poor man's gt40

[Mr.T]

well, im a poor man, and im in the market for a gt40.

scratch that, im a middle class teenager out to buy his first car. ive always loved gt40s, and have been looking to see if i can find/build one for under 10 grand. my skills working with cars are so-so, but i have a car-savvy dad who im sure would be more than willing to help out.

my first choice is just to do just a pontiac fiero rebody, preferably v8 archie, but not quite sure how much those cost, or if you can even get a kit. does naf or aspp or whatever it is still exist?

i would love to build a straight up kit car, but it looks like those are all pretty pricey. ive also heard that kit car insurance is extreeeeeeemly expensive. is that true?

if worst comes to worst, i did find an already assembled fiero rebody for sale at "F/S: NAF GT40 rebody with Northstar - Pennock's Fiero Forum", but just buying one feels like cheating.

and then theres ebay...

so, anybody know where i could find a dirt cheap supercar? help please? :huh:

 

[Cliff Beer]

Hi, sounds like you have lots of energy and enthusiam - that's great. How about this for an idea: maybe start with something inexpensive (but well engineered) like a porsche 914 and put a V-8 in it? Perhaps an aluminum buick 215 or a Rover 4.0/4.4? That will be a seriously quick car and be a better driving car than a hacked up fiero (which wasn't a very good car to start with). You can probably buy a 914 in decent shape for about $4K leaving you with $6K to get an engine and engineer a transaxle and install. It'll be a fun challenge!

 

[Terry Oxandale]

There are a couple of Mantas on Ebay...A little time, skill, imagintion can turn these midengined V8 cars into some pretty neat items.

300297033712

250384445201

 

[DaveM]

Consider a Lotus Europa S2 and do a Ford Zetec or Toyota engine swap. It's possible under $10K with your own labor. With 180hp and 1500lbs it will do 0-60 in low 4 second range and handles very well. Even in the 1960's the Europa was a poor man's GT40.

 

[glen]

mr t, do a scratch build using 2nd hand parts and hours on the internet researching.

 

[Jac Mac]

mr t, do a scratch build using 2nd hand parts and hours on the internet researching.

My thoughts as well, IF a GT40 is what you really want at the end.

Two Donor cars you might wish to buy/drive during your parts gathering exercise, Porsche 911 with G50 or 930 transaxle and/or 79/80>> Mustang/Capri 302 with manual trans [ They dont have to be show stoppers, remember the mechanicals are what you will ultimately need to preserve--Hard ask for a young fella! ]. If your reasonably mechanically savvy & can think outside the square these two cars will supply most of your mechanicals. That leaves you to purchase body panels, steel/alloy to build your spaceframe or tub, plus glass etc & fabricate all the doodads to make it work.

 

[Chris Liddiard]

I support you all the way. I'm doing a low budget unfinished old KVA up. Sure it wont be a 100grand "replica" with 5 litre V8 (mines a 3.0 V6 by the way) but at the end of the day we are all faking it, its just to what level you believe you think you should be to the "real thing". In my eyes if you love its shape, have passion for the car, & it looks cool painted outside the pub....job done!

Best of luck, Chris

 

[rick]

get yourself a lotus europa s2, install a nice honda/toyota v-tec , ng3 gearbox, convert to 15" wheels (195/50/15) learn to drive (the lotus will be faster, corners better and cheaper on fuel) have fun and save some money to buy a gt40