Hi David and everyone. My name is Berkeley Choate. My partner, Justin Brown and I are the new owners of the molds. They need some TLC, but in general are very well made and professionally done. I am confident that they will put out some gorgeous panels. When we have the first complete set of panels in our hands, we will assemble them to a rudimentary chassis to test for fitment. Once we are satisfied with the overall quality, we expect to offer body sets for sale. We will start a new thread so that you guys can follow our progress, as there's no better way to get a sense of what the kit is comprised of and how it goes together than to watch others do it.
I'm just going to put it out there that this is no two-piece, slip-over-the-chasis-and-go deal. There are 20 pieces to the panel set, and they comprise a package that is more complete than many if not most panel sets on the market. There will be doors, a dashboard, fire walls, a seat pan and such. This will make for a more sophisticated final product than some kits, but probably more time spent making it all go together as well. Someone who buys a panel set should be a fairly experienced fabricator, not a newbie.
Our long range plan is to offer it with a chassis and miscellaneous bits so that anyone with a modicum of ability can make it go together, but that will take development time in addition to our day jobs, so don't hold your breath. There are a bunch of possible donor combinations, but it looks like our pilot build will feature a 2.3 Liter Duratech motor, a Porsche transmission, and Miata-based suspension, steering and brakes. 160 HP doesn't sound like a lot till you figure that the entire car will probably be around 1300 lbs. in this configuration, giving it a 8:1 power to weight ratio (Better than the new Mustang GT with 435 HP) to go with the slippery body and great weight distribution. Once we've got that build dialed in, we're looking at a plethora of other driveline combinations from motorcycle-based, to electric, to V6.
If you have questions prior to our build thread, feel free to PM me or contact us via Justin's website:
http://www.lightningbugcars.com/kits.html