This New Sports Car Weighs Half A Miata And Runs On A Tiny BMW Straight-Six
Posted by DerBootsMann@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 153 comments
Posted by DerBootsMann@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 153 comments
SeaManaenamah@reddit
For those interested: $500k, 1600cc BMW motorcycle engine, aiming for 1,400 lbs, they are not available for another year at least.
Banana_Leclerc12@reddit
What is the justification of the 500k price tag?
Swear to god every week new one of these companies pop out, and its something that would have been a kit car with a motorcycle engine for 10k usd 15 years ago, but this time with more leather
Bonerchill@reddit
Engineering, development, and production costs.
Go on BringATrailer, find a well-restored car with recent receipts, and look at those receipts- and that’s for a car that’s already engineered.
Excellent, quality-minded technicians are paid $100+/hr. New builds have teething issues, to the tune of hundreds of hours of “wasted” time.
American parts prototyping is insanely expensive if they’re utilizing it, much less so if you’re having it done in China- and that’s not only part cost but realized cost due to American prototyping’s extended timelines compared to offshore.
Bespoke upholstery isn’t something some good shops do. The guy I know who does it has a years-long waiting list. I have another guy who can make me panels but I always have to have two of everything made because I handle the fitment.
Even an engineered product like a Factory Five kit needs a huge investment to be world-class in terms of panel fit and finish, interior quality and comfort, paint, ride/handling compromise, NVH concerns, engine tuning and cooling package performance in all conditions, brake feel (from pad compound selection to piston sizing to pedal angle and sweep), steering feel (super involved, not just KPI, scrub, and thrust), etc.
Most kits I’ve seen have been subpar. The best I’ve seen have been on the high side of fine.
RunninOnMT@reddit
Yeah, my understanding is that it’s just economies of scale that allow normal ass cars to be as cheap as they are. If you’re not a huge company building like ten thousand of something, cars are stupid expensive.
kinkycarbon@reddit
Other than sourcing an engine, transmission, brakes, windshield, and etcetera. By going the DIY route from scratch. The entire cost building my own car from scratch to a nice interior finish as a regular car is estimated on my end to be closer to $100k in total.
Banana_Leclerc12@reddit
I get what you mean, but a tube chassis with a motorcycle powertrain is a project that can be undertaken by a decent formula student team, and best believe those students can build 10 15 of those if it means funding for the racing efforts.
Maybe im just biased since i work in the sector and know what stuff costs, but their chassis just screams kit car.....
Bonerchill@reddit
A tube chassis that has to take into account non-racing ergonomics, actual suspension travel, HVAC routing, and a safety factor for street use and has to have some degree of engineering sign-off for CYA reasons.
A motorcycle powertrain that has to idle for an hour in traffic in SoCal summer and start at 0 degrees while being smooth and powerful for customers used to modern OEM-level powertrain tuning.
I don't know these guys from Adam, so I'm making assumptions that various systems will be engineered or produced to a level befitting the asking price.
Sgt_Stinger@reddit
"Bespoke" and "Boutique" seems to be the reason for the price tag.
okglue@reddit
Lol so true. Cheap words to fetch that much money; no wonder they're so common.
FSCK_Fascists@reddit
I'll stick with "kit" and pay a fuckload less.
ThePandaKingdom@reddit
I think the price is insane, but probably “justified”. You dint build a car over night. And you certainly don’t design a car over night. Material cost aside there is like is butt load of man hours behind this thing, plus costs / red tale to get it road legal etc. (if it is road legal. I didn’t finish the article.)
FnnKnn@reddit
Also, it’s not like there is much competition offering cars with a similar design. So if you are rich and like this kind of design there are no other options.
RandomGenName1234@reddit
So a bunch of blokes in a shed threw some tubes together in a shed and put leather where you sit.
Slideways@reddit
Just like a Morgan.
Banana_Leclerc12@reddit
Morgan is a historic 115 year old family run company making actual cars (out of wood until very recently) in an actual workshop.
and the new morgan supersport costs a third of this shed special.
