Back on eBay with two hours left: Beautiful recreation

[Ruadhd2]

No affiliation. Looks like it was built by a very talented perfectionist.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150530009906&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

[MisterMike]

Is this possibly a scam? Scant description, photos taken against a white background, Euro plates on a California car . . . it seems a little weird. Maybe I'm jaded, but there are a lot of fraudulent car and motorcycle ads on eBay. Be careful!

[phowie50]

For what it's worth, the alleged owner (newkurt) posted a comment on this site regarding the car when it was last on E-Bay in October:

 

"The 7 from Ca. on ebay is my car. Lotus vin from 1964, no SB100. I did a recreation to correct and update the problems of the originals. It's 1x1 mild steel tube frame Tig welded, and aluminum, I did everything except splash the fiberglass. It currently has 25 hrs. ( hour meter ) street driven, no track time with 1 autocross. It was professionally photographed in a studio."

[MisterMike]

Thanks. Newkurt's a man of few words. I sent him a request for more info via eBay's message service. If I get a reply, I'll post the info here.

 

There's very little information in the eBay ad. Maybe this is one of those situations where Mrs. Newkurt has told him to get rid of the darned thing and he's not trying very hard--"Geez, darling, I've had it on eBay for two months. What more can I do?"

[LongTimeLurker]

I have exchanged e-mails with the owner. I have tons of photo's, and one shows a rear California license plate, and it has registration stickers when the photo was taken. He also appears in some of the photos. The car has also been listed on lotustalk.com and californiacaterhamclub.com. I am no expert but I don't think it is a scam. My only slight concern was with the "VIN Verified registration", and the rotary. Registration problems are the last thing I wish to deal with in California. BTW The build looks outstanding right down to the custom underside plates. BTW I think he also supplied me with a phone number.

[phowie50]

Awesome. I visited this site pretty much daily for a few years now, shopping for the future. The extreme detail of the car definitely caught my attention.

 

My gut instinct might be to cry 'fake', except for the fact its a rotary - what scale model 7 would have a rotary?

 

Please post if you hear back from newkurt.

[Ruadhd2]

This is a beautiful, perfectionist car that iI believe is real.

[Ruadhd2]

The owner is a professional metal fabricator (I think retired) and I believe he hand built the car to sell it, if I remember correctly. What's wrong with rotaries in principal? Especially the early, simpler ones. Porsches use oil don't they?

[LongTimeLurker]

I simply have zero personal experience with rotary engines. I have also looked at some of your earlier posts, and it appeared that you were having some reliability issues. Perhaps I am mistaken. Also, based on my research it appears that they are pretty loud, somewhat dirty, and have oiling issues. I am not set against it, as I have a friend who has been working on them for 26 years or so, and has gotten amazing power from them. His local shop gets awesome reviews so I would have fantastic support as far as the rotary goes. I just don't want to have a shop do all of my work. This builder estimates hp at 170, which would be a hoot. He is also only 2 hours or so from me by car.

 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/rotorsport-complete-mazda-service-and-repair-santa-clara

 

http://www.rotorsport2.com/aboutus.htm

[Mondo]

That is one clean car!

[SkinnyG]

The frame looks a lot more like a Locost than a Caterham. Well done, though.

[Ruadhd2]

I never had problems with my Rotary. Something went wrong when, while it was in the shop so it was rebuilt. Long story. Anyway, I hear a lot of stories, but the only facts I know is some reported oil use due to wear of the seals. But I don't think it is exorbitant.

 

True my car is loud. Don't know if it is louder than other 7's. So far the new build is looking clean. Oil is very clean, but I only have 300 miles on it. My problem isn't that the car has a lot of issues, it is that I have no mechanical ability and these cars are for tinkerers, preferably with engineering training. I wish I could just keep it as a sculpture.

[dallasdude]

It is interesting he built it with a 12A instead of a 13B rotary. I think 12A's were last produced in 1984. The rotor housings are no longer available from Mazda, and there was no factory fuel injection so it would be harder in fabricate one.

 

For track use a 12A is capable of close to 200hp at 9000 rpm with the right porting and intake. 13B a little more but with more quite a bit more torque due to the larger displacement. In either case you want a heck of a muffler. Some of them use lava rocks.

 

The lister replied to me from e-bay with a promise of more pictures.

 

Looks like a great car. Has to be hundreds of hours in it. Wish it was closer.

[MisterMike]

I emailed the seller and he sent me a ton of photos. I'm not sure it's the car for me, but it's an absolutely stunning piece of work. The frame, body, pretty much everything except components like the engine, brakes, shocks, etc. are all hand-fabricated. Dallasdude said "hundreds of hours," but it has to be thousands. The seller, Kurt, said he had worked on it for about eight years.

 

Amazing. if there's anyone nearby who's in the market, I'd urge you to contact him and jump on it.

[Ruadhd2]

Just a note. I've now been to three rotary specialist shops and can tell you that they have 12A and 12B engines lying all over their shops even though Mazda may not sell them anymore. Also, these engines are very inexpensive to get on eBay, like very often under 1k or even $500.00. The transmissions are all over and cheap too. You can always switch out a rotary for another or just go with different power if you have the skills. Also, with all their downsides the rotaries leave you a lot of room to work in the engine compartment.

[dallasdude]

I got the pictures late last night. Detail even down to things like the pedal assemblys is amazing. Yes unless this guy is incredibly fast as well as being a perfectionist, thousands of hours is absolutely right. If he built it to sell, after materials he has to be getting way less than minimum wage.

 

Perfect used or new rotor housings are what you want if you are building a preformance rotary with creamic apex seals. Ceramic seals are expensive and a rotor housing with pits in the surface can wear them quickly. Otherwise they last forever. The engine is this car will probalby last for many miles on the street and produces more than enough power as is. It could be converted to a 13B with new intake and exhaust if someone wanted to. I was mostly curious why he started with a 12A instead of a 13B when they are both plentiful used. Almost all the 13B parts (including housings) are still available. Rotarys are great for a track car. The only thing that ever normally needs replacement is the apex seals....and if you use ceramic ones you replace them once and you're done for then on.

 

If this car wasn't so far away I'd be there tomorrow. Still trying to talk myself into it.

[kennyrayandersen]

Looks like it still didn't sell? I guess I would wonder about what suspension parts, geometry etc were used. The body etc looks pretty fine though. Would someone mind forwarding the pics to me?