Kit cars can be really interesting. They are one of those things that over the last 40 years seem to cycle in and out of fashion. Some of them can be quite good cars, while some of them are just too horrible for words. Whether people take a shine to them or not is purely personal taste. This particular kit is located in Riverside, California and is for sale here on eBay. Complete with a clear title bidding is currently sitting at $12,200.
Right now I can be reasonably sure that our readers are divided into two camps. Some of you are looking at this and thinking that it looks half alright. Others are looking at it and foaming at the mouth about someone building a knock-off of an Italian thoroughbred. For the sake of safety I’ve decided to sit on the fence. Kit car quality is really a case of hit-or-miss, and from what we can see in the photos, this one seems to be better than most. Some of the panel gaps are a bit inconsistent, and the rear bumper is warped across the top which really messes with the gap between it and the body, but the quality of the panels themselves doesn’t look too bad. The wheel-arch flares also don’t look right to me. The seller states that there is some minor bodywork and detailing, and the car will need new paintwork. This is one of those cases where the seller would have helped their cause by rolling the car out of the garage so that we could see it properly.
The interior doesn’t look as bad as some kit cars can have a tendency to look. There is obviously a reasonable indication to the car’s DNA with the Fiero equipment that is in there. The leather on the seats looks quite inviting and a good detailing would make it all look fairly reasonable, but obviously not to the handcrafted standard of the car which it aspires to be. To aid rearwards visibility there is a working back-up camera and the electric mirrors are operational. The remote door unlock works, as do those pop-up headlights.
The car is based on a non-stretched Fiero chassis. The engine bay is filled with a Camaro/Corvette dual-port injected V8. This was installed in 2013 using an Archie Kit. When this work was done a custom radiator and large fan were fitted, and the seller claims that this keeps engine temperatures in check. The car has air con but this currently isn’t working. Mechanically the car seems to be sound, and I suspect that with that engine it might just be a fun car to drive. One potential issue is that the car is currently registered in Minnesota and is located in California. It doesn’t have any smog equipment installed, so this would need addressing if you bought it and intended to keep using it in California.
I’m reserving my judgement on the quality of this one because the supplied photos don’t tell me the one thing that I really want to know. I would like to see it out in the light of day. This is the only way to tell whether the proportions of it look “right” or not. There are a number of detail issues that need addressing. The seller does have some additional parts that he is willing to sell to any potential buyer. For me while I understand the attraction of kit cars, they have always left me feeling a bit cold. There’s no doubt that while a well designed and executed one can be quite a pleasant thing, I’ve sometimes felt that owning a replica of an iconic car might always feel like you are making do with second best. Maybe that’s just me though.
I’m actually in the third camp… leave the Fiero stock, except for the V8.
Looks a little like a Storm Trooper costume on steroids.
Originally came from the Tatooine Empire Car Rentals agency. They got rid of it when the new land speeders came out.
Luckily California is not the center of the universe. If you can’t smog it there, you still have 49 other American States, 10 Canadian Provinces and Mexico to name just a few!
Three Canadian Territories, too
I know personally that the larger Oregon metro areas, Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona are also subject to smog inspection issues that would make this car illegal without some creative “work arounds” of varying degrees of legality. If even legal to import into Mexico, many areas have such large and numerous speed bumps to render the car undrivable.
That was a waste of a good Fiero.
To each their own, but the Fiero was a neat looking car on its own. Love the V8 swap though. Wonder how hard it would be to lose the body kit?
Original Fiero panels simply bolted on. In that regard, if that’s all that was done, it wouldn’t be difficult. However, there’s been some extensive modification done from what I can tell, and it looks as though the wheels (at least the rears) stick out much further than a stock Fiero. You’d be further ahead to find a Fiero in decent shape that hasn’t been modified if that’s your speed, and it won’t cost too much, either.
The beef of a rear end actually looks pretty good. If it where closer to me I’d go take a look
I can never understand photographs of a car IN a garage. With the tiniest bit of effort the car could have been pushed outside into the sunlight. Then you can do a complete 360 view. Why do sellers not do this?
I suspect the limited photography is purposely done so you don’t see how tacky and awful this probably is. A typical eBay tactic.
True.
The garage shadows are there to mislead……
It has Minnesota plates. Why?
The write up explains that
One potential issue is that the car is currently registered in Minnesota and is located in California. It doesn’t have any smog equipment installed, so this would need addressing if you bought it and intended to keep using it in California.
Only kit car that ever floated my boat was a Kelmark GT with a Porterfield MidEngineering chassis and an Olds Toronado drivetrain in the rear.
“Kit” rhymes with the first word that usually comes to mind when I see one of these.
It looks okay,but it’s just not the real deal!
$16,600 bought it, apparently.
It’s not that someone is settling for second best. No one cross shops an authentic Lambo with a kit car. The person buying the kit car knows that they can never afford the real thing but the replica allows the buyer to enjoy a little of the exotic car glory. At least until someone asks if it’s real, or would like to see the engine. No judgements here. I kind of dig those VW powered 917 Porsche Lazer kits.
There are exceptions to every rule. 20 years ago I had a fiberglass Ferrari 250 California Spider (from the same guys who built the Ferris Buehler cars) except mine had a Ferrari 330 engine, 5-spd, gauges etc. Sold it (for $100,000) to a guy who had a real one because mine was “cheap enough to drive every day!”