Slideways@reddit
I’ve driven enough Morgans, they 100% feel like something built in a shed.
JustThall@reddit
The car built using ancient (or dear I say it “vintage”) process in the same “shed” as century ago is a different thing from a parts bin kit assembled and “3d printed” in a garage in SoCal. All the good and nice stuff would be nice tillett, brakes/suspension, etc. The space frame and plans for outside panels look sick, I’ll give them that.
But Miata is always the answer - https://youtu.be/shcexpetpkc?si=3zLy43Ail9rcfmnf
Sgt_Stinger@reddit
Every weld is to be carefully boogered by hand, you see.
myCarAccount--@reddit
All the old kit cars were the same - low production, customizable. The only difference is now these companies fancy themselves important and slap a huge sticker price on it.
Jigagug@reddit
Just another bunch of weirdos that think just because they spent years on something with a small crew makes their product worth premium.
West_Independent2551@reddit
The C5 Vette took nearly 15 years to design and produce, being designed and marketed by a 6 man crew and a budget of only 150 million. Does that make it "worth premium" too?
gimpwiz@reddit
Absolutely.
looks lovingly at c5 in garage
What_the_8@reddit
Is this based on your years of car building experience and business acumen? What have you built?
Banana_Leclerc12@reddit
I helped build the alpine a110 and other renault group cars.
Looking at the chassis of this car, a group of students at any decent formula student team can build a comparable car to this
GadFlyBy@reddit
Zero justification. The price tag is absurd for what you are getting here.
I honestly doubt they’ll get five total orders, even from Arab oil sheikhs who look for weird shit to style on each other with. There is just something that vibes so low rent about taking a bloated BMW touring bike’s motor and then surrounding it with ostensibly $490K+ worth of value.
mr_lab_rat@reddit
There isn’t.
There are different levels of kit cars like these. They rarely start under 75k even when a lot of corners are cut and mostly stock regular passenger car parts are used (cars like Caterham)
This one seems to aim at the high end. Charge for the attractive design and exclusivity.
GaylrdFocker@reddit
Because rich people.
SigmaBallsLol@reddit
My guess/hope is that it's more like a kickstarter aimed at the super rich. They spend 500k to get a car that costs maybe 20% of that (yeah yeah R&D, but BMW already did the hard part), but they get a rare exclusive car and, if the companies gets big, a piece of history.
Once they get in, following models can be more reasonably priced.
OldSchoolSpyMain@reddit
Who the fuck wants to pay $500K for a race-inspired kit car when they can buy a proper race car and a proper, good-looking, road-legal sports car (with a warranty) for less than half of that for both?
It’s a cool passion project for the founders. But, I don’t think it’s a great product offering.
West_Independent2551@reddit
Yep. If I were insanely rich I feel like the smart move would be going the other way - start by selling them at a loss and then start profiting from mass production once people are hooked.
Snoo93079@reddit
It's an ultra low volume boutique product
WordWithinTheWord@reddit
Because logistically it makes more sense as a company to sell 10 units at $500K than 250 at $20K.
Sucks for the consumer though.
You see it in boats now. Wakeboard boats going for half a million fully-specced.
Porencephaly@reddit
There is no justification whatsoever. They see people paying $1m for Singers and figure they can cash in on the current fad of old-fashioned cars with modern drivetrains. $500k for this is absolutely ludicrous.
Specialist-Size9368@reddit
Calling bull on 1400lbs. A m3w is 1200lbs.
No glass. No doors. No roof. 3/4 the wheels.
breadbedman@reddit
$500k gets you a RuF I think.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2005-ruf-rt12/
opeth10657@reddit
Could probably buy several caterhams for that.
Get one of these, weighs 400lbs less than the one from the article
RodRAEG@reddit
It's a Temu Porsche 906, but with a BMW engine. What a bargain.
HaggardSummaries@reddit
So not half the weight of a Miata then, which weighs a little under 2400 pounds.
nondescriptzombie@reddit
For $20,000 and needing to have it put together, why wouldn't I just buy an $8,000 Exocet with a Corvette V8?
