your back in the garage.

I had a bit of the same when I finished mine after 4 years.

However, I did a trackday then set about making adjustments that would improve my lap times on the next visit, which kept the interest going (geometry setup, brake bias, weight saving etc etc - nothing expensive).

Unfortunately I had to sell it quite quickly when my wife lost her job, and now I miss it loads - got a motorbike (well, 2 actually) instead though

Take it to a track and put your foot down, you have never felt a car like the one you've just built

Mine's done 2700 miles in 6 years. I still enjoy driving it, but having been at uni for the last 5 years, petrol money's been an issue for most of it. It's been insured and taxed (just the summer months) every year though.

Add to that that my car's not garaged at home and it means it's a real faff to get the car out, so every time you want to go for a quick drive, or a late night drive (it's garaged next to other people's houses who have babies), it gets put off.

I've got an mx5 as a daily driver now so that's made the wind in the hair experience a bit less special too....

I probably enjoyed building more than I do driving, but I'd never sell my car unless I was in real dire straits. Mine went together with a lot of love and attention though so I'm perhaps a bit more attached than some.

Drive it faster and harder, then faster some more...

Obviously track days are great fun, but can be costly...

A happy medium might be in booking a few winter TD's toward the end of the year. The price is as low as.they can get and the slippery conditions will teach you better car control and be a bit more exhilarating!

Couple that to fact that if it's wet or really cold then you'll use less fuel, brakes etc due to going a bit slower...

And you can still sell in spring!

lost interest driving mine in the road immediately, you need to drive them to the limit

love it on the track.

Who made that lift in your drive, any plans for it ?

same here

They're like motorbikes - once the inital buzz has gone riding/driving round on your own gets boring REALLY quickly but if you find a group of people to drive/ride round with every now and again ............... Getting it on a track once in a while makes it all worthwhile as well!

Yep, built and bored with it, so i am about to re-body it.

I enjoyed the build and the problem solving but haven't used mine nearly as much as I thought. Missed three meets.
But I now have to put on windscreen, wipers etc and make a hood so lots of fun ahead

edit to add - when driving around, the waves and smiles from the girlies makes it all worth while

[Edited on 29/7/11 by Macbeast]

For me, tin-tops are boring machines to get me from A to B with reasonable economy and efficiency. I only get to enjoy driving when in the toy car, even if it's just pootling round the local lanes.

However - for me, the build was a means to an end, as my aim was always to make something to drive.

treat yourself to a trackday and some tuition. if you still don't care for driving it then fair enough! pushing a car to the limit is the most exhilarating thing i've ever done!

I have lost count of the number of posts from people who have sold up and 6 months/1 year later are looking for a replacement,seems a shame to sell after all the effort you have put in,like others have said go for some drives with others & trackdays that's what there all about. & have to agree I love the attention it gets :-)

Just seen your only down the road! Maybe we should organise a Brighton meet I'm sure we could get a few for a fish and chip run in the sun :-) also get yourself on southern kitcar club,lots of local runs & trips there and a friendly bunch.

[Edited on 29/7/11 by lewis]

I had the same anticlimatic state of mind as you a few months ago (feb) when I "finished" my car, so I know exactly how you feel....It is a fantastic challenge building, getting stuck, finding solutions, getting stuck again, then eventually suceeding getting the beast through and past the guy in the white coat (OK, hi - viz jacket) and on the road.

I thought the same as you - 'I wanna build another!' - shall I sell it? But, I thought I had a handle on driving it - seen how it performed, etc, etc - until a couple of nights ago when I went on the first organised blat with some other guys from this forum - there were 6 kit cars including mine, and I had a hell of a job keeping up with them, and the car taught me how much moreyou could throw it around! 120 miles on country lanes in 40 mins (only kidding!) but great fun!

So, get in touch with a few other like - minded kit guys - and give it hell!

[Edited on 29/7/11 by stevegough]

and if you do find some mentalists to drive round with you might find your car's not quite as finished as you thought ......... slightly different I know but I wasn't going to bother super/turbocharging my MX5 for example because I didn't think it was worth it - but I am now

Same with me.

Worth doing a track-day or two before you sell.

Sounds to me like you need a turbo in your life.

I can understand your feeling however with my Cobra I still get a kick every time I take it out even 20 years after building it - maybe comes from the acknowledgement it gets wherever we go and the sheer brute torque. Not much to beat the ability to wheelspin from standstill from 1000 RPM onwards. (And frankly it looks krap as in desperate need of a respray and cosmetic work) It also handles badly compared to a Locost but its just that slumbering giant waiting to waken feeling it gives one when driving - I wonder if Locosters with large or turbo'd CEC get that feeling more than BEC owners.

Not sure if Locosts get the same reaction from bystanders - guess I will find out sometime. Acknowledgement by others is an important part of the own built car thing in my experience.

I've lost interest and I'm still half way through building it.