GTM is a british sports car manufacturer launched in 1967 and have a great reputation in the industry. I personally think the GTM Libra is one of the best kit cars you can get and can certainly be used as an every day car. Owners of the GTM libra and spider report getting 40+MPG from there cars. Even the entry 1.4 k series engine is really fast, however most people opt for the 1.8 litre k-series engine that is also used in some of the Lotus Elises and of course MG.

Speaking of Lotus, when Lotus were developing the Elise they visited the GTM factory and there are many similar aspects to each car. from design and looks to chasis and engine choice, it quite remarkable really.

The lastest news from the GTM camp is that in 2007 they joined Potenza sports cars who also own Westfield sports cars. GTM will soon be launching 2 new cars being the 40TR and Ballista.

Visit GTM Sports cars for more information on Cars they are offering

Obviously everyone who drives a kit car needs to have insurance. The main players in kit car insurance are Adrian Flux and Footman James, although if you buy a copy of kit car magazine there are loads of adverts from companies who will insure your kit car. I recently was thinking of buying a Phantom Vortex GTR, a beautiful car with stunning looks and use it as my everyday car.

Of course i knew the insurance would be expensive but it was slightly cheaper than some production cars i’ve been looking at. However thats not what i find funny. I rang up Adrian Flux and got a quote from them, which was reasonable to be fair. But i wanted to make sure i had the best deal possible so i talked to Footman James at Stoneleigh kit car show.

Footman James asked me all the usual questions that you have to answer when getting car insurance of any kind, then at the end said “i’m sorry we can’t insure you”, “oh……why’s that” i asked. It turns out that they wont insure people under 25 years of age on a car over 2L i knew that may be the case from the website but i found it funny that i could get insured on a GTM libre using the 1.8 k series engine which in actual fact would be faster than the Phantom which has a 2.7L engine, also that i couldn’t get insured on through Footman James, but Adrian Flux were willing to insure me.

So in conclusion the age old thing of shopping around comes into play. I think most people who own kit cars will tend to stay with the same kit car insurance company year after year. Maybe Footman James need to lower this age to encourage younger drivers to insure there cars through them, from which they should retain custom throughout the year.

What has been your experiance of getting insurance from these and other insurance companies? Are there anyothers you would recommend? As always leave a comment at the bottom with any questions, answers or comments.

Oh yes, Kit car insurance companies insure production cars as well, so give them a call as it may work out cheaper??

Buying a kit car is a fun business. When first purchasing a kit car with my dad for some summer fun a few years back. We had loads of fun visiting the different kit cars shows, getting involved and asking questions and talking to different kit car manufacturers and owners club, but before we even got to that stage we had a few things to sort out.

To buy new or built? That is the question

I’m sure everyone who is thinking about buying a kit car thinks the same thing as me and my dad. The original plan was to buy the car in kit form and build it in a farther, son project. Although this would have been brilliant building a car together and learning vast knowledge about how cars are put together (for me anyway) this just wasn’t practical and as it turns out not very cost effective.

The problem of buying a new kit car in kit form

I don’t know about you, but if you’re anything like me and most people on the planet you will have limited spare time, and lack of time is a kit car killer. How many stories/people have you talked to that have a part built kit car in the garage? A LOT! Talking to people who have built kit cars in the past it took them hundreds of hours and years to complete, and adding finishing touches and improvements is an on going project. Besides the time factor, how much have you budgeted for buying and developing a kit car? Buying a new kit car is very expensive, although it may not seem like it when you’re buying the kit car in stages all the finishing touches and hours put in equal a lot of money!

Oh yea, and there’s the small matter of the SVA test!

Why you should buy a pre built kit car

Now i’m not saying don’t buy a new kit car, many kit car builders take great plesure from building a kit car from scratch. But this is why me and my dad bought a pre built kit car.

Time - As mentioned before it takes a long time to build a kit car. Time that we just didn’t have, especially with me being at university at the time it just wasn’t an option.

Cost - it was far more cost effective to buy a prebuilt car and make adjustments later on as we wanted, this way there was no SVA to pass and we could start driving the car straight away!

Do your research first i guess is the point of this post and be practicle about how much time and budget you can put into your car. if you buy a kit and part build it then sell it, you will lose out on a lot of money and not even have the driving pleasure of a kit car.

Show us your kit car

Have a kit car? We want to hear from you, even if it’s part built! send pictures of your car to martin@whatkitcar.com

It’s a stunning looking car isnt it?

The Phantom Vortex Kit car took around 5 years to develop, the plan was to initially sell the car in kit form due to financials or lack of, it’s expensive producing a car! However turnkey cars could be bought from Phantom for £50,000, yes thats not a typo 50k! however it’s estimated you could build one for around 20k. I think this is where Phantom went wrong, although the car is a knockout in the looks department who’s going to shell out 50k for a car that does 0-60 in around 6 to 7 seconds? I don’t know about you but i would much rather put that sort of money into a nice Aston Martin.

