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Alzax3
05-01-2011, 05:09 PM
This has been on before, looks a lot like my first one........

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOVA-KIT-CAR-/170 ... 27b7c5b5a1 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOVA-KIT-CAR-/170586912161?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27b7c5b5a1)

ChrisBailey
05-01-2011, 08:12 PM
Thought it was pretty obvious that the lotus seven in its various forms was the best selling kitcar, if novas and eagles were we may be able to get the parts :laugh:
Looks like a decent project though, wonder if its registered?

Spacenut
06-01-2011, 12:42 PM
Seller has been misinformed, bigtime!

It used to be that the Porsche 356 speedster was the most replicated car of all time, but I believe the Cobra took that crown some time ago.

The trouble with 7evens is that they may all look alike, but they are not actual replicas of the Lotus. Westfield had to re-style the nosecone of their car because Caterham sued them for breach of copyright!

(hence some Westies are known as "pre-litigation" cars)

3-door hatchbacks all look the same to me too :facepalm:

This is an original ADD Mk1, so is actually one of the rare cars - less than 180 made. Is it the same seller as last time or is this car "doing the rounds"?

Lauren

Alzax3
06-01-2011, 06:26 PM
Can't remember, but the photos are identical...... :whistling:

JemP
07-01-2011, 03:28 PM
But surely the replicas of 356 or Cobra arent all by the same company, so if you split the cars out into Chesils, or Legends, or for Cobras the like of Dax, Pilgrim etc. Would their individual numbers be less than those of the Nova? It would be interesting to know who the biggest kit car sellers are / were. I know Robin Hood were putting out 500 cars a year at one stage!

Spacenut
07-01-2011, 07:25 PM
That's true, but the seller is saying that the Nova is the best selling kit car of all time, which it plainly is not.

Most kits seem to sell because they are cheap to build, rather than for their kerb appeal. Pilgrim, Dutton, Quantum and Rickman sold bucketloads of quality cars that weren't very inspiring to look at. I suppose I ought to include Caterham as well.

That just leaves the "VW Exotics", a sub-genre of the buggy boom (of which the Nova used to be the best known), and expensive GT40 and Countach replicas.

JemP
07-01-2011, 08:24 PM
What is the best selling kit of all time in this country I wonder? and no its obviously not the Nova, thats just the prettiest :) Its probably the biggest selling VW based kitcar with a canopy :)

JemP
07-01-2011, 08:25 PM
I think I've just found the answer to that question, it is Robin Hood!!

Spacenut
07-01-2011, 09:38 PM
Crazy isn't it - the Lotus 7 started out as a cheap clubmans car, but thanks to Caterham and the misguided notion that all kit cars should look like a housebrick on wheels, the real thing became too expensive, so a whole new industry sprang up to supply cheap alternatives. Why????? Is everyone bereft of any original thought regarding style? Or aerodynamics even? How does a car, with amateur 1950's styling, terminal understeer and a live axle, that Colin Chapman disowned in 1970, earn the tag of "the definitive British sportscar"?

I need to stop ranting now, don't I? :blushing:

JemP
07-01-2011, 10:27 PM
They are easy to build. You have to admire Richard Stewart on that one, he produced a kit of bits that turned a clapped out Cortina into something that at least looked like it wasn't a Cortina, and had a lot of shiny on it, and sold it for less than £2k!!
Most people who build cars, and in fact most people who drive cars have no idea what understeer even is, to be honest, I havent really got a clue what it is or what it feels like. Most cars are driven at an average speed of less than 40mph in their lifetime, my wifes Amica will probably average 20mph. Richard Stewart figured out that most people building kit cars just wanted to turn a heap of old Cortina into a sporty looking thing, and sit on the drive revving the engine! Thats what my old neighbour did !!

