There was a nearly completed Locost 7 that sold for <$4000 this week in Raleigh.

2/27/2012 7:12:57 PM

Quote :

"yep, that's another reason I especially am concerned about a salvage/rebuilt Elise/Exige. Monocoque can be easily ruined and is very difficult/impossible to repair."

The first one I posted ($22k) is not a salvage/rebuilt.

However, with any Lotus, you can find out if there's any damage, or any frame tweaking in 5 minutes or less. Visual inspection + tape measure will tell you 100%.

Take it to a garage, put on a lift, pop off the underbody panels and you can see the entire chassis, and IMMEDIATELY spot any damage whatsoever.

Or do the simple bit. Take a tape measure and measure the length of the car left, right, and the two diagonals. If they are within 1/18"-1/16" then you are good to go.

2/27/2012 9:19:45 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p5197.c0.m619&item=230753245393

Brunton Stalker eBay auction ending in ~2.5 hours. Bid is currently at $10k and just met reserve. Located in Nashville, TN.

I'm thinking seriously about snatching this one up if the bids don't balloon at the last minute.

3/4/2012 4:32:12 PM

is it worth that much money with that motor and transmission?

3/4/2012 5:04:53 PM

Brunton is a small manufacturer...mostly offering kits in various stages of completion, although they will build you a turnkey car for a price...kind of like, say, Factory Five (although I don't think they'll build anything turnkey in-house). At any rate, they have a pretty well-regarded chassis, and they're a known quantity (i.e., not a Locost-type build framed up in someone's garage who may be a real craftsman or may be a real knucklehead)

The Stalker is the base-level, and is what this one is. I'm not a true expert on their pricing, but I think good examples normally go for high teens, maybe low-20s. Super Stalkers have the supercharged 3800 engine (prob 100 more hp)...and then they've just come out with an LSx variant...Mega-Stalker or something, I think.

This one needs a little bodywork, but the new pieces are already there, and, well, how much can it really cost to have a Seven repainted? ...so...I think there's probably a moneymaking opportunity here, if I decide that I don't want to keep it.

3/4/2012 7:08:21 PM

I bowed out at $12,955. Auction won by a bid-sniper who had previously not entered any bids with a final price of $13.3k.


[Edited on March 4, 2012 at 7:17 PM. Reason : hotlinked an eBay image for you guys]



[Edited on March 4, 2012 at 7:19 PM. Reason : ]

3/4/2012 7:14:24 PM

It'd be so much better w/a different drivetrain...

3/4/2012 7:56:41 PM

agreed; the GM V6 (for that matter, I don't like V6 engines, period...the fact that it's a crappy, pedestrian GM sedan/minivan/light truck engine just aggravates it) is a major beef of mine with Stalkers and Super Stalkers, which otherwise seem to be pretty desirable. The live axle (or de Dion?) might be viewed as a liability, but for what a car like that is really used for, it would be OK.

I mean, it's a Seven...I could always put something else under the hood...but yeah, the engine is the downside of a Brunton. I think even a bone-stock LS1 would be a little much. An F20c would be nice, as would a ported 13b (NA version). A hot Busa motor with a paddle-shifted trans would be cool, but that might be better accomplished before completing the car.

What would be totally sweet, in my opinion, would be an aluminum BMW inline-six. There's a British company that makes a nice Seven replica with all BMW donor stuff.

That said, for the right price, I'd put up with that shitty 3.4 V6, at the very least until I found another car I liked and sold the Brunton for a profit (or maybe that would be my ticket to build one...)

3/4/2012 8:18:51 PM

you can get a LOT of shifter kart for 13k like 2 or 3 mint super fast ones

3/4/2012 9:15:14 PM

Or a very small ownership share in a space shuttle, but that's not really apples to apples, either

3/5/2012 1:15:09 AM

LOL at the Chevy Blazer (and S10) wheels on that car

3/6/2012 9:16:25 AM

^ I actually like it

I think i saw what looks like a 7 chassis sitting in someone's yard off Holly Springs Road. I don't know the condition or if it's for sale, but it's clearly not running. might not even be complete...

3/6/2012 9:43:30 AM

^^^ lol i like that comparison... gg

3/6/2012 10:07:36 AM

What about an Ultima GTR? There are bound to be some of these around for sale by now. And V8 to boot.









Also available topless in the spirit of practical considerations.



[Edited on March 7, 2012 at 3:07 AM. Reason : d]

3/7/2012 3:02:06 AM

Quote :

"prob can't see spending more than $30k-ish"

I didn't see any in a quick search for under $40k

3/8/2012 10:02:31 AM

....did someone say hayabusa motor?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrHSbFIHioo

3/8/2012 10:23:23 AM

OK...

It's not a 7, but it's tiny, British, topless, unusual, and obscenely overpowered:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150791988162#ht_1679wt_1049

4/5/2012 12:58:04 AM

Never been a huge Healy fan but I have seen a few with small block fords in them.

4/5/2012 7:09:49 AM

^^ Will you fit comfortably in that, Duke? Seems like it'd be tighter than a 7.

4/5/2012 9:23:32 AM

Oh yeah, I should fit fine. I'm only 5'8".

4/5/2012 9:30:40 AM

^ Ah, didn't you realize you were that short, I tend to look at things in terms of my 6'1" height

Trying to get my S2000 ready for track is kinda making me wish I was a bit shorter, hah.

4/5/2012 9:36:26 AM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649&item=120897997180&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT#v4-42


Hmmm, this is a little pricier than I really wanted to spend, but performance-wise, it would be a BEAST, and it looks like a very nice build (also, Bruntons are kit-built, not scratch-built, so there is little worry about the frame not being straight or properly welded).

I don't think I'll go a dollar over the opening price, though.

4/19/2012 11:42:32 AM

Oh man, I wasn't wild about the bullethole wheels (on a Seven), but they'd be ok as a street set...


But who the hell builds a ~260 hp Seven and puts DRUM BRAKES on the back????!!!

Quote :

" LOL at the Chevy Blazer (and S10) wheels "

Not unusual...Stalkers use the S-10 as a donor.

[Edited on April 19, 2012 at 5:41 PM. Reason : ]

4/19/2012 5:38:58 PM

http://www.999motorsportsusa.com/supersport-car/brochure-2/

free test drive laps at the new AMP track this weekend

5/21/2012 11:46:18 AM

new AMP track...whats that?

5/21/2012 12:42:07 PM

atlanta motorsports park. track looks phenomenal but lots of poor choices for motorcycle safety I'll probably still ride it

5/21/2012 2:08:29 PM