(violent car noises)
- Today we're talking about kit cars,
a.k.a vehicles you gotta build yourself.
I understand when most people think of kit cars,
they probably imagine a weird Lamborghini lookalike
with bad proportions on top of a VW beetle chassis.
But it turns out,
there are a lot of pretty sick DIY kit cars out there.
Today we are gonna talk about the coolest ones.
'Cause you know what?
I like cars and so do a bunch of my friends.
So we make car videos for a living.
Go ahead and hit that subscribe button
so we know if we're doing a good job.
I'm James and this is The D-List.
Big thanks to car insurance comparison site,
The Zebra for sponsoring today's video.
Now you might think a working bathtub full of warm cash
in the middle of a parking lot is a waste of money.
But hey, it's my birthday.
And mommy says birthday boy gets what he wants.
While installing an actually functional bathtub right here
wasn't exactly convenient,
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Nolan, my laptop needs more juicy.
- I'm right here James.
You're lucky it's your birthday.
Nolan I'm feeling a bit tired,
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(James farting)
- Ooh, sorry.
I had a lot of caviar.
We have talked about the Miata a lot on this channel.
I get it, you're perfect, you're affordable,
you're super fun.
You think you're better than me?
You can't even read, you're a car.
But what if you want a Miata that isn't a Miata?
What if you want a Miata
that's a bunch of pipes welded together?
Well my friend, you get yourself an MEV Exocet.
The MEV Exocet turns your NA or NB Miata
into a full tube frame, grownup go-kart.
This exoskeleton chassis kit was developed
to be the most affordable, lightweight,
easiest to assemble kit on the market.
Obviously we're shedding some pounds
by you know getting rid of it's skin.
The skin is one of the organs that slows you down the most.
Why do you think skeletons are so fast?
Now the Miata is already a light car
but the Exocet is 35% lighter.
That's Deadlift territory for me
and I don't do Deadlifts
'cause of my back.
I just do Power Cleans.
That kind of lightness makes the Miatas,
a hundred-ish horsepower, a whole lot more fun.
And the Miata comes start with a super turbo motor
which makes it even more fun.
I'm not saying you should do it.
It's your life.
I'm not the boss of you, but it would be fun.
The kit costs $7,000
not including the Miata that you gotta cut up
and it supposedly requires
about a hundred hours to assemble.
And there's a few companies that make Miata Lift Kits, so.
Okay so maybe the extra set is still too much Miata for you.
That's okay because I've gotten even better
exoskeleton chassis kit car.
And this one is even spookier than a skeleton.
DF Goblin.
DF Goblin is basically the same concept as the Exocet
but instead of using a Miata
it features the innards of a cold hard american legend.
Of course I'm talking about the Chevy Cobalt.
Let me tell you, by the time that you piece
this kit together
you're not gonna have much Cobalt left
other than the subframe, the engine
and a few other pieces.
The Goblin kit transforms your front engine, front wheel
drive Chevy into a mid engine rear wheel drive.
This thing.
(engine running)
According to Goblin website, it's not even that hard.
They laid out instructions for every part of the building
including buying a Donor car, stripping it down
and each stage of the process.
This thing is the Ikea troll stop of cars.
And even if you do get stuck building it,
there's an entire forum of absolute Goblin freaks
that are just dying to help you out.
And if you really wanna your panties in a twist,
get yourself a turbo charge Cobalt SS
which will hit 60 miles per hour in 3.25 seconds
with the goblin kit.
They say the Goblin takes about 200 hours to build
and it costs just under 10 grand not including the Donor.
You may be a goon
but what's a Goon to a Goblin?
Nothing, nothing, you (indistinct) nothing.
So maybe tubes and skeletons aren't your jam.
Maybe you want something a little bit more Countash
Something a little bit more Testa Rossa
Well this next one will give you all those exotic looks
without the exotic price tag
and all you needs is a Pontiac Fiero.
Aldino K/O.
The Aldino K/O kit will transform
any year Pontiac Fiero into this.
Why would you wanna turn your Fiero
into fake Ferrari Pantera (indistinct) shine?
Well because driving ridiculous cars
is almost as much fun as pissing off Ferrari owners.
That's why Fieros are famous for being turned into kit cars
and that's for a really good reason.
They're dirt cheap,
their body can be replaced easily,
they light on fire pretty easily
and they're already mid engine.
In fact, here is a Fiero that we found on Greg's list,
that has kit car candidate in the title.
There might be more Fiero kit cars in the world
than actual Fieros at this point.
Unlike the exoskeleton kits that we talked about,
most of the work with the Aldino
involves stripping the Fieros exterior
and replacing with all the fiberglass parts.
It's supposed to take 150 hours to build
and costs around 10 grand.
I would be hard pressed to find a funnier $10,000 job.
This next car doesn't look like a car at all,
looks like a Disneyland fricking monorail baby.
Car Factory ETV.
Car Factory ETV or extra terrestrial vehicle
is a blob shaped coupé with going doors,
massive intake vents
and absolutely no rear view side mirrors, okay?
'Cause in the future you don't look to the past.
And apparently it's street legal in Florida
because everything is.
So what car is this thing even based on?
Some kind of mid engine thing, something fast?
Wrong! Dead wrong cowboy.
This spaceship is actually a Chevy Aveo underneath.
According to the inventor who invented this invention,
a complete build will cost you right around $20,000.
So if you live in Florida
and have $20,000 burning a hole in your pocket,
this could certainly be an option for you.
Superlite Moab.
Waah.
