Mmmm, I have a feeling this might cause a bit of a stir but…
I’ve been toying with the idea of re-bodying Betsy, now please, before all the purists start stoning me, hear me out…
I saw this car a few years ago when I lived in Suffolk and absolutely fell in love with it’s retro look, even more so because, underneath its body lies the heart of an MX-5. All the benefits of a great handling, cheap, easy to work on chassis, just with a bit of a facelift.
Now, please remember before you start screaming “Jahova” that it seems fine to put a body kit onto a 5, big scoops, wide arches etc, all I’m looking at is taking it to the next level.
Comments, criticism and downright abuse below please…
Go for it [Y] After all it`s your car & you only live once!
Thats a much nicer front end to the usual pitcrew ones you see around IMO
Why not photoshop the front end onto a picture of your car…may help you make up your mind. If you don`t have access to photoshop pop on to Nutz, they have a photochop section there, someone will oblige.
If you go for it make sure you run a blog of work in progress for us to see.
Geoff, your right, this is bordering on being a kitcar and will be a big step, hence asking the greater community for an opion. I’m still not convinced and its a big commitment, financially as much as anything else…
I think they are all abominations, but that is irrelevant, as are the opinions of everyone else. If this is what you want to do, go ahead and do it! However, do not be surprised if your car decides to take itself off without you one night and drive into the nearest crusher.
Ok, so there are two distinct camps emerging here; the ‘crack ons’ and the ‘arghhhhhs’!
A little about Betsy:
By the time she came to live with me she had been written off…twice, by insurance companies. After an awful lot of love, dedication, long nights in the garage and lets face it, money, she is now a rather pretty, straight panelled Mk1. Soon to be re-SVA’d thus resetting her chequered past.
I love all things classic, particularly the old 60’s Ferrari 250s, 275s etc.
To further envoke purist rage: if you were to pull up at the petrol pump next to one of these and compliment the owner about his (her) classic sports car and he (she) were to reveal that, underneath she was actually just like yours, would you feel offended - that anyone could do such a henious thing to such a lovely car, or complimented - that something as simple as a facelift could make an already classic car into something so different?
As kits go that one looks fantastic. It does look like an old Ferrari, and as long as it looks ‘in scale’ in real life I’m in the crack on camp.
As Dave said, keep a blog of the work if you do it!
I love the front end on that one, but I’d miss the pop-ups to much.
If the bodywork on your five is decent, it seems a shame to spoil it. If you can afford it, wouldn’t it be better to get a panel damaged one in need of repair (but mechanically sound) and re shell that one?
There are many purists on here who will try to steer you away from altering your car. If you like it, who cares what anyone else thinks. It’s nice to have peer support, but not essential. Why not see what the folk over on Nutz think about your ideas too?
A few more to stoke the fire…
