I have been looking for a car for two years. If anyone is interested here is my opinion so far...
The GT40 world is an exciting place full of dangers, great rewards, out and out rogues, really nice people, good business people, incompetent business people and people who I am sure are from a different planet. If you really want a car be prepared to waste time, petrol and lots of money. The first GT40 I saw lives near me, so I tracked it down, and knocked on the door to ask to see it. The owner was out but his wife gave me a full tour of the car. He came back home to find his wife showing a stranger around his garage - I would have gone mad if it had been the other way round. But we are good friends now.
Step 1.
If your garage is like mine, build one that will take the car - see photos.
Step 2.
Spend a lot of time driving up and down the country to see:
a. companies that did not want to build me a turnkey car at £60,000 plus as it was too much trouble!!??
b. misdescribed cars eg. ''gtd built by an engineering company, driven 400 miles and stored for 4 years'' what they did not say is that it had been stored in a very damp garage. I drove 4 hours to see within 20 seconds it was crap, then drove 4 hours back - great!
Step 3.
After 9 months of that, I ignore the advice of my solicitor brother, listen to all the hype and order a RF. Whoops. Wait a year listening to a pack of lies while making more staged payments as requested. Am I bitter? too bloody true. The opinion of many people on the forum is that they are still not sure whether Logan is a crook or an incredibly bad businessman. Will we ever know? Still, its my own fault - I took the risk and will put it down to experience. Fortunately, its not banckrupted me - still hurts though. To those who gave up after, I feel for you. I was offered a RCR car but I had lost heart and interest in going through the whole process again. I did enjoy talking to Fran and Chris Melia - they made a very good impression with me.
Step 4.
Search the forum (wonderful the forum - so useful) and fire off emails left right and centre asking if anyone knew a car for sale. To all who helped me I must thank you because there was nothing in it for you but your advice and contacts were very helpful. Meet one of the good guys - Frank Catt of Wealden engineering - helpful, very generous (offered to put me up and he did not know me from Adam), great innovative engineer, also blunt, and doesn't suffer fools full stop. He put me onto a few cars, one of which I have just bought and he then spent the day setting it up to fit me so it is a happy ending....
Some other thoughts....
In the UK:
If you want a polished shiny car join the enthusiasts club. If you just want a car that goes a fast as ...., join the GTD club. If like me and you want a shiny fast car, join both. Its a pity they don't amalgamate. All the people who I met associated with or selling a GTD were really nice people.
Budget for fuel - an afternoon sprinting around the Lake district cost me £80!
There is no such thing as a finished car - they are all ongoing projects. I thought if I bought a turnkey it would be finished. I now realise its only a starter project.
Don't try changing gear in a Honda estate with your right hand - I can't be the only one to have done that?
When I am parked up, the next person to ask me 'is it real? will get some abuse.
Interestingly enough, it seems to be the motorcyclists who admire the car the most.
So thats it, if you see me at a Track day or a hill climb coming last - please don't laugh at me. I am new to this but I intend to improve each year. When I got the car I heard my wife describing it to her friend as a cross between a Ferrari and a Starsky and Hutch car !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However, on our first drive, someone took a photo of it at the petrol station and she was a bit more impressed then.
All the hard work and expense has been worth it - to drive the car on an open curvy road with those webers behind me - driving heaven.
Whats your experience of GT40 people? I have been a member of various clubs all my life but never come across such interesting characters.
The GT40 world is an exciting place full of dangers, great rewards, out and out rogues, really nice people, good business people, incompetent business people and people who I am sure are from a different planet. If you really want a car be prepared to waste time, petrol and lots of money. The first GT40 I saw lives near me, so I tracked it down, and knocked on the door to ask to see it. The owner was out but his wife gave me a full tour of the car. He came back home to find his wife showing a stranger around his garage - I would have gone mad if it had been the other way round. But we are good friends now.
Step 1.
If your garage is like mine, build one that will take the car - see photos.
Step 2.
Spend a lot of time driving up and down the country to see:
a. companies that did not want to build me a turnkey car at £60,000 plus as it was too much trouble!!??
b. misdescribed cars eg. ''gtd built by an engineering company, driven 400 miles and stored for 4 years'' what they did not say is that it had been stored in a very damp garage. I drove 4 hours to see within 20 seconds it was crap, then drove 4 hours back - great!
Step 3.
After 9 months of that, I ignore the advice of my solicitor brother, listen to all the hype and order a RF. Whoops. Wait a year listening to a pack of lies while making more staged payments as requested. Am I bitter? too bloody true. The opinion of many people on the forum is that they are still not sure whether Logan is a crook or an incredibly bad businessman. Will we ever know? Still, its my own fault - I took the risk and will put it down to experience. Fortunately, its not banckrupted me - still hurts though. To those who gave up after, I feel for you. I was offered a RCR car but I had lost heart and interest in going through the whole process again. I did enjoy talking to Fran and Chris Melia - they made a very good impression with me.
Step 4.
Search the forum (wonderful the forum - so useful) and fire off emails left right and centre asking if anyone knew a car for sale. To all who helped me I must thank you because there was nothing in it for you but your advice and contacts were very helpful. Meet one of the good guys - Frank Catt of Wealden engineering - helpful, very generous (offered to put me up and he did not know me from Adam), great innovative engineer, also blunt, and doesn't suffer fools full stop. He put me onto a few cars, one of which I have just bought and he then spent the day setting it up to fit me so it is a happy ending....
Some other thoughts....
In the UK:
If you want a polished shiny car join the enthusiasts club. If you just want a car that goes a fast as ...., join the GTD club. If like me and you want a shiny fast car, join both. Its a pity they don't amalgamate. All the people who I met associated with or selling a GTD were really nice people.
Budget for fuel - an afternoon sprinting around the Lake district cost me £80!
There is no such thing as a finished car - they are all ongoing projects. I thought if I bought a turnkey it would be finished. I now realise its only a starter project.
Don't try changing gear in a Honda estate with your right hand - I can't be the only one to have done that?
When I am parked up, the next person to ask me 'is it real? will get some abuse.
Interestingly enough, it seems to be the motorcyclists who admire the car the most.
So thats it, if you see me at a Track day or a hill climb coming last - please don't laugh at me. I am new to this but I intend to improve each year. When I got the car I heard my wife describing it to her friend as a cross between a Ferrari and a Starsky and Hutch car !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However, on our first drive, someone took a photo of it at the petrol station and she was a bit more impressed then.
All the hard work and expense has been worth it - to drive the car on an open curvy road with those webers behind me - driving heaven.
Whats your experience of GT40 people? I have been a member of various clubs all my life but never come across such interesting characters.
)).