Looking for my 1st kit car

[Nick wilson]

Hi, I have just joined as I’m looking to buy my1st kit car, would a Robin Hood be a good 1st choice, looking for advice, seen a few in good condition for around £5k, not many about in my neck of the woods, any hints on finding a reasonable one would be much appreciated, thanks in advance, 

[Foz]

Hi Nick, welcome to the club.  I bought my 2B over 10 years ago and it still makes me smile every time I drive it.  It's not the best kit car in the world, in fact it's not the best 2B in the UK but it's still great fun.  I think there are a few members in your area and, if you can, get a look at a few of their cars. You'll see that Robin Hoods are all slightly different - you make it the way that you want it.  Keep watching the website - I'm sure there'll be other members replying to you.

Steve

[nelmo]

Hi Nick, welcome to the club!

Before you buy anything, please consider your experience and what you want from the car.

Kit cars are great fun, they can be fast and they are very back-to-basics. However, they are mostly built by amateurs and while some of us are aircraft engineers and will do a very good job, kit cars are generally unreliable and will need you to get your hands dirty at some point (unless you can afford to take it to a garage every time it breaks). They are also noisy and uncomfortable - your wife/partner will almost certainly NOT want to go in it very often unless they are petrol-heads themselves.

As long as you are aware of this and are not expecting Ford-level of build quality, carry on. Otherwise, a second-hand MX5 is probably a better bet.

Sorry to be so negative but I have a next door neighbour who watched me build mine, got all excited and went out and bought a Morgan replica. He had a few problems, his wife didn't like it and after 6 months, it was gone, replaced by an MX5.

[max]

hi just got mine on the road after buying in bits, tears of joy and pain along the way but worth it,mine is a mk2 so if you are a big lad you will find it a very tight fit 2b are wider so try to have a look at different models my wife likes mine apart from messing her hair up  see you are in Boston i live in kings lynn you are welcome to come over and have a look, please ask any questions you have on here as the club members are very helpful ,my membership was the best money i have spent

[brumster]

I think Nelmo's advice is very sensible.

Given the price Zero's have been going for recently (as evidenced on this forum), I'm not sure I'd personally pay £5k for any Robin Hood, but that's a general statement. Problem is you can get well built examples, and complete snotters, in *any* brand, so I'd focus on a quality build for your first kit car. My first kit back in the 90's was a GTM Rossa built by an engineer much respected by his peers, and I *still* ended up rebuilding it and still saw some 'surprising' quality of work on it so as with purchasing any car, buyer beware.

Edited September 25, 2020 by brumster

[fry61]

If you think the s/steel panels could do with being replaced or refitted walk away --- you will end up with a chassis FULL of holes & some will run into old ones so wont take a fixing --- every thing else should be fixable but at what cost --- you need to be happy with the build --- end to end & top to bottom if your engineer skills are not well developed. ( can be just good use of the hammer provided the blow hits true.)