What's a Stratos worth?

[Chris J]

Nico suggested some discussion on here.

If you look at the asking price of John's (syndicate) car at £17,800 in the following way, it's a snip.

To buy an unstarted kit new in that spec.- (a group 4 with all the spoilers etc.) would now cost £12,725.25

So you get all the extra parts: Wheels and tyres, paint job, Stradale seats, trimming, suspension, 24v Alfa engine and box, exhaust, all the other parts and the labour to build it for exactly £5074.75.

If you could get your hands on the money, you'd be daft not to?

Is the attraction of building from a new or secondhand kit the fact that the costs are on a drip drip basis? Well, that and the satisfaction of doing it yourself?

[Chris J]

Having said that, there are a couple of things that I've seen on the latest spec. Hawk kits that are worth taking note of:

The rear chassis removable bar that now looks very similar to the original, the single piece front chassis legs and the double caliper lugs on the rear upright.

[CorseChris]

For me it was the drip drip (drip) factor (third drip is for me...) of a DIY job. No way I could have ever come up with the lump sum needed without taking on a loan..and you have to keep paying a loan, whereas you can stop and start spending on a build when you like once you get over the initial investment.

..but also the thought that I probably wouldn't find a car to my own spec...and I do seem to be a glutton for punishment and presumably enjoy the building process. All those childhood years spent making Airfix kits no doubt.

But a key point made already is to avoid the comparison with 'ordinary' cars. Don't make sense at all if you start that....but then these things aren't for the head over heart crowd, are they.

[Chris J]

But a key point made already is to avoid the comparison with 'ordinary' cars. Don't make sense at all if you start that....but then these things aren't for the head over heart crowd, are they.

That IS a big point Chris.

I remember Bob's story of the reaction his car got when he turned up at Bramham Park for the Roger Albert Clark recently. If he'd turned up in a Porsche Boxster or similar nobody would have even noticed?

[CorseChris]

It's certainly not something I crave...but the occasional unprompted 'WOW' reaction to the car does bring a wee smile to my otherwise miserable visage.....

[Bob]

Your absolutely right Chris, I would never have believed the crowd the car drew!. I was let in for free (I did offer the tenner but was told "your not paying for that!). When the rally finished you literally couldn't see the car for bodies, and if I had a quid for the number of people who asked "I've got to ask, is it a real one?" I'd be a rich man!. But the comment that sticks with me is from one chap who rallies a Subaru Impreza (I know because he brought his car to my photographic studio to have it shot for his sponsor) was "would you swap it for a real one, 'cos I wouldn't!". It just proved to me that people love them just as much as the real deal.

As an aside, the chap was a dentist and managed to get sponsored by Listerine-thats definately product placement!.

Bob.

[Chris J]

It's certainly not something I crave...but the occasional unprompted 'WOW' reaction to the car does bring a wee smile to my otherwise miserable visage.....

I never craved it Chris, but it's just nice when that kind of thing happens?

[CorseChris]

I never craved it Chris, but it's just nice when that kind of thing happens?

Indeed. I was quite surprised the first time it happened.

[vfx]

I have a freind who has a few Kits he has built. He says. "NEVER buy someone else's built kit car."

He goes on to say you don't know anything about the builder and thier qualifications.

What kind of engineering decisions were made that you can't see? What budget restrictions made the builder use inferior materials (to you) in some buried area of the car? How do you know if inexperience in building has some wire rubbing somewhere that will burst the car into flames the next week? He goes on and on.

My point would be with the look. If you building a car then you are the kind of person who wants something that no-one else has and are willing to go through great personal effort to get it exacly the way you want it. The thousands of decisions you make building a car are not likely to align with another builder's calls. Why compromise? (Like you have to do when buying a prodution car?)

cheers,

eric

[chris.richard]

Having been through (well, nearly finished) the process of resurecting someone else's part finished project, I must agree. As some sage on this forum said, "things rarely get better the closer you look!" I found that the only way is to dismantle it completely and rebuild it all to your specs/tastes. This can be done a bit at a time, so you haven't got a complete set of components stacked up everywhere.