Larcya@reddit
For $500K you could go buy yourself a BMW KT1600. Buy yourself a Miata. Engine swap them.
Jury rig the Clutch lever into the dash and then jury rigg the gear change pedal.
And still have enough Money to buy 3 Lotus Emira's. OR 1 911 GT3.
nondescriptzombie@reddit
There's the Miatabusa kit that's been like ten years overdue from their test mule. 1300cc, 11k rpm, and it uses the stock gearbox.
SHHHeng@reddit
It weighs half of a Miata, but costs 12 times more.
It is something you pay more to get less.
nondescriptzombie@reddit
An Exocet cuts 700ish pounds off of a stock NA Miata, which puts it at around 1400 pounds for a stock 90's 120hp I4 that can easily be boosted well past 250. And sky is the limit for swaps. A Corvette V8 Exocet weighs in at about 1700 pounds and 450-500hp with a base V8. Better for the wheelbase is something like a K24 or a GM LFX swap.
zeno0771@reddit
150+ HP per liter in a 35-year-old design isn't going to be anyone's idea of easy unless you plan on rebuilding it once a year and putting it in front of a different trans/clutch. Even the 1.8s have limitations but the 1.6 getting past 200 is a fool's errand unless you hate money and like pain. Early NA owners are swapping out for 1.8s for a reason.
nondescriptzombie@reddit
No one is using a 1.6 so I didn't even factor it in the equation.
It's easy because it's the donor chassis for the tubeframe. Not because it's a Geo Metro Carb'd 3 cylinder than runs with three wires.
Brazen-Badger@reddit
Exocet was my first thought as well. Definitely costing more than 8k (more like 16-20k based on my “build” so far) but yes, nowhere close to 500k…
sioux612@reddit
You know how we always mess up which number to divide by which for percentages?
Ooops
eats_stickers@reddit
$20k? Thought it was $500k
caterham09@reddit
I really really doubt they'll be delivering orders in 2026 like the article states considering they don't even have a complete prototype.
narwhal_breeder@reddit
They will likely sell it as a "kit" with engine and chassis separate for kit-car registration. Just like Ariel.
lique_madique@reddit
Ariel’s were only sold as full cars
narwhal_breeder@reddit
Sold yes, but they are imported in two separate packets, engine and chassis, and assembled here by a legally distinct 3rd party with a Certificate of Origin to go through the kit car registration process.
lique_madique@reddit
That was only for the small run of Ariel atom 2’s assembled by Brammo in Oregon off of chassis/engine kits. They’ve been manufactured from the ground up by TMI in Virginia. On top of that, they came with titles and full 17 digit VINs.
narwhal_breeder@reddit
You don't get a title - you get a Manufacturer Certificate of Origin. They do come with VIN etching plates, but they dont come with it pre-etched.
This was literally what was told to me by Arial NA when I enquired about an Arial 4.
If you bought your Atom used, someone did that work for you of getting a title - its nice they go through the effort of etching a VIN, but it doesn't come with a state title. There's no getting around that the Atom doesn't comply with NHSTA/EPA - that's why every Atom that had a registration in Texas got their registration revoked in 2015.
AmazonPuncher@reddit
Can I ask where you are getting this information and why you're so confident about it?
I own an ariel atom. I have a title. Its as legal as any other car I've ever owned. It isnt a kit car, none of them were kit cars.
narwhal_breeder@reddit
You bought a (used) Atom that came with a title, because the original owner took it through SVC for their state.
All road legal Ariels have titles - you get one (and a VIN) when you go through SVC.
Literally from Ariel’s website:
Q - Ariel Atom Registration / Ariel Nomad Registration - Can I drive an Ariel vehicle on the roads in the USA?
A - Ariel vehicles do not meet Federal Motor Vehicle Standards set forth by the NHTSA (or any other Federal vehicle regulatory department) and are presented as - Off-Road Use Only - at the federal level. Any Road Use or registration attempt is strictly the sole responsibility of the vehicle owner. Ariel/TMI is released from any liability of Road Use by transfer of ownership documented on the Manufacturer Certificate of Origin (MSO/MCO).
