Decisions, Decisions!
So having made the monumental decision, time for research.
As mentioned in the opening paragraph the last time I ventured down kitcars was many years ago, the manufacture landscape has changed and is frankly unrecognisable from the mid 1990's.
One thing was a constant, I still yearned to do a Lotus 7-esque style car. I narrowed the list down to a select handful of companies, some top end others more mid table priced:
Caterham
Westfield
Tiger
MK
Aries
GBS
Alas immediately Caterham and Westfield were dismissed from the potentials.
Price is a factor in this project and whilst not working to a complete shoestring in this project conversely I do not have a bottomless pit of funds to throw into the idea. Caterham and Westfield command significantly higher entry price points and Caterham have frankly moved away from the build it yourself to a more turn key drive off into the sunset philosophy. I had a good look round at their stand during the recent Chris Evans Carfest event at Oulton Park but the representatives did not show any keenness or interest in self build, alas immediately dismissed.
Westfield were in similar vein, when I first looked with my father Westfield were a serious consideration and they still do produce a nice product but again I was not drawn to them as a serious consideration perhaps they are not positioning themselves in the market to attract builders like me, a strange one. borne out all the more at the recent Donington Kit car show where they had a stand but wished to promote turnkey ready to roll cars.
So moving to the more traditional kitcar manufacturers, I looked at Tiger next based over in Wisbech in Lincolnshire. Excellent product backed by an enthusiastic family team, been in the industry for many years and produce some nice literature. I was particularly interested in the Avon vehicle which you build in hand with their own book, keenly priced, available in stages as you progress the build and supported by a very active builder, driver forum on the web. Seemed to tick all the boxes.
The Donington visit was to be the time to have closer look and chat with Jim and the team from Tiger...slight problem....they had no stand at the show!! what a disaster, I was ready to talk and place an order.
I was left with wandering around the owners club area and looking at some very nicely finished and presented examples which did expose an issue for me - size. The car looked relatively small in comparison to other makes, a possible issue with physically fitting in comfortably.
So frustrated, so close yet so far
Back to the drawing board. Perhaps the kitcar gods were guiding me along another path as a manufacture whom was at the show and very prominent was GBS. A manufacturer I had looked at briefly during the early research days but for a reason unbeknown to me I did not really pursue - what a mistake that could have proved to be...
Immediately I was greeted by a very enthusiastic team, Ruth and Keith were on hand to answer as many questions serious and daft as they could field, I tried the car for size, I fitted with ample space and I was impressed with the overall build quality of the car - a lot of time and effort has been expended by GBS to get a very impressive vehicle on the road.
Budget wise, entry point on the kit was higher than the preferred Tiger but you got more your buck - time for some cost comparisons and the inner Accountant to rear his head, much to my wife's amusement!
Plans were made to follow up with a factory visit to Ollerton, nr Mansfield at a later date.
The final manufacture to consider was MK - I had read on a couple of forums how the Indy was a very capable chassis and worth considering, I did the research and realising they were near to GBS being based in Rotherham hoped to tie in a visit to them whilst heading that direction. Kit price was a the higher end but again a comprehensive kit, still work considering at that point in time.
A final comment on Aries motorsport. whom distribute the Stuart Taylor locost. price is definitely at the lower end of the market and on paper it looks a nicely presented vehicle. However despite several emails seeking more information and arranging a visit no response has been forthcoming. Disappointing to note and unfortunately not one I will be pursuing any further.