ChrisBailey
10-01-2011, 08:40 PM
I like the sevens, yes the styling is out of date and the aerodynamics are a waste of time.
But it has lasted all this time for a reason, it is cheap, simple, and an absolute animal on the black top.
Most people will only ever put a standard engine into a chassis designed in the 60's and keep the budget below 5k, but if you were to go all out you could build something special.
If you watch some of the videos on youtube and some top gear shows, you can see these sevens destroying 100K+ supercars.
after the eagle I would love to build a MK indy with a bike engine in it. :crossfinger:

Spacenut
10-01-2011, 09:03 PM
But those giant-killing performances aren't because of the 1950s chassis or the 1950s (lack-of) aerodynamics, just an enormous power-to-weight ratio. That can be achieved in many different ways. At least something like a Radical or one of those Palmersport things is more like a proper car, and have the benefit of aero aids that work. Even the KTM Crossbow looks modern, in a Cubist-era Picasso sort of way. Why continue to copy the Lotus 7 Series 3?

If every modern saloon car still looked like an A35, car sales would be even poorer than they are today. Yet with the 7even we are talking about the same thing - a car that was designed in 1957, only with the latest engines, and... well, just engines really!

Sorry, I shouldn't go on about it really. If the majority of kit car enthusiasts liked Novas, I would probably be less inclined to drive one :D

Alzax3
10-01-2011, 09:06 PM
And if the A35 (van) is good enough for Wallace and Gromit, it's good enough for me..... (severely tempted by one the other day, but managed to resist!)

Big Birds Car
10-01-2011, 11:07 PM
That's true, but the seller is saying that the Nova is the best selling kit car of all time, which it plainly is not.


He has been informed by a Nova owner that it is the best selling kit of all time, strange as the Nova owner hasn't mentioned anything about euro-nova but does go on to say that you can get the parts from stirling in the states (even a race style chassis) plus it is still made in the phillipienes (not sure on the spelling of that one).

The guy says he has a 3.5 rover powered Nova and his name is Bill.

JemP
11-01-2011, 12:27 PM
And if the A35 (van) is good enough for Wallace and Gromit, it's good enough for me..... (severely tempted by one the other day, but managed to resist!)

My wife also wants an A35 :) and if its also good enough for James Hunt!!!

JemP
11-01-2011, 12:44 PM
But those giant-killing performances aren't because of the 1950s chassis or the 1950s (lack-of) aerodynamics, just an enormous power-to-weight ratio. That can be achieved in many different ways. At least something like a Radical or one of those Palmersport things is more like a proper car, and have the benefit of aero aids that work. Even the KTM Crossbow looks modern, in a Cubist-era Picasso sort of way. Why continue to copy the Lotus 7 Series 3?

If every modern saloon car still looked like an A35, car sales would be even poorer than they are today. Yet with the 7even we are talking about the same thing - a car that was designed in 1957, only with the latest engines, and... well, just engines really!

Sorry, I shouldn't go on about it really. If the majority of kit car enthusiasts liked Novas, I would probably be less inclined to drive one :D

Yes but they were clearly ahead of their time in the 60's, and not everything designed in the 60's has been improved upon. I still think that the straight 6 XK Jaguar engine was a engine design classic, still being used up until 1997, and a far better engine than the V8 which replaced it.
Most people though dont build Robin Hoods for giant killing performance at all though. They do so because its as easy as Meccano, and the end result looks impressive. Most sport standard Pinto engines (possibly with a go faster painted rocker cover) and standard Sierra suspension. cheap, cheerful, within the capabilities of the average Joe, and capable of pottering around at 45mph, or whatever the average road speed is in the UK these days. They're built as classic kit cars, a kind of "do it yourself" Triumph Spitfire! Buildable with a minimal toolkit, minimal mechanical knowledge, on a small budget. What other options are there for that kind of guy with just a £3k budget?
BTW, even though I think the 7even has been well and truly overdone, particularly by the rather boring kit car media, it must be pleasurable to build and even possibly to drive.