Under The Bonnet

So what is used to propel the car? A Rover

A rover may sound slightly unusual but Phantom took the Engine, gearbox and some other bits from a Rover 827. The reason being the engine being a reliable 2.7 litre Honda V6. If Phantom were to go to full production they would need to find an alternative power plant with more grunt in it to justify the 50k price tag. I believe that you can fit a 3 litre Duratec engine if desired which sounds more like it.

Phantom Vortex Interior

The interior of the Phantom again with most kit cars depends on the person building it. The image above is taken from the owners car which is also featured at the top of the page. It’s simple and looks good however i think the top dashboard with the dials could look better.

Where are Phantom Now

Well the website’s not up are running which is never a good sign however look at Virago Kit Cars

Looks familar doesn’t it? Phantom have sold the rights to Virago to produce a similar body but i can’t tell the difference. Virago are currently looking for dealers to sell the car and investors to take the car forward.

Got a kit car?

If you’ve got a kit car then send it in to be featured on www.whatkitcar.com Send me an e-mail martin@whatkitcar.com with pictures of your car and any detials of the car you want. You could even end up with your own build page! If that sounds good then send me an e-mail now!

Westfield are one of the best known names throughout the kitcar world. Westfield Kit cars are still british owned and family. run. Westfield cars can be purchased as:

Factory built or turnkey - hand built by Westfield team to your bespoke needs, you get a finished car ready to drive away.

Complete kit - No donor car needed, Westfield provide all the parts needed for you to construct your new westfield kitcar

Modular - Sections of the car are purchased during diffrent stages of car build.

Westfield have 3 main categories of kitcar the SE the XTR and the XI

The Westfield SE is the Lotus 7 type kitcar and looks fantasic. Westfields SE is one of the best made kits you can get out there. Modals of the SE kitcar are.

The Westfield Sport S - This is the top of the range Westfield which has everything on it. The chassis is 15% lighter than the standard sport version, depending on what engine you pick can produce 250bhp! This car will blast past pretty much anything on the road.

The Westfield sport, Aero race, Aerosport, Megabusa (high revving bike engine which is personally my favourite Westfield) SEiGHT

The Westfield XTR

The Westfield XTR is very similar to the Radical kitcar in shape and has blistering performance! The Westfield XTR comes in 2 forms the XTR2 and the XTR4

Send us your Westfield Pictures and Car Builds! - At www.whatkitcar.com we want to see your kit car e-mail pictures and or build details to martin@whatkitcar.com and see your kitcar on this website!

This will be the 18th year of the Delting Kit car show which is held at the Kent country showground. Last year 36 manufacturers and 45 trade stands showed up plus the big club areas and private built kits. So expect around 600 kit cars and replica cars

Delting Kit Car Show will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday 12th and 13th April 2008 at 10am - 5pm daily.

This year West field will be there displaying their new car in stlye with a slalom event to really show off the new car.

The Delting Kit car and replica car show 2008 takes place at The Kent County Showground, Detling near Maidstone, ME14 3JF on Saturday and Sunday April 12th and 13th from 10 am - 5 pm both days. Entry £9 Adults, £2 children 12 years and under. Kit Car Drivers with their cars enter free!

Stoneleigh Kit Car Show 2008

Stoneleigh kit car show is one of my favourite shows of the year and one i have already booked my tickets to go. This years show will be over Sunday and Monday 4th and 5th May 2008 at the national agricultural centre, Stoneleigh, Warks, and is one of the biggest kit car shows of the year and will see all the be manufacturers there. Last year Caterham had a really good slalom course where for a small fee you could be driven very fast around a small track. Details have yet to be confirmed but expect to pay around £10 per adult and £2 for children. If you come in a kit car the driver gets in for free as usual at kit car shows.

Newark Kit and replica Car Show 2008

Like Stoneleigh Newark is one of the biggest kit car shows of the year. and will take place over Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June at Newark & Notts showground. At the A46/A17 Junction on the A1, 2 miles north of Newark - on - Trent. Post code NG24 2NY.

Day Admission: Adults £10, Children (5–15) £3, Toddlers FREE

Stafford Kit and replica car show 2008

Stafford kit car show will be the last of the year and will take place saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th September. I usually go to Stafford kit car show as i went to Uni is Stafford and the kit car show was just up the road. That was a few years ago now but i still like to go to it except last year Stafford kit car show was cancelled! Gutted, however this year will be different as Den Tanner od Kit Car Magazine is taking charge of stafford kit car show. I think in the past there has been complaints about the cost of stand space which put a lot of people off attending however this price has been reduced alot to encourage more people to participate. Kit Car magazine will be giving away thousands of free tickets in various ways which i dont know about yet but will publish as soon as know.

