Kit Cars Revisited

Back when I first started this Blog in December of 08 I posted a couple of little tirades on Street Rods and Street Rods made of materials other than Steel being called Kit Cars. After that I thought the subject closed but within the last few weeks I've heard it again, That "so and so took a trophy with his kit car" and I know that "so and so" does in fact have a composite bodied street rod.

Not wanting to throttle the speaker, I walked away, and now need to clarify that the speaker may think he is correct but by law, and definition, is in fact wrong as far as So and So is concerned, but he may need an education in other Street Rod Facts.

By Definition a Kit Car is: an automobile that is available in kit form, which means that the client buys a set of parts and needs to assemble the car themselves.

Usually many major mechanical parts such as the engine and transmission are taken from one or more donor vehicles. Kits vary in completeness from as little as a book of plans to a complete set of all the components required.

If this is a true meaning of a Kit Car then every Street Rod in the World falls within this definition. As my own Street Rod is proof of a set of parts from several different sources put together as a you would a kit. But is it really a kit car. We mostly consider kit cars as coming in a giant box like a model from Revell or AMT with instructions on how it needs to be put together.
Some of the AC Cobra Kits are just that and many Modern manufactureres of Sports cars (Lotus, TVR, Brickland) were once only kit car manufacturers.

If a Kit Car comes from one source and needs only the major components such as engine and transmission then "So and So's" Street Rod does not come close to being a kit car as Outlaw Bodies and TCI Chassis with a Hiedts MII suspension is 3 different manufacturers, bought as 3 pieces not one kit.

So what is considered a Street Rod in Maine: 76. Street rod. "Street rod" means a replica of or a modified antique auto manufactured prior to 1949 that complies with standards adopted by the Chief of the State Police.[ 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF) .]

Seems plain enough by Maine Law, for once. This is also the respected consideration of the major organizations such as GoodGuys, NSRA and KOA. This is even written in the Complete Car Show Guide available at HotKarz.

Now the debate will rage on forever as to composite bodies of materials other than Steel being Kit Cars or whatever you want to call it. But be aware that new techniques in metal stamping and the purchase of the rights to certain body styles now makes it very hard to tell old steel from new as proven in Moncton in the Summer of 2007 during the Atlantic Nationals when a body of students built a complete Camaro from the ground up using Aftermarket Parts.

With Companies like Brookville, SAR, Gibbons and a host of others building pre 49 bodies and the availability of real steel dwindling it will be hard for Street Rodders in the Future to have the authenticity that some demand by saying to us that we have Kit Cars if we don't have old steel.

Yup your Right we all have Kit Cars and by law they are called Street Rods. Just the way we wanted it.

If your belief that other than steel constitutes Kit Car status is correct then I suggest you keep it under your hat. As we as a group are tired of hearing it.

Remember what your mother said "don't poke the dog with a stick".