Kit Car

[lovelomsak]

I would like to have a convertible in Thailand but seem hard to find any that I like. So now I would be happy with a replica of one made of fibreglass. Does any one know of any places here that make them or sell them as kits? If there are none I would them look for fibreglassing shops that build boats maybe they can build a car replica too. So I will take info on those too,for I will probably build a fibreglass sailboat soon also. But first the car replica.

[pattayabuggy]

How about a Speedster 356 replica kit, I can supply. You just need an old Beetle as a donor

[lovelomsak]

How about a Speedster 356 replica kit, I can supply. You just need an old Beetle as a donor

Does it have to be a beetle. That may be hard to find also. What are you asking for the kit?

[pattayabuggy]

VW Beetles are very easy to find. I can probably find you one. It has to be a Beetle as it has the necessary floor pan. Also the suspension and a lot of the components are resused.

Both cars have the same designer, Ferdinand Porsche, and the construction is very similar. This is what you are looking at: http://www.chesil.biz/Chesil_Home.htm

Body kit, price 200,000B, that's body, doors, bumpers and seats.

Metal fittings are an extra 20,000B

You can stick with the VW engine, or fit a Subaru, which is also a flat four, giving more power and relaibility

Mail me for more details, PM please email removed

[Flatouthruthefog]

Before parting with any cash whatever, please first check that you can get ANY kit car through Thai Land Transport (the equivalent of a British MoT), thus you can get plates, a tax disc nd then insurance.

LT are now looking very carefully at any modification whatever. Here in Chiang Mai, old cars which have been improved with the fitting of power steering and/or disc brakes are being sent by LT to the CMU Faculty of Engineering for a written report on whether the mods are safe or not. In all cases i know the report has been positive, but none have involved removing the roof, which is effectively what you are asking the officials to approve by changing a Beetle to a Speedster.

Quickest way out is to take photos of a Beetle and ALL the details & photos of the kit to your local LT and ask "If I bring you this kit car, will you give me a licence plate?"

The more patient way is to stand back and say to the kit vendor "When one of your customers has succeeded with this procedure, please give me his phone number."

I am not knocking any kit car in any way. I have seen one of these (painted & trimmed) Speedster shells and it is drop-dead gorgeous. I am only saying 'caveat emptor'.

While the situation here in CM may be frustrating, it seems fair. NOTHING is asked for under the table. If you want your own reg number (I mean numbers, forget Thai characters), you pay 800b for 4 and 1,000b for 3. I paid 800b for 1972 (the year of manufacture of my car) and a friend just paid 1,000b for 928, the type of his Porsche. I am told (may not be 100% true) that double and single numbers, and Thai favourites like 8888, go in the annual auction.

[pattayabuggy]

Job done and approved already, all legal. Yes,it's tricky here.

I left my email address, but it has been removed. The guy can be contacted who has gone through the process.

[Hog Head]

I have Speedster body kits in Chiangmai and in fact was the first in Thailand to do so.

PM me if interested

[Cuban]

Dear OP,

I strongly suggest that you investigate the details regarding getting a kit car road legal in terms of paperwork before you go shopping for parts.

[LivinLOS]

Job done and approved already, all legal. Yes,it's tricky here.

How ??

Here on Phuket theres beach buggys with VW chassis that they cant change names on ??

[Tanaka]

Westfield cars in the UK has a representative in Thailand to sell their Lotus Seven replica cars. As website address is not allowed to write here, go look at their site and you will find a link to their Thai site.

BUT I have tried to get an answer from their man here for 18 months without success. And as far as I know the only road going Westfield here is the one the representative is driving. If you manage to find him, pls let me know.

[Hog Head]

I have been trying to buy a Westie with legal registration for 2 years with no answer.

[Spoonman]

There is a new importer of westfield clubmans setting up, first kits are on the water and they have approval in principle to gain road registration, will find out more details.

[KhunTao]

The name of the Thailand representative of Westfield is Julien, he is based in Pattaya and races a Westfield around Bira. His tel. number is 087-0222087.

[stingray]

Job done and approved already, all legal. Yes,it's tricky here.

I left my email address, but it has been removed. The guy can be contacted who has gone through the process.

