53 replica kit

[billyvette]

Hey guys, i am from the c3 forum, I wanted to ask if you guys have any experience with any of the 53 replica kits out there
particularly lone star classics 53 kit. I will never have enough money for a gen 1 car and if i did i do not think i could drive it for fear of an accident. All opinions are welcome.

Like them? hate them? whatever please respond.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Welcome billyvette to the c1/c2 section,I am not familur with the kit your speaking of.Maybee somebody else on the forum has done one,I am also in the market for an afourdable c1 car

 

[JohnZ]

That kit is made to fit a GM "A"-body chassis (Chevelle, etc.); one of the guys in our club has one he built about fifteen years ago, and it doesn't look too bad from 25 feet. Any closer, and it becomes obvious that it's a kit car. The kit is cheap, but the trim and hardware, chrome, etc. to complete it costs more than the kit does, and when you're done you've still got a kit car.

 

[billyvette]

lone star classics

is the kit he done from lone star classics in texas?
Their kit comes with a custom in house chassis.
Kit Car magazine gave this kit and this company excellent reviews.

Yes it is a kit and not a real C1, but how many C1 do you see out on the road today?

I am a high school teacher and never could afford a real C1 car anyway.

 

[Tripleblack51]

Billyvette,
There is a guy in South Florida that builds 1953 replicas on C4 frames.

He often brings one to our Friday nite cruise ins. It looks beautiful and is correct in every detail.
He gets 50k+ for them.

Let me know if you're interested and I'll get you his number.

Regards,

Pedro

 

[billyvette]

thanks but...

the lone star classics kit is much cheaper to build than that, but thanks for the offer, i appreciate it.

 

[a63vette]

If you are stuck on a 53-55, maybe a nice 54 that needs some work? If not, I have seen some decent 58-62s for mid twenties. I gotta belive the Lone Star kit costs at least $20 to build no? I don't think you would ever be sorry going for the real thing. (I have nothing against kit cars--I think Cobra kits make a ton of sense (I adore Kirkhams), but when the difference in price is smaller like vettes I don't think it makes sense).

Also remember Kit Car Magazine depends on advertising----I have never read a bad word about anything in their mag. Just ask some of the Cobra Guys about their opinions.....so I would definitely try to contact a current owner before you lay down any money.

Good luck,

Jordan

 

[billyvette]

on kit car mag

the kitcar website lists consumer alerts as well. i am not going to start on anything soon. yes it will always be a kit, but i do not think i could do to a 54 what i want to do with a kit car.

you are right - it will never be a real corvette, that is why i am driving a 78 right now.

 

[SeaLawyer]

The thing you're overlooking Billy is the investment aspect. Not only is the kit never going to be a Corvette, but it's never going to worth anything. If you like throwing $25,000+ away, then great. Otherwise, buy a real 58-62. If you're going to put money in something, at least put it in something that will hold it's value and maybe even appreciate.

I have nothing against kits. For a while, I considered building a Speedster kit. But I would literally have wasted $20K+ and even if I found some sucker to buy it, I still would have lost my shirt if I ever sold it. For about the same price I got a REAL '62 Porsche 356 that was a great car. When I sold it, I made money... A Cobra kit is entirely different since a real one is untouchable. Not so with the Vette. Jordan is right about the later C1's - they're relatively affordable, they'll be authentic (it's STILL a C1!!), and you won't be literally flushing money down the toilet. Oh and another thing, try insuring that kit car -- you'll pay THROUGH the NOSE!! I only pay $200/6mo on my '63 SWC...

 

[IH2LOSE]

Quote
Oh and another thing, try insuring that kit car --

That reminded me
Since we are kit car bashing I have a freind that built a kit car cobtra and it took him 18 months to register it.He had to get the car inspected twice for before they would issue a tittle.
@nd inspection they found a transmition that was part of a stolen car( It was a legal trans from a stolen recovery but the vin showed up as a stolen car), The insurance company never updated the status of the car.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Also welcome abourd
SEALAWYER

 

[SeaLawyer]

Thanks! Been perusing for a while. Couldn't resist posting on this one. New to the Vette world. Got mine last October. Still got a bit of work to do on it.

 

[JohnZ]

I've built a few kits myself (one E.R.A. and two Unique Cobras and a D&D tube-frame Grand Sport), but selected them carefully (and built and detailed them as authentic to the original cars as possible) to make sure I could get my investment back out of them when the time came (not counting my labor - it's a hobby, right? ) . Terrific fun cars and they get a lot of attention, but there are a lot of them out there (junk) that give all of them a bad name, including the really good ones.