State level Custom Built/Specially Constructed/Kit Car/etc. registration is the discretion of individual States and the sole understanding/responsibility of the vehicle owner.
AmazonPuncher@reddit
You said this:
here is nothing gray area about them. I can take anybody who owns an ariel atom and get them an entirely legal state title for the vehicle.
It is registered as ASSEM/ASSEM and I have never heard of anyone being given a hard time about it. At the end of the day, you can get a legal title for it, and you can use and operate it like any other car.
lique_madique@reddit
I love people who tell me I don’t know about my own car
AmazonPuncher@reddit
Its especially frustrating on auctions. I have a copy/paste I wrote a few years ago that I drop on atom auctions sometimes to hopefully get ahead of misconceptions. I hate checking into a sale and seeing the comments full of people talking about how its "shady" or they dont want to bid too much because "what if i cant register it".
I could go drive my atom into the local police department and ask them to find a reason to impound it and they wouldn't be able to come up with anything, but its "gray area". Okay.
Powerful_Abalone1630@reddit
Crashing into the police station seems like a bad idea. Lol
narwhal_breeder@reddit
It’s a grey area because the vehicle wasn’t assembled as a kit - plenty of people register aliexpress mini trucks here the same way - but it was never the intention of the law and has been challenged in several states (Like Texas)
You can’t treat it like any car - for instance, you can’t register an out of state SCV in California, and Texas stopped allowing new titles in 2015
AmazonPuncher@reddit
Maybe you have a different definition of gray area than other people.
California makes registering a variety of classic cars a complete nightmare. Many states have banned the registration of kei cars, but that does not put kei cars in a gray area in other states.
I have never met someone who bought an atom and couldnt legally title and register it. I have similarly never met someone who was pulled over and had an issue. If that is what you consider gray area, I just dont know what to tell you.
narwhal_breeder@reddit
Ok - I’m just curious, why do you think other sports car manufacturers go through the effort of NHSTA/EPA/Crash testing, when they can just sell their cars as already completed kit cars and skip all of those incredibly expensive steps?
It’s because it would immediately be challenged in court as exploiting kit car regulations to avoid NHSTA/EPA.
They are banking on state SCV inspectors not knowing that the vehicle isn’t a kit car.
Ariel is super small, so no doubt they can fly it under the radar - but it’d definitely not something that anyone larger could pull off.
AmazonPuncher@reddit
I am not going to seriously sit here and discuss why BMW might want to crash test their cars.
I am also not going to go back and forth about this all day, so what i will say is that you should register on the atom forums or the larger group and ask people how it works. You are very confident for someone who has never gone through the process themselves.
narwhal_breeder@reddit
I mean, you didnt go through the process either? You bought a car that's already been through it lol
guisar@reddit
Yeah, cannot imagine how,this would meet any DOT or NHSTA standards.
Aforementionedlurker@reddit
Their website call for three deposits over the course of what they call a build? If one so you should know better than me but I think "kit" is relation to the "build" and once it's built customer takes delivery.
lique_madique@reddit
They are built from the ground up in Virginia. There is footage available on YouTube and their website of them constructing them. The deposits are just for customers to stomach the cost of the build since almost nobody loans on them. Not that it matters since they’ll take your money, stop responding, and take 4+ years to get you a car when they quote 1 year
tiagojpg@reddit
Fool me once, strike one, but fool me twice… strike three.
tetsuo316@reddit
I was so in until they said $500k
A_Wild_Gorgon@reddit
Too good to be true
narwhal_breeder@reddit
Interesting - I wonder how they will skirt crash regulations? Probably like Ariel where the vehicle is sold as a "kit" with the engine and chassis separated.
