DIY?

A modern automobile is a fabulously complex thing. Easily the most complicated form of modern technology we use on a daily basis. Automakers employ thousands of people just to develop products to appeal to the consumer. Millions of cars are built each year to quell the demand of the buying public, and each one contains advanced computers, highly specialized accelerometers, ballistic explosives, high pressure vessels, rigidly controlled complex molecular processes, and a decent radio.  All with easy financing and a comprehensive warranty.

It would seem impossible, then, to Do It Yourself. To build your own car should be beyond the abilities of anyone. But, it happens all the time.  As unlikely as it seems, it is not all that uncommon to see a DIY car. Every Cobra, Ferrari Daytona, or Lamborghini Countach you have ever seen is a reproduction. It is a car that has been delivered in crates and assembled in some guy’s shed. In every case, DIY cars bootstrap themselves to completion by using major components from production automobiles. Things like chassis, suspensions, engines, transmissions, and electronic components. As a result, many modern kit cars are very appealing, replicating the styling of an unobtainable classic using reliable, commonplace, modern drivetrains. In some cases these cars are indistinguishable from the original, while others are hilariously obvious fakes. Even though, it begs the question. Why would you want to build your own car when there are literally hundreds of millions of cars pre-built that require no effort on your part to own? Especially when every person that owns a DIY car also owns a car that Ford has built. Or Honda, Toyota, VW, or Mercedes Benz, but you get the idea.

I suppose the answer could lie in who builds these cars. While not as valuable as an original, a kit car is not cheap. And maybe that is the simple answer. A genuine 67 Shelby Cobra 427 is a million dollar car, while a FFR Roadster is a $30K car. Most people can not figure out which is which. The builder of a replica invests 3% of the value of the original car, but enjoys the cachet that comes with owning something immensely valuable. It is much like buying a watch in Istanbul. If you like it, and it keeps time, who is any the wiser that your Omega timepiece did not set you back several thousand dollars? I am sure there are some people for whom having rare, expensive items is its own reward, even if the item is neither rare nor expensive. But I doubt there are enough of these people to support the entire kit car industry. Let me rephrase my assumption: There are not enough people with counterfeit Rolex watches who can grasp the concept of “righty-tighty, lefty-loosey” to support the entire kit car industry. Understanding basic wrenching techniques is essential to building anything, much less an entire car. Just wanting to impress strangers is not enough motivation for most people to learn basic engineering.

If the wearer of an obnoxious synthetic timepiece is not the intended consumer, then who is building these cars? Maybe it is aestheticians who love the look of classic cars. There will never be another Ferrari GTO made, so if you want one you will have to buy an old one or make it yourself from a Datsun. Even if the car in question is not financially unobtainable, there may be a very limited number on the planet. Mundane but rare cars like a classic fastback Mustang or a split window Corvette can be erased from existence by one careless minivan. Building replicas of beautiful cars allows the owner to drive on the street a vehicle that would normally be relegated to a museum. Hundreds of hours of work goes into even the least convincing kit car, and maybe the builder should be applauded for attempting to enrich our environment by replacing an anonymous sedan with an Italian supercar. Even if it is just a Fiero covered in vaguely Countach shaped FRP.

That might account for a sizable proportion of replica cars made, but what if the car in question is not a replica, but a unique creation. A car that is obviously intended to be fast, but is unrecognizable as a Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, or Maserati. If the fruit of the builder’s labor is not a facsimile of valuable, beautiful classic, then why not just get a Boxster? For the sake of speed alone? While I am sure many FFR 818’s or SLC’s have been driven on a racetrack, I don’t think all of these cars represent such a single minded philosophy. The reason these cars are devastatingly fast is simple power-to-weight ratio. When a car is relieved of unnecessary luxury items such as power windows, bluetooth infotainment equipment, massaging seats, heated and cooled steering wheels, or WIFI hotspots, its performance necessarily increases. Some cars have taken this to another level, deleting superfluous body panels and glass in an effort to add lightness. There is no doubt, lighter cars are faster.  But they are also infinitely more uncomfortable than a normal car. In fact, cars like the Ariel Atom push the definition of an automobile to ludicrous levels, where the operator is more closely related to a motorcycle rider than the driver of a car. Clearly, then, these cars are built for speed first, with concerns of comfort occupying very little of the builders attention. But people tend to drive these things on the street, even on long trips. Considering it is no less comfortable than a motorcycle, maybe I am just whining. From that perspective some ultra-performance cars make something that resembles sense.

There may be other reasons a person would build a car rather than buy one. Some people enjoy an engineering challenge, some want hundreds of hours of “alone time,” others want to build a race car from their youth. Some of us just like taking something and improving it, or simply creating something we have thought of. The truth is, every car is built or modified for a variety of reasons. I would probably not build a Cobra, but I find them (real or fake) stunning. The synthetic Ferrari Daytona from Miami Vice is just a crappy old ‘Vette. But that point does not diminish its beauty. Z cars that look like a Ferrari GTO are still fun to look at, even though they are obviously fake. Even an old MR2 dressed in Ferrari or Lamborghini evening ware is generally more interesting than most new cars.

I suppose, just like most things, people build kit cars for a variety of reasons. Some reasons are even contradictory. I would enjoy the process of building my own car, and will at some point. The trouble will be deciding what to build. Or even what type of car to build. I like dune buggies as much as old Mustangs. I am not able to decide between a blindingly fast modern prototype styled racer or a rat rod. And lets not even start talking about old rally cars. Luckily, there are companies out there catering to my interests. They will provide me with just enough encouragement and instruction to really get me into trouble.