Thread: Anyone made a caterham style diy car?

Originally Posted by Flyblown

I was chief apprentice on one of these builds in the 80s. Me, my mate over the road Daz, and our Dads. Both Daz and his Dad are now departed sadly. Though not because of the kit car. Haven’t thought about this for a long time...

The truth? It was great fun to build, loads to learn, but utterly shite to drive. Uprated 711M Ford 1.6L engine with decent carbs and a trick cam and various uprated parts, it was the Formula Ford favourite. Daz’s old man built it, very revvy. But.... much of the running gear was Mk4 Cortina and somehow the setup wasn’t spec’d to match the motor, highly likely because my Dad was a tight bastard. The steering was never quite right and snap oversteer on crap British roads was a constant menace. A bumpy road and a heavy foot would result in wheel spin in 3rd. The brakes weren’t exactly progressive, there was a point at which bumps in the braking zone would cause one or both front wheels (and sometimes all four) to suddenly lock up without warning, and cadence braking was impossible. On a smooth track it was great fun, but on the public road it was a deathwish. Everything to do with amateurs and almost certainly could have been so much better with decent suspension, brakes and steering.

My cousin in the UK then built one of these about 16-17 years ago, but with a Honda engine and far superior running gear. Unfortunately I never got to drive it, and I clearly recall he sold it very suddenly after what his wife later told me was a near death experience on the A51. Funny how I remember the road number. Cousin told me it was because he didn’t like getting wet, but she told me something quite different.

My view is that they are tremendous fun to build, less fun to drive on our public roads that you might think, and downright bloody dangerous when conditions are shite. A good one with decent running gear (expensive) and safety setup (expensive) is an awesome track day car.

Ah. I had grand plans of finding some cheap turbo motor or something and just slapping it together to pass cert and then take it for a hoon. Seems like it might just be better to buy a factory car and do it up