So you thought kits were only meant for cars, huh?
Dead wrong again.
Zero for two.
Wow, are you okay?
This burly boy is made by a company called Superlite
who also makes a bunch of super car looking vehicles
but the Moab is #builtdifferent.
It's an all out race truck.
Two inch thick steel cage to (indistinct),
20 inches of wheel travel.
LS power baby.
The truck is rated to handle 750 Hrsprs
and those are off-road hrsprs.
That's the most (indistinct) kind of hrsprs
If you've never shopped for a trophy truck before
you might not realize that they are very expensive.
I'm talking 250 grand.
But the Moab kit starts at around $50,000
which yes is more expensive
than some of the other cars on this list.
Think about what you're getting for that price.
Superlite claims that the build
should take around 200 hours to complete.
Now we all know that that's the equivalent
of watching Paul Blart 133 times.
Now let me ask you a question,
would you rather watch Paul Blart 133 more times
Or would you rather build
a 700 horsepower off-road trophy truck?
Or would you rather move the TV into the garage
watch Paul Blart 133 more times
and build a 700 horsepower trophy truck?
That's called a lifehack baby.
Ultima Evo.
You might recognize this as the weird fast car
from Forza.
It's a super car, literally.
You can go out
and buy one of these from Ultima for $100,000.
Or you can build your own.
And then you can buy one of those bumper stickers
that says built not bought
and you put it right on your rear window.
Except this thing doesn't even have a rear window,
'cause it's a frickin super duper car.
Ultima's website says the kit car version
of the Evo costs as much as a mundane new BMW M3,
which is a weird kind of mean flex.
But what does this kit car give you for
mundane BMW M3 monday, money.
Well, let's start with 1,020 horsepower supercharged
LS behind the (beep) pit.
The thing only weighs 2000 pounds.
That's half a Hertz per, per pound.
That's a half a Hertz per, per pound.
Sure some of the other cars on this list are "fun"
but the Ultima is a super car.
It goes 0-60 in under three seconds.
In a car that you
and your cousin Dale built in your garage
in a couple of weekends while drinking Pabst blue Ribbons.
That is not a good idea.
The next car in this list is a replica kit
based on a legendary british sports car.
You think I'm talking about the Caterham 7?
Strike three.
Damn dude, dead wrong again.
I'm talking about the RCR XJ13
which is based on the one of one Jaguar XJ13 race car.
The Jaguar XJ13 was a racing car
developed to compete at Le Mans.
But it never raced.
And only one of this car was ever produced.
You might also notice that I said racing car
not race car that's because it's british.
Although this car had a lot of potential
with its five liter V12,
Jaguar didn't prioritize the XJ13
and the development of Ford's GT 40
quickly made it basically obsolete.
It also didn't help that the prototype was crashed
and
lost forever.
but that's where the RCR comes in.
No I'm not talking about regular car reviews,
shouts to those guys, hi fellas.
I'm talking about race car replicas.
The XJ13 replica is a fiberglass body sitting
on a mono (beep) chassis.
Obviously it's got the looks of the original Jag
but you get to decide what kind of guts
you wanna put in it.
You can't do that with kids.
All for a price tag starting around 30 grand.
Just make sure that you measure your legs
and butt before building this thing,
because nothing's worse than spending 400 hours
building a car that you can't fit it in.
Ask me how I know.
LB Specialist STR.
LB Specialist STR is a replica kit car of one of the most
legendary rally cars of all time, the Lancia Stratos.
The shortest rally car ever, seriously.
An original Stratos costs about $650,000.
An LB Specialist STR costs about 5% of that price tag.
And you also wouldn't be afraid to drive it.
Much like the Stratos,
the STR was designed to be fitted with a V6
either from an alpha Romeo, a Toyota or Ferrari.
I think I know which one I'd go with, Toyota.
I would like to take this moment to point out that
Lancia only makes one vehicle today.
It's called the Ypsilon.
You could drive an Ypsilon
or you could drive a brand new Toyota V6 powered rally car.
Choice is yours.
Shortest rally car ever.
Capping off this list, no cap, is a very special kit car,
perhaps the greatest kit car ever.
I'm talking about the Shelby Cobra 420 fricking seven.
(James hissing)
Shelby made less than a thousand original Cobras
and they're worth like $5 million.
But thanks to modern technologies, like science
and fabrications.
There are a few companies
that make their own flavor of uncle Carol's creation.
And I should mention that
they're not technically called "Cobras" for legal reasons,
but regardless these are really sick cars.
Factory Five makes one called the MK4 Roadster
which they claim is the world's best selling,
best engineered
and best performing replica of all time.
Factory Five says they'll sell you
a "complete kit for $20,000"
but I think someone should tell them
the definition of complete
because you still got to come up with
your own drive-train wheels and paint.
Personally I'd make everybody flip
their lids with turbo K series, BB SRSs
and midnight purple tube paint from North 34.
And unlike some of the other kits on this list
you can still be a tall ass mofo
and fit in this bad mama jama.
This is a kit car that Shrek would fit it
and for that, this is the king of today's D-list.
Thank you guys so much
for watching this episode of the D-list.
If you're new here
and you liked it, go ahead and hit that subscribe button.
I really wanna better than all the other boys.
While you're down there, click that join button.
See what this thing called
the Donut Underground is all about.
If you guys wanna learn more about building cars,
check out our other series, Money Pit.
And if you wanna learn more about Shelby,
the God, the dude,
check out this episode of my other show, Up To Speed.
All right. I love you.