Can a kit car be a classic?

Of course there's lotus, and some would point to old dune buggys, but are there any others? I don't know how many of the minor icons of the 60s and 70s were offered in component or roller form. Lister? Cheetah, Morgan or?

The reason that I ask is that I've got a barn find on an older kit that was never assembled. The manufacturer made one model that was very well recieved - almost well enough to become a big name, but not quite. The one I'm looking at is their second model. Not the hit that the first one was, but well thought of nonetheless.

I'm being coy because I don't want competition. I'll have more details in a couple of days, but I'm curious on people's thoughts on the subject.....

It's a little trickier than a production car. I don't see a burgeoning market for bradley GTs or kelmarks, but some of the GT40 kits are definitely holding value - I would expect the same kind of staying power from things like a beck spyder. I guess it comes down to the quality/desirability - is it something you would still want even as a kit? Any value to the underpinnings? One of the forum folks around here has a Jamaican kit based on a MGA. Some value and following for the kit and a value to the donor vehicle. It's interesting that he also owns an Islero, but the Jamaican seems to draw more conversation.

And on the very high end there are things out there like Pur Sangs or Reklus cars that have even won over admirers from the real deal crowd (as long as there are no attempts to present as a real production car).

reklus

Per Sang

I race with a bunch of Devins (front engine and rear engine) and at least one Kelmark.

We have a continuation GT40 that races with us (but it's very close to the real thing).

Plus some of those Etceterini Cars cars that were mostly seen in H-Mod back in the day.

I'm pretty sure our club ( www.vrgonline.org ) would at least consider a replica such as a Cheetah, etc.
As always, if you intend to use it for racing, check with the officals in that club.

Interesting... I built a Stalker V6 (Lotus 7 replica) a number of years back, flogged it for three years and still got my money back selling the thing. I've been told that pristine examples of this car have sold for up to $40K, but I'm not interested in a museum piece. I want something that I can run non-competitive rallys with for a while, and still hopefully sell at a profit once I get bored of it.

sidetracking my own thread here, but assuming I buy this beast, I'd like to document the build. Where would you guys suggest posting a build log? Or should I build it in the context of a blog?

Just as an aside, Morgans aren't kit cars.

There are certainly a couple of other British kit cars I'd consider classics. Some of them are even good, but most of them aren't really available on this side of the pond.

I've owned some kit cars and they were/are certainly classics. Had a Buckler, raced a TVR Grantura Mk3

And currently a Fiberfab Jamaican MGA (although badly butchered kit cars can be anything but nice)