Ten Cars You Can Build Yourself

The strongest connection we make with our cars often stems from spending hours with them, whether behind the wheel, washing them, or wrenching on them. A project car often requires lots of time from its owner, but some enthusiasts like to make it a little harder on themselves, and to that we say, right on.

If you’re looking for a different type of project car, building a vehicle from a kit could be an option. There are dozens of companies offering iconic cars available as complete vehicles, or as “rolling chassis,” which require a little more effort than just plucking one right off the showroom floor. If we had the time, these are the companies we would call for boxes of parts to build our own project car.

Shelby Cobra

Backdraft Racing

We thought we’d get the obvious choice out of the way first with Backdraft’s duo of Cobras available for purchase. The RT4 Classic Edition starts at $66,900 before any accessories, such as custom leather interiors, dashboards, seatbelts, and paintwork. The chassis can be purchased from the factory in Boynton Beach, Florida, or from any of its dealer partners. If you want, they can also do the work for you, but what fun is that?

The RT4 Black Edition ($70,500) takes away some creative freedoms and adds a black appearance package with darkened headlight surrounds, wheels, and bumper guards. Backdraft lists the norm of Ford and General Motors engines, as well as the Toyota 1UZ-FE 4.0-liter V8 from the LS 400 and SC 400. Cars can be built to handle a manageable 250 horsepower all the way up to a monumental 1,000 horsepower.

Corvette Grand Sport

Superformance

Credit: Superformance

Sold as a turn-key minus (TKM) kit, Superformance offers buyers of its Corvette Grand Sport a complete, painted body ready to be mated with the power and drivetrain of their choosing. For the same price as a new Corvette ZR1X, it’s a steep ask for something that isn’t quite complete. However, the current car doesn’t have the style of the 1960s classic.

Buyers have a wide array of V8 engine options, including several small-block and big-block choices from GM. Similarly, there are many gearbox options. The Corvette replica is available through Superformance’s dealer network alongside its Shelby Cobra and GT40 replicas. The builds don’t take as long to complete as most of the listed ones, so the ‘Vette deserves a place as an option to park your money and steal your time.

Lotus Seven

Caterham

Credit: Bring a Trailer

Perfecting the Lotus Seven has been a primary pursuit at Caterham for over half a century. Lotus introduced the original in the late 1950s and then sold the manufacturing rights to Caterham in 1973. Several models are available, with prices starting at $50,195 for the Seven S, with the Seven CSR Twenty as the most expensive model, topping out at $95,595.

Of course, a factory-built option is available, but that would mean missing out on bonding time with your car and any help you employ with food and beer. Caterham recommends using a few different Ford inline-fours to power the Seven of your choice and suggests Mazda’s 5-speed manual transmission with each to complete the experience. There’s even a new electric model within the lineup, but we still think a combustion version is the purist’s pick.

Cheetah

Ruth Engineering

Credit: Bring a Trailer

Unsuccessful at fulfilling its original mission of being Joker to the Shelby Cobra’s Batman, Bill Thomas’ vision of a Corvette-powered, custom-built sports coupe received limited time in the limelight before GM scrubbed its corporate racing ventures. In the mid-to-late 2000s, the custom sports car company Ruth Engineering began producing bodies and kits modeled after the original Cheetah.

The base price for a roller chassis is around $65,000, which gets you close to a running car that’s some interior bits and a powertrain away from being complete. A body is available on its own for $9,500 for in-factory pickup, but if you want it prepped to ship, it’s another $2,000. Also up for grabs is the entire company for $200,000 if you’re interested, which might be tempting given that it’s priced the same as some other vehicles on this list.

Speed33 Hot Rod

American Speed Company

Credit: American Speed Company

As one of two 1933 Ford-style hot rods on this list, this one is more for those with the means to make stunning, show-quality examples from scratch. A base body package costs $35,500, which includes a prepped steel body and little else. Accessories such as gauges, grills, hoods, gas tanks, door handles, and many other parts are available for purchase from the factory.

While several engines are available from American Speed Company, one show-stopper has been known to feature a Roush-built Ford 511-cubic-inch V8. If money is no object, you too can spend as much as the high-rollers who’ve separated themselves from nearly $1 million on their custom builds.

Read the full article on CarBuzz

This article originally appeared on CarBuzz and is republished here with permission.