Yes, sometime you can register some car with a "bribe". But next year is not the same officer in charge anymore and maybe they wan't tregister the car again. So then what? I bought a simple Suzuki Jeep, years ago, where someone removed the Top (from Hard Top to Soft Top). When i bought (modification was done already) it it was easy to change ownership in my name. A year later when i sold it to someone else, they didn't want to register the Jeep again and told me there was some modification made. There was no way to argue with them, even i told them that i bought the car in this ciondition a year ago and registered already. Another guy lost 3 Lamborghini Replicas, drove it for years in Pattaya. One day Chomburi Officers came, they confiscated him the cars, Resulting in a court case and a million Baht Fine. Better don't go for replicas!

[Loz]

THere was a convertible Ford XR2 on thai visa clasified a week or so ago...

You can buy convertible Beetles and MX5 Mazdas here in Korat. You can also buy the Merc SLK. COnvertibles do exist here. just a case of shopping around.

If its just a fair weather car you are after, I have seen more than couple of "roof removals" on older cars hat don't look to bad and offer a fun alternative.

Good luck!

[Hog Head]

someone removed the Top (from Hard Top to Soft Top). When i bought (modification was done already) it it was easy to change ownership in my name. A year later when i sold it to someone else, they didn't want to register the Jeep again and told me there was some modification made.

A bribe need not be paid if one takes the time, effort, and money to do it legally. It is a time consuming and expensive procedure that has not been enforced hence the problem you encountered with the jeep. There is a procedure for mods and they must be approved by an Engineer, the MOT, and the modification noted in the registration book - this was your problem and why it could not be registered.

A Kit car based on legally registered Thai vehicles have been done, and the changes legally registered in the book. It is a long process and if changing the body there is an additional requirement to pay excise tax on the new body. Building a kit car using an existing registered vehicle such as a Speedster replica based on a VW Beetle, and getting it legally registered can be done.

A kit car like a Westfield or Cobra is a different story as the chassis is new. This is very difficult if not impossible due to emissions and safety requirements.

[Toosetinmyways]

A couple of years ago, there was a full page article in one of the English language newspapers about a Thai gentleman who is making and selling all the Italian supercar kits here in Thailand. The prices were in my view very reasonable. What surprised me was he was doing a couple of cars a month at that time.

What put me off enquiring was the last sentence in the article. "All buyers are responsible for tax due,and registering the car"

[Dakhar]

VW Beetles are very easy to find. I can probably find you one. It has to be a Beetle as it has the necessary floor pan. Also the suspension and a lot of the components are resused.

Both cars have the same designer, Ferdinand Porsche, and the construction is very similar. This is what you are looking at: http://www.chesil.biz/Chesil_Home.htm

Body kit, price 200,000B, that's body, doors, bumpers and seats.

Metal fittings are an extra 20,000B

You can stick with the VW engine, or fit a Subaru, which is also a flat four, giving more power and relaibility

Mail me for more details, PM please email removed

I think the speedster we built when I was young kid required to beetles I also can not remeber if they were bugs or beetles. Any how, I do believe we had to cut a section of the floor out and add to the other bug/beetle. But this was about 22 years back... my memory isn't that great. But I do know that in the end, we had a bug engine bored out and so hyped up that when it started it shook the car.... final result, great looking, but a terrible engine combo.

[Dakhar]

If u r going to do it, do it right with a Westfield XTR

[Hog Head]

If u r going to do it, do it right with a Westfield XTR

Once again, if I could buy a legally registered Westfield I would do it tomorrow. The problem is that I have not been able to get a straight answer from the local dealer and from what I can determine from the Authorities it is a really big problem if not an impossibility getting registration. I would love to be proven wrong and continue to be hopeful. In the interim I amuse myself with Speedsters.

The procedure in using a VW Beetle as a basis for a Speedster involves shortening, not lengthening the chassis. The amount removed is approx 11 inches and VW published a paper in the 70's detailing how this is done. Some early Speedster kits did not use an integral sub-frame and resulted in a flexi-flyer chassis but this has been resolved over the past 25 years. The Beetle pan based chassis by itself does not have sufficent lateral and torsional regidity to act as a chassis and the Beetle, like all other unibody cars uses the body and roof structure to provide strength - once you remove the body and/or roof, the chassis must be strengthened.

