Here's one for you to ponder....

[greenwoo]

@ Mark, good to hear from you, had wondered what had become of the 'Exo'.

Yep I can see that under those circs the car would take 2nd place.....and i'm sure that there are many that have parked them up, popped on a dust cover and taken care of more pressing things.
What started my musing was more the guys who (seemingly) buy, use , sell. On top of that there must be large pockets of owners in certain areas/regions of the country as its amazing how many that get sold go out of the patch.

[Nash]

Here’s something I considered; 17% of the UK demographic gat buy motorbikes is over 50. Second only to the 20-30 year old market (which is the biggest)
http://www.bmf.co.uk/news/show/how-old- ... torcyclist

The reason I state that is I don’t think the kit car and specials market is any different to the bike market in terms of thrills?! (Discuss).

It is different is two major aspects, the bike market is dominated by very professional and highly competent companies who make great machines and the cost of performance and quality is cheaper for bikes.

My point is the premise for buying a bike / kit is the same 50+ disposable income, mid life crisis or chasing the dream and lost years to get the blood flowing again. Bikes are a cheap and quick way to do that. Kits are a bigger (time and ongoing cost). The norm is that both bikers and kit owners only remain motivated for a certain amount of time and if you take up a lot of that time in the build stage there isn’t much left for adventures.

My thoughts anyway.

[Martin S]

I have to agree with lee from my own experience. ..first kit spent to much cash on it...second one didnt justify the cost compared to the amount of times i got to use it...so i believe people then just sell and say well done that.time to move on...personal i did think that...tho know after spending not alot of money on the kit.and only doing a few tweeks i am realy happy....so i would say to anyone...dont go over board on mods...just enjoy what you have....martin

[CRAIGR]

I personally have loved the building of the kits that I have owned the challenge of sva/Iva and subsequent sense of achievement but never really had the time or even maybe inclination since my daughter was born (now 15)to go on runs out. Did less than 1000 miles in 5 years in the Westy . Lately my enthusiasm has wained even more to the point where a nice tintop has great appeal or even a nice powerful classic. Could be a winter thing or just the fact that I'm just a right miserable unsociable git too

[locost220]

Not necessarily answering marks question, but we have to consider the amount of people who join up with the club,get involved then disappear but maybe continue to use the car on their own, for what ever reason.there must be a fair few or I would have thought we would see those cars reappear with their new owners, we get the odd one or two but no where near the amount of attrition the club sees.
So begs the question why would they prefer solo driving rather than with the club.
Maybe they would prefer the traditional club set up.
Speaking to Dave on many occasions as i try to temp him out on a breckie run or a one on one if he would prefer i have had my wings clipped by "i have other hobbies, interest and responsibilities than just kit cars". He also struggles with anything longer than an hr, due to medical reasons.
I have Said on many occasions can be quite hard to join an established group and that not necessary mean asking someone in front of everyone. But how else could we approach it.
More questions than answers I am afraid.

[b33fy]

Quiet in the greenwood household today was it?

Did type some rambling bollox, then thought some things aren't worth over anal ising..

Bottom line, same dynamic in whatever club, forum etc.. you choose, some members core, others transient. Just continue to stay in the present and work with what you know, be all inclusive and don't take things too seriously..

[greenwoo]

@ Rich & Mike, i wasn't speaking from the 'why don't they join in', but more about what appeals enough to splash cash and then walk away (relatively quickly) after enthusing.....and yeah it was kind of quiet today Mike

[DJ.]

My story is:
Up to age 25: Loved cars, always wanted to own and build a Caterham Seven after seeing the adds in Motorsport every month for years and reading articles about them. NO MONEY!

25-30- finished college, earned money went to buy a Caterham, salesman was a "insert appropriate four letter word here" , so bought a Westfield kit, built it and drove it for four years. I didn't have the knowledge to develop the car and soon found the usual club shows and pub meets boring, my brother had a Lotus he could take to Goodwood with Club Lotus, but my Westfield wasn't eligible so I sold it

31-38- Bought a Lotus Elan Sprint- toured Scotland, did track days and had fun rebuilding the engine and restoring the car, but crashed it twice

39-45- Only did 250 miles the last year I owned the Elan, my brother had stopped doing the trackdays and we had young girls, so my wife and I couldn't get out in the Lotus- so sold it for a Civic Type R- what a disappointment!

46-now- Sold business, had the cash, so I went back to plan A and bought a Caterham, fortunately the salesman was nice this time. I've done at least 5000 miles a year since, way more mileage than for any of the three preceding fun cars and it's all thanks to SKCC. Brilliant fun, and I have no plans to stop

[Stevo]

I think a lot of the issue is that a lot of people fancy the lifestyle of "7/kit" ownership but the reality isn't always blasting along a country road in the sunshine. Probably very similar to owning a classic.

There is a fair amount of upkeep required with our cars - same as a classic. By the time a lot of owners have reached the stage where they can find the disposable income to own one I would imagine the majority have children and a load of other hobbies that they have found to fill the void.

The reality isn't always like that, nosing round the Caterham showroom and enquiringly about the number of owners the cars have had is a good indicator. Majority low mileage all with multiple owners.

If there was a poll I would expect quite a few of us were previously bikers or still are so we are used to getting wet and cold

[b33fy]

Great Story Duncan, the car was well deserved, nice one.