This bit is interesting - they likely didn't have a choice. Motorcycles, including the K1600 I6 have the gearbox housing built into the engine block - they normally share oiling - so you normally cant use a motorcycle engine in a car without using the transmission unless you make an entirely custom engine block (like the BOLT4, Hartley, ect). Judging by other motorcycle swapped cars, the gearbox should have no problem coping with the extra weight. The engine looks transversely mounted - so definitely using the stock K1600 gearbox.
da_bear@reddit
Yeah, this reads funny. Opting to use a sequential gearbox instead of an H pattern when you start with a motorcycle engine is like building a megaphone using string, a squirrel, And a megaphone. I want to know how they're gonna deal with lateral G-force in the oil pan for sloshing, and what their reverse transfer case looks like.
fasteddy959@reddit
Baffles and dry sump.
Quaife builds a reverser gearbox for this reason. Tons of smaller racecars are motorcycle powered. There are others out there building reversers.
Clapbakatyerblakcat@reddit
I’d like to hear more about this squirrel. Is it aerospace grade?
phalanxs@reddit
The common solutions for that are a custom dry sump with a lot of pickup points and an electric reverse that uses a car starter motor
da_bear@reddit
We built a deep oil pan with baffles and a longer pickup tube to ensure submersion, but we were cheap fucks with no club funding.
ViperThreat@reddit
It's not complete, it doesn't actually weight half of a miata, it has zero safety or regulation testing completed, and it costs 10x what a miata does.
wow. such impress.
dynesor@reddit
$500k - another toy for the super-rich. It’s a cool little thing, no doubt… but as I’ve gotten older I’ve lost all interest in these ‘unattainable’ cars, and find the much cheaper and attainable (for the majority of working people) stuff to be infinitely more interesting.
InsertBluescreenHere@reddit
Yup. Another rich mans dick waving conest piece. "Anyone can just buy a 500k Ferrari but "I" had a custom built 500k car that only few can get!" (Proceeds to dick sword battle with ferrari owners in the room)
brealytrent@reddit
If it was a fifth of that price then it'd be compelling. At half a mil it's stupid.
pdp10@reddit
Sounds like they're using the integrated gearbox on the bike engine, which is fine, but those have no reverse. It will need either a mechanical reverser or an electric reverse, like other BECs (Bike-Engine Cars).
Interesting fact: bike engines don't normally have knock sensors.
This fixed-seat design has been going around for a minimum of 15 years, but I'm not aware that any production car has pulled it off. The advantage is that the windscreen can be closer to the seatback, and the whole cabin smaller.
Wirenfeldt@reddit
latest gen Ford GT does that, doens't it?
brealytrent@reddit
The Morgan Super 3 has this as well.
8N-QTTRO@reddit
I'm pretty sure the Gumpert Apollo did, but a part of the buying process was also getting the car custom-fitted to your dimensions.
ThePretzul@reddit
It's VERY common in older Italian supercars.
It's also shit in every one of them, so there's that...
pdp10@reddit
Interesting. Neither the Miura or the Pantera are included in that; can you name some fixed-roof supercars that had it?
The mechanical linkage to the steering wheel is the harder engineering. One can presumably take a conventional tilt-and-telescoping column and fit a high percentile of drivers, but perhaps the devil's in the details.
On the pedal box, the clutch and brake hydraulics are fine with braided stainless plumbing. Modern throttle-by-wire is very helpful in this application, but not the only possibility.
ThePretzul@reddit
Let me go back and check for specific models, but I do distinctly remember it being mentioned in several Doug reviews of older supercars.
ycnz@reddit
I wish them well and all, but that's a kit car with a bike engine. Buy a caterham.
Mekazabiht-Rusti@reddit
Of course it’s $500k. I figured the fact it used an off the shelf BMW motorcycle engine it would be more affordable.
What a waste of an opportunity.
LanEvo7685@reddit
I should be clear I'm hating more on the headline than the car.
Ru4pigsizedelephants@reddit
I'll hate on the car for you. $500k for a bare bones kit car with a fucking motorcycle engine is completely absurd.
These guys will likely never deliver a single customer car.
Larcya@reddit
Especially since you could just go buy a motorcycle the engine is from and pocket the left over $470,000.
Like at this point, just go buy a motorcycle. If you care about driving dynamics and weight. Nothing is ever going to beat a supersport.
