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One of these days, maybe, if you're lucky, you'll win the lottery and be able to buy that bright red Lamborghini or Ferrari you've only seen and drooled over in magazines. How about a hot little Carroll Shelby number - the '65 Cobra painted old school Ford blue with the racing stripes? Is the American hot rod more your style? You could create some serious head-turning in a sweet canary yellow Bucket-T with a pair of enormous slicks on the back. Or, maybe, your tastes run to vintage European sports cars like the MG-TC or the bathtub Porsche. Well, Bucky, stop buying those lottery tickets and wait no more! You can have that car of your dreams for pennies on the dollar, an old donor car, and some sweat equity. How? Two words "kit car."

What's a kit car? It's only the hottest thing to come down the pike since J.C. Whitney started selling fiberglass body kits to turn your old '65 VW Bug into a wicked little dune buggy! Sometimes called a "replicar," kit cars are fiberglass reproductions of expensive (and sometimes scarce as hen's teeth) European and American sports cars, hot rods, and classic automobiles that you assemble yourself. Kits range in completeness (and price) from a bare bones set of plans to a full set of body components - right down to the authentic-looking medallions and decals. The primarily fiberglass kit car bodies are built on the running gear of a donor car that you supply; typically a Miata, Fiero, Toyota MR2, or VW Bug.

Cost of the complete kit plus donor car can be as low as what you'd pay out the door for a brand new Kia under $20,000. The more exotic kits (like the Lamborghini) are, understandably, a bit higher cost. Bottom line is you can build the car of your dreams for something in the neighborhood of ten cents on the dollar (or less) over buying the real deal at auction. That puts exotic and vintage automobile ownership within reach of just about anybody with a steady job. There are other price advantages, too, with the replica kit cars, most notably when you consider the cost to maintain and insure that treasured possession later.

So long as your donor auto is in decent mechanical condition, building out one of these replica car kits won't require having skills much beyond the ability to read and follow instructions and the knowledge of basic hand and power tools. It will take some patience, attention to detail, and your evenings and weekends for awhile (about 400 hours), but nothing so complicated that the average do-it-yourselfer can't handle it. If you're one of the rare breed that doesn't know a ratchet from a box wrench and hates dirty fingernails, don't despair. There are even companies out there that will build it for you, hand you the keys, and you still won't have to hope to win the lottery to afford one.

A recent internet search for "replica kit cars" turned up 164,000 links to kit manufacturers, kit car builders, "How to Build a Kit Car" tutorials, and chat forums with a wealth of information to get you started and answer your questions as you build. Check it out. You don't have to be rich to own that specialty automobile you've always dreamed about. And, the pride and satisfaction of being able to say, "I built it myself," as they say in the commercials...priceless.

Learn more about this author, Jean M. La Rue.
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