Just saw the article in the newest Car and Driver. Very cool info and pics of guys who have built their own versions of the Caterham 7 (Lotus 7), one guy only had around $2,500 invested (of course, not counting the hours and hours of labor involved).

In case you missed it (or just haven't seen it yet), the article starts out by saying they invited members of a certain web site (the name escapes me, and I don't have it in front of me) who had professed to have built their own versions of the Caterham 7 to a track day. 4 guys (3 younger guys, around 29, one guy was 54) showed up with their homemade sports cars. One was not able to be tested as they found the rear suspension had some loose components that could not be easily rectified. The $2,500 car got a mixed review. One that was built for around $10,000 got a much better review. One of the cars was built using a Honda motorcycle engine. I think the car may have weighed 924 pounds! Another was built using a turboed Miata engine. The guy said he was trying to sell his Miata and when he couldn't find a buyer, he just started stripping it, selling the parts he couldn't use and using the ones he could to build his project car. Another guy was a Miata tuner by profession, and he subsequently wrote a book about how to build a car like his using Miata donor parts.

One car pulled 1G on the skid pad, another pulled .98.

I will not labor with more details, but it was a very interesting read. It is inspiring to think that with enough elbow grease and know how, things like this can be done.

If you don't know, the Caterham 7 looks like this:

 

cool, that pict you show's running RP01's.

 

Check out this site:http://locostusa.com/

 

That's the one referenced in the article! Thanks!

 

Ultralite

These superperformance WCM Ultralites are available from $34,750

http://organicracing.com/aboutthecar.html

I took 2 of the pics from the short video, from my car

 

You know you can get a Caterham in that range or less. There was one at Sebring.

 

I think Caterham's start just under $30k for the rolling chasis and then you have to get an engine/tranny. I'd love to make one some day.