Mojave_Idiot@reddit
Does anyone else feel like modern cars have become too heavy and complicated? We do too, that’s why at Nostalgia and Performative Austerity, LLC we have hand designed a spec sheet just to drive the right sort of automotive based ad revenue to your click starved car news blog.
bl0odredsandman@reddit
That's why I always laugh at these younger people that are all about Hellcats and think those cars are God's gift to car culture. Great motors, but they weigh 4500 fucking pounds. Just what I want. A 700hp "sports" car that weight as much as a truck.
Mojave_Idiot@reddit
Hey man easy on the truck slander! A 5.0 scsb ford is only 4000 pounds! Much lighter than those boats.
dannyphoto@reddit
As a BMW Owner, you had me at INPA.
Lordrandall@reddit
Does anyone else realize that automotive companies forced consumers into ever larger and heavier vehicles to avoid regulations and increase profits? It seems obvious, but we are going to cheer about these planetoid sized vehicles anyway.
Mojave_Idiot@reddit
Ooh, unique take shared by no one else in the car community. You should write an article! Make a YouTube video, even! Then we can just sit around snackin’ on member berries instead of ever being happy about anything ever again! Wee!
Lordrandall@reddit
On it! I’ll call it “Totally unique takes shared by nobody ever racing”. Racing at the end adds legitimacy.
Mojave_Idiot@reddit
Racing Edition we love editions.
Lordrandall@reddit
///M+AMG-L337
ggouge@reddit
Except the Miata.
bullseye717@reddit
I'll add the Twins too. For all the complaints about it, they do try to keep weight down and focus on driving dynamics.
WeeniePops@reddit
Second gen BRZ/GR86 is THE best value for serious sports car driving right out of the box. I happened to rent a 981 Cayman just a couple weeks after receiving my '22 BRZ and I was shocked at how similar driving they were. They both felt within 1/10th of each other's feeling of speed, steering feel, and handling, and tbh I preferred the more raw feel of the BRZ. The Porsche may have higher limits, but it can feel like the luxury car that it is. The BRZ is a little more "hardcore" if you will. The BRZ also feels a little bit more torquey in the low end whereas the 981 (non S) is all top end.
Obviously the Miata comes into the play when discussing this, but the Miata doesn't have as good of steering and doesn't handle as flat. I do think it is the most fun for the money, but if we're talking more serious track driving the Toyobaru takes the cake.
ggouge@reddit
The twin is the fiat 124 right?
fire_n_ice@reddit
No that's the Fiata
PotatoMan_69@reddit
BRZ GR86
whimsicalfoppery@reddit
toyobaru
AmNoSuperSand52@reddit
And you can make the argument that they’re a good bit more practical as regular cars just due to them being bigger
RobinVerhulstZ@reddit
Other than the ridiculous pedestrian safety hood explody shit that costs 4k to repair and can activate for silly stuff at least...
Iirc the us nd doesnt have it but im really hoping it never happens on mine because fuuuuuuick that
PancakeMSTR@reddit
Ngl thought this was fr for a second
Porencephaly@reddit
I’m very excited about your forthcoming manual retromod car that weighs under 1000lb and has a 15,000rpm 2L Alfa Romeo V8 AND Mazda’s new rotary engine. This is just the kind of stupid fabrication that will boost my ad revenue. You’re an automotive genius!
TandemSegue@reddit
Brilliant, I’ll take two clicks please
Dull_Switch1955@reddit
Half a Miata’s weight and running wild sounds like the ultimate recipe for chaos on wheels can’t wait to see this beast in action
MR_Se7en@reddit
I really wish we could download cars and drive them around….
Multifaceted-Simp@reddit
And probably costs 10-100x more than a miata
Ommerino@reddit
Looks like a complete scam. Way too light and dangerous for any amount of driving on public roads and you can buy a Rush SR (which is even lighter) for the track and ND Miata for the road, and use that same money to maintain both for basically an entire lifetime.
