10 coolest diy car


The government makes it hard to sell cars in the United States, but they've left open one huge loophole for cars you build yourself — i.e. kit cars. With the help of our readers we've selected the ten all-time coolest DIY cars.



Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our Jalopnik summer feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Strike Engine




10.) Caterham 7

Suggested By: geistkoenig

Why It's Cool: Along with the myriad Cobra variants out there, the Lotus 7 is the granddaddy of kit cars. When it was originally introduced in 1957 it was offered in England as a kit car in order to avoid the new car tax; since production shifted from Lotus to Caterham in 1973, the option to build your own 7 remains. In the United States Caterhams are only sold as kits, though those of us who are less mechanically inclined can pay a dealer or recommended local builder to put them together. However you get yours on the road, there's no substitute. A Caterham, at any trim or performance level, is an experience.

Photo credit: Uimages




9.) Manta Montage

Suggested By: JackTrade

Why It's Cool: Edited together from Beetle bits, the Montage was one of a million different takes on bug-based kit cars of the 1970s. They weren't particularly quick, or comfortable, but man did they look cool. If you really wanted something that almost sort of looked just like a McLaren M8B, the Montage was for you.

Photo credit: LotusTalk




8.) SDR V-Storm WR3

Suggested By: wtyner01

Why It's Cool: What looks like an Ariel Atom, but is built in a shed, and seats three? If you said the SDR V-Storm, you're right! The V-Storm gets its go from either an Aprilia RSV1000 v-twin or unnamed Subaru motor in the back, and enough room for you and two of your closest friends (literally) up front. I'd be willing to bet that the V-Storm is one quick little car. If you grew up playing with Erector sets, snapping one together should be fairly straightforward.

Photo credit: Ultimate Car Page




7.) Noble M12

Suggested By: veteran011

Why It's Cool: Nobles were mostly assembled in South Africa, and then shipped here in a big box without a mechanical heart. All you have to do to make it road legal is to drop in a Ford Duratec V6 engine and maybe add a supercharger or two. This is the snap-together model of kit cars. Little skill needed for maximum fun.

Photo credit: Car Pictures Download




6.) Bradley GT

Suggested By: My X-Type Is Too A Real Jaguar

Why It's Cool: Like so many of its counterparts, the Bradley GT took a swoopy fiberglass body and wrapped it around either Beetle or Corvair mehanical bits. It had either gullwing doors or T-tops, and almost resembled a De Tomaso Pantera from the front. A little. If you squint. Later in the company's life, the Bradley would become an electric kit car, but the company folded and production stopped in 1981.

Photo credit: The Alex Place




5.) Nova

Suggested By: Spiegel

Why It's Cool: The neon-colored official Nova history page suggests "Ferrari-status motoring at mini-car prices." And while I don't doubt that these can be had for very little money, I do doubt a little performance claims like that from a Volkswagen powertrain. That's not so say a Nova wouldn't be a fun car- quite the contrary. Who wouldn't have fun stepping out of that spaceship-looking canopy or tossing around what I'm sure is a very light car on some twisty roads? The Nova proved so popular that its creators licensed the design out for kit production in a ton of different countries under a ton of different names. The Stirling kit car here in America is the same as the Nova in England, and is the same as the Australian Purvis Eureka, and the Tarantula in Zimbabwe.

Photo credit: The Selvedge Yard




4.) Meyers Manx

Suggested By: BlueSoap

Why It's Cool: When his Volkswagen-birthed creation proved too popular for Bruce Meyers to keep up with demand, he took the

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