Is there a market for super-aero, futuristic looking fiberglass full body kits?

[aerohead]

I dug through my old materials from PATE SWAP MEET that I attend each year out at Texas Motor Speedway.
I have a brochure from a few years back from a couple in Aledo,Texas who were marketing a kit for the Chevy/GMC S-10/S-15 pickup.
The kit included a complete front and rear bed and cosmetic add-ons for the cab (which would remain on the frame).
All parts are hand laid fiberglass with premium gel coat,ISO resin,glass,mat,and core materials.
The price was just under $12,000,less sales tax,shipping,and handling.
This kit was for 'looks',a Hot Rod for the street,not low drag,but the cost gives an idea for what a low volume manufacturer/marketer might expect,price-wise for a kit to be worth doing.
You could just hold out for the Cd 0.24, 2016 Golf and start from there.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by aerohead

...... a couple in Aledo,Texas who were marketing a kit for the Chevy/GMC S-10/S-15 pickup.

Googled it and found something different.

Superior Glass Works Introduces New 1937 Chevy S10 Body Kits | Hotrod Hotline

Molalla, Oregon – April, 2012 – Superior Glass Works today introduced their new 1937 Chevy S10 Body Kits that permit the installation of their ’37 Chevy fiberglass bodies on a donor S10 pickup truck frame

Haler Concepts has something similar but their site seems to be down today.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by kach22i

Googled it and found something different.

Superior Glass Works Introduces New 1937 Chevy S10 Body Kits | Hotrod Hotline



Haler Concepts has something similar but their site seems to be down today.

This goes 'deeper' than the kit I saw,involving the complete body.
Let's see what their price looks like.Thanks!

[Vekke]

https://www.facebook.com/SmythPerformance

Smyth performance sells one nice bodykit project in the US and its pretty efficient. This aint super aero but could be. I think the biggest potential is building similar kit than that but it needs to be also fast like that car and look also nice to have a chance in the market.

Basic ecomodder does not care about the looks and calculates only savins so if its pure efficiency ROI needs to be within few years so that will be tough target to meet.

If there is any bit of fun factor so power to weight ratio proper price aint so big selling argument anymore.

[NachtRitter]

Yep, that's the one I referenced earlier too. A great starting point and a lot of room for improvement!

[stillsearching]

I'd say there's a market, but not alot of profit potential. Most bodykits are made to look cool - the cooler it looks, the more you can charge, even if it uses about the same amount of fiberglass. Everyone wanted to look like a Ferrari or Lamborghini until they both started cracking down on bodies quite awhile ago under trade dress protection.

However since one is going for simple shapes it's quite possible that a lower cost manufacturing method might be done than is necessary for something with alot of angles, vents, and such. It's even possible that bodykits could be made which would have wider application, where maybe a few custom or small parts help it fit a range of vehicles with an approximate shape better to smooth out certain parts.

Most people poor enough to not be happy with 55mpg and insisting on 80mpg dont' have thousands to spend on a body kit. Especially with the marginal improvements mattering less when one already drives an economical car. (the improvement on a van from 10mpg to 20mpg saves more gas, say 20 cents per mile at $4/gal, than the improvement of an economy car from 40mpg to 60mpg, saving 3 cents per mile at $4/gal - yet one concerned about mileage will already be driving the latter MOST of the time, if they are capable of doing so, so except for specialized people like me who need to haul cargo efficiently interest will be less for larger vehicles)

I for one would love to see aero stuff on the market - but it has to be affordable far moreso than normal 'bodykits'. I'd pay a few hundred extra for a highly aero pickup topper for instance - but something costing $5000 buys alot of gas. :P

[aerohead]

FibreFab was in bankruptcy by 1977.This was in between Arab Oil Embargo's.It doesn't bode well.
I would not want to take out a second mortgage on the home to go into business and risk a marriage (and more).
And with Beetles and Karmann Ghias long out of production now,it leaves only pickups,some SUVs,and Dodge Vipers as the only body-on-frame vehicles as candidate cars for conversions.
Alfa Romeo already has dibbs on Viper.Check out their Kamm-back TZ!

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by aerohead

Alfa Romeo already has dibbs on Viper.Check out their Kamm-back TZ!

This one?
Zagato to build Viper-based Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale
Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa Photo Gallery - Autoblog

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by kach22i

This one?
Zagato to build Viper-based Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale
Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa Photo Gallery - Autoblog

Yep,that's the animal.Alfa has maintained a proper roofline since the early 1960s and they were just as careful with their latest.
And they do the proper 'chop',as with a loaf of bread.Just as Fachsenfeld and Kamm advocated such a long time ago.
Thanks for the photo! She's a sweety!

[kach22i]

My favorite shot of it.

Zagato to build Viper-based Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale
Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa Photo Gallery - Autoblog


Not an aero-kit:

http://www.kitcarlist.com/discontinued.html

Interceptor steel kit bolts to ’87-97 Crown Vic or Grand Marquis