I'm I a bit of a quandary at the moment I seek your collective wisdom.
Since my trip to Le Mans Classic in 2010 in my old Alfa, I've been hankering after something to use for such occasions in the future. I still have a Giulia, but as its being rebuilt as a race car, a trip to Le Mans looks unlikely. I've got the Jensen sat in the workshop too, but to be honest I have never really bonded with it. 180 miles in five years tells me that its a car I'm not excited by. That leaves me with just the Landy, which I dearly love, but a trip to Le Sarthe would be a long and tiring journey. It's this reason, more than any other that I didn't make it to LM this year. That's something I don't want to repeat. It needs sorting.
So, over the last few months I've been trying to decide what car to go for next. I've spent hours on the net, eBay etc looking at different options. My taste at the moment is early 1960's, simple clean lines, maybe without a roof. This car doesn't have to be practical.
There's a few nice cars that have caught my eye around town of late. A scruffy (but obviously hot- rodded) TR3a that goes like stink, and a really clean, early Sprite. So I'm leaning towards something late 50's, early 60's, probably British, probably open topped. But....
I'm sick of chasing rust. I do it for a living. Storing cars in winter is a pain, the salt kills them, you can't win. Most of the Brit cars from this era are a little short on legs too. It has to be fast and reliable enough for high speed runs down to the ferry port.
So long legs, reliability and a lack of rust rules out some of the obvious choices such as a Big Healy. They are a bit old man-ish too. A battered AC Ace would be pretty cool, but they have all been restored to death and have crazy price tags to match. I don't want one that much. E-Types are not anywhere near the list because I just don't like them enough (and they are horrible to work on).
I'm pretty stuck.
So I started looking at replicas. A GT40 would be good, but in everyday traffic you would look like a bit of a twat. Plus I've seen a billion 18" wheeled Gulf painted cars over the years that have kinda spoiled things (Paint them Linden Green and run painted wires folks if you want to look cool). A Beck Porsche 904 would be lovely, but very pricey and a very long lead time. These don't exactly tick the 'Brit sportscar' box either.
A Cobra replica?? Mmmmmm. Again, too many cartoon versions with huge exhausts and massive split rim wheels and low profile tyres. Impressive, but not for me. C and D type replicas are just too expensive.
Then I thought about the baby Cobra. The slab side 289. The ultimate Q car. Dainty British roadster, curves in the right places, restrained, skinny wire wheels and a big filthy American truck engine up front trying to pull the whole show apart.
I looked at the Gerry Hawkridge 289 kit and did a bit of research. I've fancied one in the past, got the brochure, phone calls and emails, lists, budgets, etc but didn't get any further.
I think I have issues with the term 'kit car'.
Am I just a snob? Should the fact it's a replica put me off? Should I just cut my cloth accordingly and not by a fake and accept I'll never afford the original?
It would be a good choice for what I want from it, and it would be fun to build a new car from scratch without all the usual pain of restoring some clapped out rusty hulk only to see it rust away again.
Or should I just grow up and buy a sensible German estate car?
Help me. It's less than a year to the next LM, so I need to get cracking.