Literally thousands of VW based Speedsters have been built and it sounds like you had something else going on or more likely did not have a sub frame..

[Dakhar]

No I'm pretty sure u r correct and I am wrong in regards to needing two beetles I think I can remember shortening the shit rod and one would need to do that if the body was shortened It was over 20 years back. At that time I was working at a body shop and the owner of the shop was making the speedster as a pet project after hours. The great thing was we had every tool one could dream of at our finger tips.

Have u looked in to the noble m12? I know it does not require much work but it does scream.

[Kaptainstingray]

I have Speedster body kits in Chiangmai and in fact was the first in Thailand to do so.

PM me if interested

I know....They are rubbish wide bodies ...thats why you purchased a classic speedster body from me in Sept 09

I ask you again on this public forum ....Please take it back and refund my money.

It is OK for a bar...but doesnot work on a chassis....its twisted..the wings are both different shapes and the doors

dont open because the mould is incorrect.

This is advice for anyone

[soihok]

I used to own a kit car in the UK.

Beetle floor pan and running gear, 1600cc flat four from a Variant.

Looked like a Ferrari Dino.

The battery box up front was wooden as well as some of the construction of the front boot.

Trying to look cool leaving a bar in Worksop one summer night ,I decided to spin the tyres ,which were really wide and the engine fell out instead.

Oh how that made everyone watching laugh! I'll never forget.

[WarpSpeed]

VW Beetles are very easy to find. I can probably find you one. It has to be a Beetle as it has the necessary floor pan. Also the suspension and a lot of the components are resused.

Both cars have the same designer, Ferdinand Porsche, and the construction is very similar. This is what you are looking at: http://www.chesil.biz/Chesil_Home.htm

Body kit, price 200,000B, that's body, doors, bumpers and seats.

Metal fittings are an extra 20,000B

You can stick with the VW engine, or fit a Subaru, which is also a flat four, giving more power and relaibility

Mail me for more details, PM please email removed

So Buggy, you're sourcing 356 kits now?? When did that come up?? How's your other projects coming along? are you importing these kits or just using the website for an example? Had any luck with the roadster chassis? Decided to make it a VW as that really seems to be the only way to get that moving again..

[WarpSpeed]

Ooooopppppsss! Just noticed that this thread was bumped from way back so it's not new info Buggy, never mind....

[Hog Head]

I have Speedster body kits in Chiangmai and in fact was the first in Thailand to do so.

PM me if interested

I know....They are rubbish wide bodies ...thats why you purchased a classic speedster body from me in Sept 09

I ask you again on this public forum ....Please take it back and refund my money.

It is OK for a bar...but doesnot work on a chassis....its twisted..the wings are both different shapes and the doors

dont open because the mould is incorrect.

This is advice for anyone

Please note that the body I sold you is a CMC/Fiberfab and literally thousands were sold in the USA. Even so, as you were not happy, I offered to give you another replacement body when you complained and you never replied. Perhaps a new body is not what you really want once you had made a copy, and a refund would be more to your liking?

I would not stoop so low as to complain on a public forum about the body you sold me, however you need to redesign as I noted in private emails.

[Kaptainstingray]

I have Speedster body kits in Chiangmai and in fact was the first in Thailand to do so.

PM me if interested

I know....They are rubbish wide bodies ...thats why you purchased a classic speedster body from me in Sept 09

I ask you again on this public forum ....Please take it back and refund my money.

It is OK for a bar...but doesnot work on a chassis....its twisted..the wings are both different shapes and the doors

dont open because the mould is incorrect.

This is advice for anyone

Please note that the body I sold you is a CMC/Fiberfab and literally thousands were sold in the USA. Even so, as you were not happy, I offered to give you another replacement body when you complained and you never replied. Perhaps a new body is not what you really want once you had made a copy, and a refund would be more to your liking?

I would not stoop so low as to complain on a public forum about the body you sold me, however you need to redesign as I noted in private emails.

The reason your bodykits are useless is because they have been put together in Thailand by someone who has absolutely no idea how to build a fibreglass body kit for a car...so they are not USA moulds from CMC

They are badly made rip off Thai crap.

Your trying to compare a real Rolex with a chinese copy...