AndreLeGeant88@reddit
It's amazing how "two engineers" + "startup" can turn a kit car into a business model that's able to swindle probably millions in investments from people looking to "disrupt" the car industry.
nerdpox@reddit
Ah so someone at carscoops also listens to The Smoking Tire
8N-QTTRO@reddit
These projects are almost never fake to begin with. Almost every time, they disappear after the creators run out of money or hit a design/manufacturing/legal roadblock they can't overcome.
8N-QTTRO@reddit
There's no way this can possibly exist, and the price point of $500k seems utterly absurd as well. Anyone who's interested in this would be far better off spending their money on an Elise, Miata, or a Factory Five and replacing everything they can with carbon fiber.
RevvedUpLikeADeuce09@reddit
LOL. Posting an article that was in my Microsoft news tab yesterday, which was among articles of fake news and AI slop.
Significant-Dog-8166@reddit
I’m sure it will be fun, but for half a million dollars? It’s a $3k motorcycle engine.
RobinVerhulstZ@reddit
I wonder if anyones swapped one into a miata, or maybe a goldwingadinga boxer six? Would be pretty rad ngl
(The GW engine can take it, theres literally goldwings out there used to tow small cars, which has to look so goofy lol)
narwhal_breeder@reddit
The integrated transmissions in motorcycle engines make non-transverse swaps into cars a nightmare. People have done it with Hyabusa engines into Miatas though, just takes a tooon of fab work.
BOLT4 is the way to go for longitudinal.
Electronic_Trade_721@reddit
Gold Wing engines are longitudinal FWIW, and they even have reverse gear.
Bonerchill@reddit
Not after an Ed Pink Racing Engine upgrade package.
EPRE is expensive. I know because I spoke to them about doing a short run of Porsche engines in 2017. Quality’s there, though, and they have deep pockets behind them.
Badj83@reddit
Half the price of a Miata for I can only guess 15x the price? Inb4 "I don’t know why our company failed!"
mgk06@reddit
Sick
sioux612@reddit
I've wanted to use the k1600 for a lightweight roadster swap for years now but supposedly it would take quite a few modifications as it doesn't have a flywheel so if you want to move something more heavy than a bike it lacks the stored energy needed
Neat to see somebody who manages it, even if they'll only produce 3 and not sell 2 of them
BABYEATER1012@reddit
Alternate title: Cars with no cost constraints can be made as light as possible.
FatherGremlin@reddit
$500k is quite a bit.
DanielG165@reddit
$500K for this thing. Lol.
imightgetdownvoted@reddit
I was interested until I saw the price.
durrtyurr@reddit
I knew it had to be BMW's 1600cc motorcycle I6. I've been eying one to drop into an MG Midget for some time as a project, which is basically a different execution of a very similar concept.
goosereddit@reddit
I wish them success but the fail rate on these new sports cars is not reassuring.
daxelkurtz@reddit
Track-only go-karts are cool, but not really my interest. GLWGK
egretstew1901@reddit
Man this thing is beautiful!
furrynoy96@reddit
Hmm...that is a good looking little car, I hope it doesn't become vaporware
West_Independent2551@reddit
What's pretty ironic is I was just thinking how well a K1600 engine would go on a kit car earlier this year. Well I guess there goes one marketable idea XD
BigSnackStove@reddit
Costs a gazillion dollars as usual, not interesting.
Bigdongergigachad@reddit
First paragraph “aims to be” and LA based. So won’t be half miata priced.
CouncilmanRickPrime@reddit
$500k
dr_strange-love@reddit
But it will be half Miata quality
nguyenm@reddit
Smells like a "fund my hobby" sort of enterprise.
Zero_Lps@reddit
Has a bmw engine, so it'll be double the price
natek11@reddit
$500K
Zero_Lps@reddit
😆
Zero_Lps@reddit
😆
Nonameswhere@reddit
Hope they succeed, too early to tell if they would be able to deliver.
Ancient_Wisdom_Yall@reddit
When your car makes Lotus seem like a sensible choice, you should probably reconsider.
adamnicholas@reddit
Guys with money are making toys and want you to buy one without any guarantee it won’t explode on you