[Chris J]

So you get all the extra parts: Wheels and tyres, paint job, Stradale seats, trimming, suspension, 24v Alfa engine and box, exhaust, all the other parts and the labour to build it.

What I mean is, if a car is for sale for the sum of its parts or less, it would save a lot of hassle. Even if you stipped it down and started again?

[chris.richard]

Yes, that is undoubtedly true. In my case it meant I avoid the SVA too! :)
Having all/many of the bits sourced saves a lot of time, and lots of delivery charges too.

[vfx]

No doubt.

It might be the way to go if you like the majority of the high ticket item decisions (seats, wheels etc.) Then it is a viable option.

You also have to take into consideration the teardown time -though that just may be a wash.

And then there is what I would call the "crisp" factor.

Scratch built gets you a new frame that not invisibly tweaked, fresh leather, and full rubber. I mean. I like to be the FIRST one to read the paper.
Who wants the Times covered in dog slobber, with coupons clipped, or even poorly folded before sitting down for a leisurely read?


cheers,


eric

[JohnB_SPY8808053]

I bought mine assembled but I had it inspected by a third party (for a price) beforehand. There were three other signifigant factors I considered. First, the car already had a valid US title, which made getting the proper registration and insurance a (relative) breeze. Second, because I bought the car from another state (and had it shipped), I didn't have to pay any sales tax or import tarriffs, which saved me several thousand dollars. Third, some of the necessary donor parts are harder to find on this side of the pond than they are in Europe.

There were some issues with the construction but nothing too terrible. The car was more or less exactly as the inspector said it was. My only real complaint is that I would really like to have the more accurate rear crosspiece as mentioned earlier.

John B.

[chris.richard]

Third, some of the necessary donor parts are harder to find on this side of the pond than they are in Europe.


EBay has improved that a bit I suspect, and there's always the Stratos Enthusiasts Club network. Still have the shipping costs I suppose.

[Chris J]

My only real complaint is that I would really like to have the more accurate rear crosspiece as mentioned earlier.

John B.


As seen on Pim's website:

http://www.lancia-stratos.nl/

This mod (and then some) has already been done to some older cars like Mark Cowling's and Ken Tomblin's. Are there any more?

[chris.richard]

This is the one you mean?

[Chris J]

That's the one. 'Looks like the bottom bolt is a through bolt. 'Hadn't realised that?

Yeh, on Mark's and I think Ken's car also, the strut top is also fabricated more similar to an original than this. There's a photo of Mark's when Geoff Turton created it in newsletter 16 page 43, if you've got the CD. I think that was a first?

[JohnB_SPY8808053]

That's the one. I'm thinking I might have to ask Gerry how much he'd charge for a new brace one of these days. I've got an idea about modifying the top mounts - they still wouldn't be perfect but they'd be closer to the original than they are now.

John B.

[pimms]

[QUOTE=Chris J]That's the one. 'Looks like the bottom bolt is a through bolt. 'Hadn't realised that?/QUOTE]

Yes the lower bolt is a through bolt, on top there are two "inbus"bolts on each side ( inbus is Duch for bolts with the six sided hole in the top, dont know the English word :confused: )

Best regards

[chris.richard]

Socket head bolt/screw

[stratosphere]

Or Allen bolt/head if you’re on the other side of the pond.
Allen head is also more common in the rest of the world that doesn't have English as a native language.

[Chris J]

That's the one. I'm thinking I might have to ask Gerry how much he'd charge for a new brace one of these days. I've got an idea about modifying the top mounts - they still wouldn't be perfect but they'd be closer to the original than they are now.

John B.

John

There's more to it than just the bar/brace. Strut tops aside, there's quite a bit of work to do to the back of the chassis too.

[JohnB_SPY8808053]

I'm trying to make the car look closer to an original, not exactly like an original. I don't think I'll need to do any signifigant work to the back of the chassis to accomplish that much.

John B.

[Chris J]

John

There is a minimum that you need to do though. If you don't widen the 'vertical' parts at the rear of the chassis, the bottom bolt on the look-alike cross brace will have nothing to bolt through. It'll be in fresh air!

[pimms]

here are some close ups.

best regards