It's quite possible kit car enthusiasts are wrenching away somewhere every minute of the day in the U.S. But creativity does rest. That's when we dream up cool things to do with our cars to make them unique. But there's always someone who has to put together a few more parts before calling it quits for the day or night while the rest of us are dreaming of more horsepower or chrome. Somebody's just getting started on a project at the same time someone else is performing the finishing touches.
Often, builders work through the night to get their cars right for an upcoming event. Unlike street rod or musclecar shows, which occur several times a month throughout the year, there are a handful of noteworthy kit car events, and two that are the oldest and most prominent. The Association of Handcrafted Automobiles fields the longest-running replicar show on the West Coast. The two-day event is called AHA's Fun Under the Sun Show. Located in Buena Park within the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park compound in Southern California, the AHA Fun Under the Sun Show has now occurred on 28 occasions.
According to the AHA, the '07 event had the third largest number of registrants, 233, and the third highest total of participating vehicles, 219. Perhaps those 14 no-shows were builders who just couldn't get done in time, no matter how long or hard they worked. Let's thank them for making the effort, and let's hope we see their freshly completed projects soon. Admirably, seven cars still under construction did make it to the event. For those of us who have projects underway at shops or still in our garages, we appreciate the owners bringing their almost finished kits to show us we're not the only ones without drivers. It reminds us that building a car from the ground up, or from the roller stage, takes tenacity, talent, luck, skill, and money. We're encouraged to get our vehicles done before the Fun Under the Sun event rolls around next year.
The only thing we missed out on at Knott's was their famous fried chicken dinner on Saturday night. In '08, we hope to see you at the show and at dinner. Until then, feast your eyes on some of the cool kit cars we captured in our cameras and on these pages.
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 In the Restored Pre-'70s class,...  In the Restored Pre-'70s class, Hagen Hedfield and his Kellison '74 J-5 took Second Place. |
 In the Street Rod category,...  In the Street Rod category, Jesse Golden took top honors with his modified '27 Ford Track T roadster, which he built himself. |
 Will Miles and his '37 Cord...  Will Miles and his '37 Cord won First Place in the Neo-Classic/Mercedes classification. |
 Manik Technologies (www.manikllc.com)...  Manik Technologies (www.manikllc.com) in Richardson, TX, is the exclusive distributor of the Westfield XI, the stunning replica of the Lotus 11. |
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 We featured Steve Bales' '34...  We featured Steve Bales' '34 Mercedes Benz 500K roadster in a previous issue of KC. |
 Perry D's brought out a fresh-from-the-paint...  Perry D's brought out a fresh-from-the-paint booth custom blue-sprayed 550 Spyder for showgoers to admire. |
 Robin Blench designed, engineered,...  Robin Blench designed, engineered, and is building from the ground up a Lugano 250S sports car. |
 In the 427 Cobra under $30,000...  In the 427 Cobra under $30,000 class, James Peirce Sr. and Jr. of Escondido, CA, won. |
 One of the many highlights...  One of the many highlights of the Knott's show was meeting and chatting with Bruce Meyers, the inventor, builder, and distributor of the legendary Meyers Manx dune buggies. |
 Talk about power-to-weight...  Talk about power-to-weight ratio-Al Olseen's new World Class Motorsports Ultralite looked just right in British Racing Green. |
 Grabbing Second Place in the...  Grabbing Second Place in the 427 Cobra over $50,000 category was Dean Hornbacker with his bad-to-the-bone Midstates Cobra. |
 Another blast from the past...  Another blast from the past was Augie Delgado's '64 Kellison/Astra X300 GT, which he drove to the show on Sunday. |
 Darren and Lisa Friedman of...  Darren and Lisa Friedman of Camarillo, CA, displayed their latest replicar-an all-aluminum Kirkham roadster with a removable Le Mans top, which is aptly named Reflection. |
 Factory Five Racing President...  Factory Five Racing President Dave Smith gave out awards to Factory Five owners on Saturday afternoon before some 70-plus FFR cars and owners cruised to Huntington Beach, CA, for more festivities. |
 Bringing home the President's...  Bringing home the President's Award was Dan Begley with his supercharged, 3.8-liter V-6 Ford-powered '56 Thunderbird. |
 Taking top place in the Speedster...  Taking top place in the Speedster class was Bill George and his Thunder Ranch 356 Speedster. |
 It was KIT CAR's good fortune...  It was KIT CAR's good fortune to have Steve and Angela Lane's Thunder Ranch 550 Spyder as part of the KIT CAR magazine display. |
 Within the Top Gun Exotics...  Within the Top Gun Exotics display was a luscious lime green Lamborghini Murcielago replica with a Pontiac Fiero chassis and drivetrain. |
 Mike Huszar owns a 2006 Grinnall...  Mike Huszar owns a 2006 Grinnall Scorpion. He installed the 1,200cc BMW four-cylinder motorcycle engine in the U.K.-produced kit. |
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 Tom McBurnie, owner of Thunder...  Tom McBurnie, owner of Thunder Ranch in El Cajon, CA, posed for a photo with Angela Lane. |
 FFR Cobra owner Jeff Miller...  FFR Cobra owner Jeff Miller was finishing his car when he heard of his friend Dick Smith's passing. |
 Many of the 70-plus FFR cars...  Many of the 70-plus FFR cars on display at Knott's cruised down to Huntington Beach, CA. At 6:30 p.m., the drivers revved their engines for 30 seconds in honor of famous Cobra racer, friend to many Cobra enthusiasts, and hero Dick Smith, who died in a private plane accident with his 16-year-old stepson Kyle on April 18. Mr. Smith won more races in Cobras than anyone. |
 Throughout the show, participants...  Throughout the show, participants and spectators visited the KIT CAR booth. |
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