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Question for the car enthusiasts on here

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Dan.
Posts: 7201 - Karma: 1,126
So I was on Jon's blog, and all the posts about his ultima got me thinking, and I did a bit of research, and found that the things cost anywhere from 36 grand to 60 grand, depending on engine setup.

For 50 grand, and either 6 months of dicking around in your garage or a few weekends of 12 hour garage shifts, one can have a car that holds world records for the fastest 0-100-0 time, fastest nurburgring lap time (unofficial), and fastest top gear track time, all while being street legal.

My question is, why doesn't every person who has a weekend car, usually something like a corvette, or mustang, or a boxster or 911, or even enthusiast cars like 240sx's or rx7's or 350z's, or m3s or s4s, have one of these instead? are people really that averse to putting in a bit of work before they have a fucking awesome car?

I mean, the ultima, at least on paper, runs circles around basically any street legal car that can be had, even those that cost over a million dollars. it seems like a no-brainer to me. if I had 50 grand to spend on a car that I could drive to the track, race all day, and then drive home, I'd do it in a heartbeat. and I love building things. the sense of accomplishment from building a car from the ground up is worth the cost alone in my opinion.

Thoughts?
Oct 1 2010 8:28PM
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DERS.
Posts: 6299 - Karma: 1,293
the lambo?
Oct 1 2010 8:29PM
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Dan.
Posts: 7201 - Karma: 1,126
not the lambo, the ultima gtr! the one that looks kind of like a batmobile?

here parked next to an enzo

Click for larger image
Oct 1 2010 8:33PM
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fujarome
Posts: 8630 - Karma: 1,561
i think it comes down to convenience. Like you said, you get the thrill of putting it all together and having pride in what you did and how you improved. A lot of people don't get that or just simply don't know how to do everything required. I wouldn't know what to do at all with any of it, so i'd end up having to pay a lot more for either someone to guide me step by step or pay someone to do it all themselves, and assume they did it properly.

or instead of all that, you can go out and buy a car that's ready to go. I think i'd need to be quite wealthy so i could own a car thats ready to go, and get another project car so i could learn to do it the right way.
Oct 1 2010 8:37PM
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fujarome
Posts: 8630 - Karma: 1,561
haha i thought that when i first looked at this. I spent a good 3 seconds trying to figure out where jon went so wrong that he got rid of the lambo and his others to buy a nissan, and how he spent 60k on it.

my father just buys a car new to his exact standards, drives it to death. Like literally, to the point that he's getting pulled over because cops think the vehicle is unsafe. But with his daily commute, the fact that he gets 10+ years out of his cars is a miracle in itself. So that's how im going to be i think.
Oct 1 2010 8:41PM
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Dan.
Posts: 7201 - Karma: 1,126
from what I gathered from an hour or so of scrutinizing their site, is that what they ship to you is basically a big, running version of the snap together model cars you had as a kid, it comes with super detailed instructions with over 2000 pictures included to help you ever step of the way, and doesn't require anything out of the ordinary tool-wise. while they didn't go into specifics, I'm assuming this means a full set of metric wrenches and sockets, some screw drivers and pliers, and some random tools you can buy at sears as you need.
Oct 1 2010 8:49PM
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fujarome
Posts: 8630 - Karma: 1,561
oh alright, to be fair i didn't browse their site and look at it too in depth like yourself.

well that definitely makes it more appealing. That would be incredible to be sitting there amongst all these parts and boxes, then some time later be looking at the full car and driving it, even if all you did was essentially snap it together. One of my buddies and his dad built kit cars (mostly lotus) and as soon as they finish, they keep em for a year or so, drive it a bunch, then sell it and use the money to buy another. Apparently the joy of building exceeds the joy of driving it.

always interesting to stop by their garage a few times a year though and see various cars in different shape every time.
Oct 1 2010 8:54PM
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