2008 Exeter Kit Car Show

Yesterday I went up to Exeter for the Kit Car Show at the Westpoint Showground. This was my first visit after a lapse for a few years and, considering the economic gloom that pervades the UK at the moment and the fact that kit cars must inevitably be funded from disposable income, I found the mood very upbeat. There was a great variety of machinery on show and plenty of people about, too. Previous shows had consisted largely of Lotus Seven variants -- what some of my friends call Locost Caterfields -- or AC Cobra replicas that this year there seem to be more original designs. The standard of construction was also a vast improvement over what I had come to expect.

I chatted to several stallholders several aspects of the current kit car scene struck me.


I've already mentioned the dramatic increase in the quality of the product. Manufacturers have now realised that well finished cars that result from an easy build reflect well on their brand name they can generate more sales.

"An easy build and fewer nights in the garage make a kit car much easier to sell to the wife," was how one exhibitor put it to me. "It's easiest for people to buy an engine from specialist firms like Powertorque or Omexpower rather than have a go at chewing it yourself."

He was also keen to stress the importance of safety, which was something I hadn't really considered. It's increasingly another area in which customers are unwilling to problem lies.

Another thing I found interesting, was the instead of using the standard induction and engine management systems, most of the demonstrators on show yesterday featured throttle bodies.

"We don't use the standard loom from the Ford Focus donor," designer Gary Gunn told me on the Retoga stand. "There are so many extras that we don't use our cars like adjustable mirrors and electric windows. That's how we can make our car so light. And if we are not using loom, it makes sense not to use the engine management system, either. After market throttle bodies are much easier to set up a rolling road. Although they cost more, they're much easier to set up."

I wasn't sure about this thing. There's obviously still being developed so shouldn't be judged too harshly. The Vindicator F4 is inspired by an F4 Phantom jet fighter and was attracting many showgoers purely from its seating arrangement. I like the concept but it looks quite massive to me whereas and F4 Phantom jet fighter is sleek and purposeful. this looked too tall to me in the exhibition hall but out on the open road it would probably shrink. Maybe bigger wheels would help. It's definitely got something, though.

My absolute favourite car of the show was the GTM Spyder. Styled by Richard Oakes, this is a very good-looking little motorcar and the design and build quality is outstanding -- at least as good as a major motor manufacturer. Nothing looks out of place, either inside or out, and the engine range starts off with a Rover K-series 1.4 and goes all the way up to their 2.5 litre V6 which is an absolute honey of an engine.