Hi all,
Just wondering, what exactly is it that makes a kit car a kit car!?
Reason it popped into my mind, is mainly insurance... to insure a kit car at a young age, is around a third of the price of say, a saxo 1.0!
So, what would you have to do to say, a normal production car such as a Rover Mini Cooper 1.3i to make it a kit car?
I know many will say "Well, a kit car is a car you build, from a kit... Duh!" or words to that effect, but Caterhams, westfields AND radicals are classed as kit cars, and you can buy them ready built.
Confused.

A kit car is something that is/was available in kit form.

A Mini Madass is a kit car. A mini is not.

In the same way that a Banham is a kit car and a metro is not.

There are things called replica cars where by you essentially re-body an existing car (more often then not a toyota MR2) to make it look like a different car (more often then not a ferrari or a lambo).

A dutton is a kit car, a marlin is a kit car, a moss is a kit car. A ford sierra is not a kit car.

If you add or subtract ANY bits on a tin top it makes it 'Modified' and the price of the insurance goes up big time. Until, basically, you strip it, make your own (or use a pre-manufactured) chassis and then only put about 5% of all the bits back. Which is silly 'cos you can't get more 'Modified' than what we do to our kits, witness my EX Granada is now masquerading as a Luego Viento.

I get that part, it's just when you see people with custom "kit cars", such as micras which have been converted to RWD with a bike engine in the boot, or twin engined saxos, or like my example a mini with an extra few horses in the boot.
Where is the line between kit car, and car with STUPID amounts of modifications?

I know this is a dumb question, just been out in the brothers mini

EDIT: Aha, that's it then. the chassis must be changed, and a tiny amount of the original parts must be used?

[Edited on 6/12/11 by raguri]

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Originally posted by raguri


EDIT: Aha, that's it then. the chassis must be changed, and a tiny amount of the original parts must be used?

[Edited on 6/12/11 by raguri]

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I suppose the difference is a car with a purpose built chassis onto which donor running gear is added is a kit car.

Anything whereby the existing bodyshell/chassis is retained in any way is a modified car.

So any car with a modified shell to take a rear wheel drive bike engine is a modified car, not a kit car.

ETA

I don't think the Sammio Spyder is a kit car so much as a re-body. The Herald chassis remains unmodified and the original plates are generally retained.

That is, as long as you only bolt the support framework in place rather than weld, and it's not structural to the chassis in any way. If it is, then it's a kit car and you're off to IVA.

[Edited on 6/12/11 by StevieB]

Would IVA / non IVA be the thing which split it up?

it becomes a kit car when its so heavily modified it requires an iva, then when you register it the thing is classed as a kit and you can get specialist insurance. the issue will be that most kit insurers wont touch under 21's and if too many scrotty teenagers are driving round in kits it will bump our premiums up.

Radicals aren't kit cars... you buy them ready made from the factory.

Like any car, you could purchase the separate component parts from the company and build it yourself, but it would be financial suicide v's just buying a factory car.

The Caterham CSR260 is the only one in their line up that isn't offered in kit component. Factory built only.

Judging by the above replies I'd say it depends on who you ask.

Personally I would say a kit car is one that was home built from a kit, and I'm aware that answer isn't much use to anyone, from an insurance perspective, I reckon it's mostly having a Kit car name on the V5 that's important as mid engined saxo should have an IVA but would still be a modified saxo.

Insurance companies all use their own deffinitions for literally everything though so from that perspective there's probably as many answers as companies.

On a simillar note, it's sometimes cheaper to go for a larger engine with the insurance as the specific number of claims for the model is more important a factor than specific performance.

I suppose in it's strictest form a kit car is one that's built or modified from a kit (thus they're all the same to an extent)
Just because Caterham do a service where they build it, it still comes from that kit.

On a simillar note, how much would I have to do to a car to get it changed onto the old tax system?

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Originally posted by Ninehigh
Just because Caterham do a service where they build it, it still comes from that kit.

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Just to chuck another "spanner" into the mix, how can you call a home built Locost a Kit Car, I have always known home built cars as "specials". Which in fact mine is even more so, as its home designed as well as built, yet when I insured it they, (insurance company), classed it as a kit car. Daft I call it, Cheers Ray

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Originally posted by morcus
On a simillar note, how much would I have to do to a car to get it changed onto the old tax system?

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If I bought a New range rover without having it registered and put it through an IVA would that put it on the old tax system and get a new plate? Not that I can afford too but I reckon it would work out cheaper if it worked.

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Originally posted by StevieB
I suppose the difference is a car with a purpose built chassis onto which donor running gear is added is a kit car.

Anything whereby the existing bodyshell/chassis is retained in any way is a modified car.

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quote:

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Originally posted by morcus
If I bought a New range rover without having it registered and put it through an IVA would that put it on the old tax system and get a new plate? Not that I can afford too but I reckon it would work out cheaper if it worked.

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You can buy an unregistered car from a dealer, Though I doubt most would let you.