Now midlife crises don’t have to be quite as expen- regulations to make sure that the winners are not
sive. Ron Champion’s cult classic, Build Your Own just the ones with the deepest pockets. In fact,
Sports Car for as Little as £250, has spawned a host the founders intended it to be a way to encourage
of clubs devoted to doing just that. Slightly more younger drivers and builders, and entries include
complicated than your traditional kit car, the LoCost cars submitted by colleges and groups as well as
is assembled entirely from secondhand parts and thrifty individuals.
raw materials (metal bar, aluminum sheeting), and According to one website, a car has been built for
requires quite a bit of welding. as little as £ 47. 50, but Streatfeild-Jones admits that
You also need a donor car. “Basically you need an “most builders want their car to look good, and thus
engine, a gearbox, and either a live rear axle or an they go for expensive paint jobs, nice wheels, and
entire independent rear axle unit — the rest is made so on.” Even with all the trimmings, it’s still a far cry
up,” says Adam Streatfeild-Jones, of Britain’s from the cash needed to buy a sports car hot off the
LoCost Car Club. The chassis design is generally assembly line. So don’t let that $360 burn a hole in
built from Champion’s original drawings, but even your pocket.
a casual look at the images posted on enthusiasts’ —Arwen O’Reilly
websites makes it clear that there’s a range of ve-
hicles. Some build road cars, for tooling around the >> The LoCost Car Club: locostcarclub.co.uk
countryside, and others concentrate their energy on
racing cars. All the cars seem to be a labor of love.
In fact, LoCost car building became so popular
that in 1999 the LoCost Formula race was started,
run by the 750 Motor Club, with tight construction
Photograph courtesy of Adam Streatfeild-Jones
References:
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