Spacenut
11-01-2011, 12:44 PM
Graham Hill, Gerry Marshall, Whizzo Williams and countless other top class drivers started out racing the A35 as well.

Sooo... Bill is the owner of a Rover Nova, is he? From his description, he has replaced his louvre panel with the pseudo-De Tomaso Mangusta split rear window panel used by the Cimbria SS (aka Eagle). I saw a Cimbria with an Olds 455 in the back once. The advantage of that was the chain-drive transmission sat underneath the engine, so although it was tall, it did not create much overhang at the back and also didn't intrude into the cabin much (for an in-line V8). I wonder what Bill is using for a transmission - I heard that there was at least one Nova with a mid-mounted Rover V8, driving through a Renault transaxle, as well as one or two with less advisable rear-mounted V8s, with extended bodywork to cover the colossal overhang.

"Misty" windscreen sounds worrying - probably completely delaminated :(

Lauren

Spacenut
11-01-2011, 12:51 PM
Most people though dont build Robin Hoods for giant killing performance at all though. They do so because its as easy as Meccano, and the end result looks impressive. Most sport standard Pinto engines (possibly with a go faster painted rocker cover) and standard Sierra suspension. cheap, cheerful, within the capabilities of the average Joe, and capable of pottering around at 45mph, or whatever the average road speed is in the UK these days. They're built as classic kit cars, a kind of "do it yourself" Triumph Spitfire! Buildable with a minimal toolkit, minimal mechanical knowledge, on a small budget. What other options are there for that kind of guy with just a £3k budget?

Jem, you are quite right of course. The 7even is just a car reduced to the barest minimum. Its just this constant aping of the Lotus design that gets me, although I guess the current crop of exoskeletons represent the same principle, but applied to a mid-engined car :D

Lauren

JemP
11-01-2011, 02:36 PM
I know what you mean Lauren, if only there was another simple basic design that could be replicated cheaply. When I walk around Stoneleigh, I get so bored with the 7evens, and the Cobras and the Toyota MR2 bodykits! But particularly the 7evens. Unfortunately, where manufacturers have tried to vary the design, its just been commercial suicide, like the Midtec Spyder, which is still available I believe but has passed through a few pairs of hands since Lee Noble. I've always like Duttons Phaeton personally !

Spacenut
12-01-2011, 12:53 PM
You're not kidding there - 7even clones is clearly what the Public wants!

Simpatico
13-01-2011, 12:33 PM
Right on cue;

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=23019

BTW of the very few near death experiences I have experienced at the wheel, 2 have been due to udersteering out of control Caterhams, evil little things that they are. In the hands of the Stig yes, but your average cardigan wearing car car enthusiast, no.

Big Birds Car
13-01-2011, 02:25 PM
More right foot gets rid of under steering in one of those, so long you have the road width to do it in. I have to say that you get a lot of fun for your money, and they are mainly still built by car enthusiasts so not all bad.

ChrisBailey
13-01-2011, 04:26 PM
I know alot of the more modern kitcar manufacturers are now putting aerodynamic bodies over the top of the lotus chassis, the raw fulcrum is one example. Some of the chassis are being totally overhauled aswell, MK have put inboard suspention on the front, and I think its an extreme that has a aluminium monocoque chassis.
I think what limmits the design on the kitcar industry is the depth of the builders pocket. I also think the 80s car design has died, nobody had any interest in the "new" eagle ss Tim had at donnington. Its a shame becuase if they were not interested in that then the likelyhood of any original design selling is very low. Its weird because when you take a finished nova to a show or even just to work etc it pulls massive crowds, yet if it was still in production, they wouldnt sell many even if it had a mid engined tubular chassis.
Oh well

Alzax3
31-01-2011, 06:02 PM
Back on again:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOVA-KIT-CAR-/170 ... 27b861c0d8 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOVA-KIT-CAR-/170597138648?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27b861c0d8)