As Kit car magazine is backing this show it will be slightly different and special to other Kit car shows. You will have your own chance to ask and kit car related questions to the kit car magazine editorial team. More details will follow in the kit car Magazine.

Robin Hood Kit Cars History

Robin hood kit car manufacturer first started in the mid 80’s. The first car was based on a TR7 for £995, from which they sold a few to motoring enthusiasts. The donor car was later changed from the TR7 to the Triumph Dolomite, engine’s ranged from 1.1l to 2.0l

Robin Hood Kit Car Range

Robin hood currently produce 3 types of kit which include the Project 2B, Superspec and the latest edition the lightweight.

The Robin Hood lightweight Kit car

The Lightweight kit is the latest kit for people who want to build a 7 type replica on a budget. The lightweight is setup to take parts from the usual Ford Sierra. Virtually any four cylinder engine can be fitted provided that it can be mated to a RWD gearbox.

The Robin Hood lightweight kit car starts at £1795 + VAT

Robin Hood Project 2B Kit Car

The Robin Hood Project 2B is the probably the most popular Robin Hood kit cars, in fact it’s one of the most popular 7 replicas out there. As Kit cars shows there is always an army of Robin Hodd kit car owners that turn up. Because there are so many owners of the Robin Hood kit car they have a very active owners club.

The project 2B kit car is based on the Ford Sierra donar car. The Project 2B chassis has a crumple zone behind the passenger and driver seats. Centre long members are formed to absorb impact with a complete frame around the occupants at key protection level, including the roll over bar which is substantially back braced and part of the main chassis structure.

Prices of the Robin Hood 2B start at £3000 + VAT

The Robin Hood Superspec Kit Car

The Superspec is Robin Hoods top modal kit car and features a gold bonnet which personally i dont like very much but i’m sure you could always use the silver one from the project 2B kit car. Very similar in looks and spec to the project 2B kit however every Tube and bracket is different on the Superspec compared to the project 2B.

Prices of the Robin Hood Superspec start at £4500 + VAT

This year is the 18th year of a kit car show in Kent, which will be held at Kent country showground. This year will have around 36 manufacturers and 45 trade stands to buy those needed parts for car modifications.

What date is Delting Kitcar show on

This year the Delting Kitcar show will take place during Saturday and Sunday 12th and 13th April.

For more information and to book tickets call European Promotions on 01233 713878

The History Of The Ultima GTR

1983 was the year of the first MK1 Ultima, Lee Noble automotive engineer better known for Noble sports cars setup and launced the MK1 Ultima GTR. The Ultima used a square space tube chassis brakes and steering from a Ford Cortina as well as parts from the Austin Princess and Renault 30.

The Ultima MK2

The Ultima MK2 was developed and made during 1984-1989 which included some much changing the Renault rear suspension.

Using the Ultima MK2 Ted Marlow won many race series. During this time racing the Ultima replaced the Renault engine with a Chevrolet V8 5000 and later with the bigger small block 602 litre V8. Modifications were made to the body and the Ultima MK3 was born which doesn’t look very far off the latest world record hording Ultima GTR.

Smashing the 0-100mph-0 world record

Fast forward to 2004 sees Ultima smashing the 0-100-0 mph world record with a standard production car pushing out 640bhp. The car was driven by Richard Marlow and really put Ultima on the automotive map. Watch the world record video to the right.

Top Gear Track Record Smashed

This is one of my favorite things about this car. You can build one of these in your garage at home and create a super ear eater. Ultima unofficially took the car around the top gear track to see what time they would get, the results are amasing! The Ultima blasts through the track to record a time of 1:12.8 an amazing 5 seconds quicker than the Koenigsegg CXX (with top gear spoiler) watch the video to the above!If you want to buy one of these amasing cars or find out more info then check out the Ultima website

Newark 2008 Kit Car Show

This year the Newark 2008 kitcar show will be held on the 21st and 22nd of June 2008 Located at Newark and Notts Showground.

If your using Sat Nav or AA route planner etc the post code is NG24 2NY

Newark 2008 kitcar show Admission Prices

Day admission for this years kit car show is:

£10 day admission for an adult

£3 for children aged 5-15

The show is open to the public on Saterday 10:00am - 5:00pm and Sunday 9:30am - 4:30am

Kit car drivers who take their cars inside the showground will be able to enter the show at 7:30am on both saterday and Sunday.

More Details OF Newark Kit Car Show

Newark Kit car show is both indoor and outdoor, great incase it decides to rain. As most kit car shows the clubs will have their cars parked outside for you to have a look at. Club members are usually only to pleased to talk about their cars and can provide loads of good advice if your thinking of buying a car. Or just want to have a chat about kit cars in general.

In the main hall all the major kit car manufacturers will be there to display the latest and greatest kit car models. Newark kit car show is one of the biggest of the year so i hope to see you there. (I’ll be in a black tiger cat E1)