Thats why I gave up trying to get my money back...it like talking to the wall.

If my money means that much to you ...then you keep it...and choke on it

Firstly they made it out of fiber strand and not the more expensive and durable fiber mat

Secondly the doors do not open fully because the door pockets are completely incorrect.

Thirdly the rear end (wings) are totally different shapes. You can see this from the unequal shape of the bumpers.

Forthly the whole body frame is twisted.so the eyeing across the doortops show an inch out of line.

I did notice in your final line a little stooping....

Yes you did complain about a small couple of details regarding the sub frame I sold you

I felt you were just picking faults because I requested my money back ....to do the work you were whinging about

would have cost me about 1000baht ,,,but I really wouldnt bother to do it.

Yet you wanted to put it on an 8 wheeler truck at a cost of 15000baht to send it from Chang Mai to Pattaya.

For gods sake Thats more than you paid for it.

That Is why I cant be bothered .

You keep telling me you are this highly trained proffessional engineer yet you cannot put even 1 car together.

I am just a regular carpenter from the UK.....

I put this car together before breakfast...Ha Ha

You realise in the construction industry...you cant talk a door onto its hinges

I sold you a speedster kit and chassis that has been made in Thailand.

It has also been inspected by an engineer from the BKK motor tax office and been registered as a modified vehicle.

Whereas

You sold me a piece of shit

If thats the way you want the world to see you ..up to you

I am attaching a picture of my finished car in guest place at The Bang Saen Classic Car Parade 2009

I didnt tell them I just made it........WHOOPS!!!

I would like to see your POS or cant you make it.

Put up or shut up....I also attach a pic of how I envisage your car when you finish

[WarpSpeed]

I recognize the car on the right, after they dressed it up I think it won a few races didn't it?

[WarpSpeed]

Your trying to compare a real Rolex with a chinese copy...

With all due respect as a spectator and rather well informed car person myself I find this quote a bit of a hypocritical contradiction as both are really Chinese type copies since neither are original Porsche's.. It really comes down to who has the most viable copy available..

Mods please don't interfere with this tiff, it is not only quite entertaining but informative in all seriousness..

[Hog Head]

The reason your bodykits are useless is because they have been put together in Thailand by someone who has absolutely no idea how to build a fibreglass body kit for a car...so they are not USA moulds from CMC

They are badly made rip off Thai crap.

Your trying to compare a real Rolex with a chinese copy...

Thats why I gave up trying to get my money back...it like talking to the wall.

If my money means that much to you ...then you keep it...and choke on it

Firstly they made it out of fiber strand and not the more expensive and durable fiber mat

Secondly the doors do not open fully because the door pockets are completely incorrect.

Thirdly the rear end (wings) are totally different shapes. You can see this from the unequal shape of the bumpers.

Forthly the whole body frame is twisted.so the eyeing across the doortops show an inch out of line.

I did notice in your final line a little stooping....

Yes you did complain about a small couple of details regarding the sub frame I sold you

I felt you were just picking faults because I requested my money back ....to do the work you were whinging about

would have cost me about 1000baht ,,,but I really wouldnt bother to do it.

Yet you wanted to put it on an 8 wheeler truck at a cost of 15000baht to send it from Chang Mai to Pattaya.

For gods sake Thats more than you paid for it.

That Is why I cant be bothered .

You keep telling me you are this highly trained proffessional engineer yet you cannot put even 1 car together.

I am just a regular carpenter from the UK.....

I put this car together before breakfast...Ha Ha

You realise in the construction industry...you cant talk a door onto its hinges

I sold you a speedster kit and chassis that has been made in Thailand.

It has also been inspected by an engineer from the BKK motor tax office and been registered as a modified vehicle.

Whereas

You sold me a piece of shit

If thats the way you want the world to see you ..up to you

I am attaching a picture of my finished car in guest place at The Bang Saen Classic Car Parade 2009

I didnt tell them I just made it........WHOOPS!!!

I would like to see your POS or cant you make it.

Put up or shut up....I also attach a pic of how I envisage your car when you finish

Note my other post this evening on kit cars, and the points raised.

After your response on the sub-frame problems there is no point is bringing up the problems I have had with your body.

BTW it is a CMC mould