Spitfire New Spitfire based Kit Car coming

[jmc14]

Hello Everyone, My name is John Chesnut. I am new to the forum. I found it because I am importing a kit from England to turn a Spitfire into this:

Awhile back some of you discussed the Sammio Spyder which was designed by Gary Janes of England as a re body for a Triumph Herald.

I found the Sammio while researching 50's sports cars. My idea was to strip the mechanicals from a 1990-2004 Miata,(I have 2 of them.) build a space frame that the mechanicals would bolt into and then sculpt, mold, and lay up a fiberglass body for it. I fell in love with the Sammio. I ordered a body from Gary. It is on a ship coming my way. The Miata has a shorter wheelbase and is wider than the Herald. I have been working with Gary to modify the body to fit. When it arrives I will make the final changes.

In the meantime Gary has been working on a new version of his kit. This kit, called the Cordite is specifically designed for the Spitfire. The picture is a photoshop job showing what the car will look like. I think that it's hot.

I have ordered this kit as well. With Gary's permission and participation I will have molds and jigs here to produce these 2 kits for the US market. The target kit price for complete kits is $4900 for either of them.

I am in the process of setting up the business, getting the website built, ect.
My plan is to be able to provide the Miata based kits starting in June. The Spitfire based one towards the end of the year.

I am not soliciting orders nor would I accept any until everything is in place and I am paying for advertising here. But, I wanted to let you know what is coming. I welcome ANY comments and suggestions. I ran this by Basil and he has graciously allowed me to make this post.

Thanks for looking, John

 

[DNK]

I'll take the seat runners from the miata!

Good luck in your endeavor John.

 

[TR3driver]

Wow, John, that looks seriously cool!

How are you going to deal with the emissions and saftey issues with using a "modern" donor like the Miata?

 

[Guest]

That is nice.

 

[tdskip]

So each buyer would need to custom fabricate a frame? Are you using the build process / leveraging the Locost community?

 

[Geo Hahn]

Nice, reminds me a bit of the AC Ace. Considering how inexpensive Spits are this is an interesting possibility.

 

[booley]

I wonder if that body would cover a GT6 engine

welcome to the forum, John
E-town is just up the road from me...

 

[jmc14]

If you really need seat sliders I will happily ship them to you for the cost of shipping.

The Miata kit will come with a dedicated space frame with aluminum skins for the floors, firewall, bulkheads ect. The Miata suspension cradles have the upper and lower A frame mounts, steering, diff, engine, ect built in. these will simply bolt into my frame using the same bolt locations that Mazda uses to bolt them into the Miata Unibody.

The Spitfire, as you know, uses body on frame construction. However, unlike the Herald the frame doesn't have outriggers to support the floors. The kit frame will bolt (can be welded) to the existing frame. It will provide the floor framing, the rear bulkhead, cowl hoop, and body mounts.

The kits include the frames.

I have a friend that is a retired GM chassis engineer. He consults around the world with car manufacturers on chassis design. He is helping me design both frames. I have built several variations of a space frame of my design with great success. I have a jig base that was built on a flat plate.

The Miata based kit uses the stock drivetrain, exhaust, ECU. It will meet emissions for the appropriate year of the drivetrain. SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturer Association) has been very active in recent years and successful in getting legislation in most states to allow easy registration of specialty constructed vehicles. I have built 11 different cars and have been able to register the year that they most closely resemble. I will issue an MSO stating the car is a replica. Each state is different so it is necessary to check the requirements before purchasing any kit.

Thanks for the questions.

 

[jmc14]

Booley, Where are you located?

 

[Guest]

I can see the Miata based one being very successful. I don't see a whole lot of Spit kits being sold. A decent Spit costs the same as the kit.

 

[tdskip]

The Miata kit will come with a dedicated space frame with aluminum skins for the floors, firewall, bulkheads ect. The Miata suspension cradles have the upper and lower A frame mounts, steering, diff, engine, ect built in. these will simply bolt into my frame using the same bolt locations that Mazda uses to bolt them into the Miata Unibody.

The Miata based kit uses the stock drivetrain, exhaust, ECU. It will meet emissions for the appropriate year of the drivetrain. SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturer Association) has been very active in recent years and successful in getting legislation in most states to allow easy registration of specialty constructed vehicles. I have built 11 different cars and have been able to register the year that they most closely resemble. I will issue an MSO stating the car is a replica. Each state is different so it is necessary to check the requirements before purchasing any kit.

That is the ticket - opens a huge market, and I but the LoCost builders would be interested as well.

 

[KSIS]

I have a spare early spit frame if needed for mocking. You can leave the body on when you are done. I had asked a while ago about kit cars based on the spit and your project was one of the links.
I will definately be watching how this goes. Maybe I'll make a trip down.

 

[Guest]

I have a spare early spit frame if needed for mocking. You can leave the body on when you are done.

:lol:

And if it's too light due to the glass body you can weigh it down with cash while you're at it. :wink:

 

[Guest]

I wonder if that body would cover a GT6 engine

welcome to the forum, John
E-town is just up the road from me...

I would really like one with a 6.

 

[John_Mc]

I can see the Miata based one being very successful. I don't see a whole lot of Spit kits being sold. A decent Spit costs the same as the kit.

I would agree the Miata kit will probably sell more, but I imagine a <span style="font-style: italic">decent</span> spitfire is not the car you'd be looking at for a donor. Just drivetrain and frame.

 

[jmc14]

Thank you for the comments.

1----I do agree that their is a much bigger market for the Miata. There were almost 1,000,000 of them sold here.

2----I am not sure what the market for the Spitfire kit would be. I am thinking that there may be a good number that might might be in decent mechanical condition but the body is toast.

3----I have been building Corvette based cars for the past 11 years. I will admit that I am not that knowledgable about the Spitfire. Were the frames the same for all of the years of production?

4----I am working out of a very humble shop in the middle of a little valley. Anyone that wants to check out what I am doing is more than welcome to visit, and to help?

5----I believe that a 6 cylinder will fit. I know that a Sammio has been fitted with a 6. A hood scoop was added. I am not sure if it will be needed with the redesigned bonnet for the Cordite. But, I will find out.

 

[Bremer]

That's hot.
Can we see a rear view?

 

[jmc14]

Here is a rear view of the Sammio Spyder. This is on the Herald Chassis. To adapt the body to the Spitfire which has a shorter 83 inch wheel base the rear deck was moved back by 5 inches and the windshield froward by 2 inches. For the US the head fairing is moved to the left. Because this is not a replica of a car rather the cars of an ERA the builder can feel free to build it the way they want. For example, you could do different tail lights.

I will shortly have the front, side, and rear views complete. I am also having a site made in which with a click of a button you can change the color of the car in the picture.

The tail finn will be an option.

 

[tdskip]

You are going to need larger contact tires to handle the Miata engine output.

 

[jmc14]

The cars pictured are with wheels and tires for the Spitfire Kit. The Miata kit will use wheels and tires for the Miata. I am not suggesting that the Miata drivetrain/suspension will be used for the Spritfire kit. They are 2 different kits.

The red car is pictured with 15inch wheels. The blue car is pictured with 14 inch wheels.