What was the "lightbulb" moment that made you build a roadster.

[HandyAndy]

My "lightbulb" moment was being given the green light from er indoors

In reality, when I retired from bike racing I missed the adrenalin rush of the racing & so set about finding someway of getting something to give me a bit of a buzz, had always liked the 7 style of cars but always thought they would be out of reach cost wise,

Then 1 day whilst me & mrs were in Halfords buying a kids bike , I left the mrs to decide on the bike & had a wander around the shop & found the book stand, & a book caught my eye ( yes the bible ) , stood there reading thru it the whole time we were in the shop, the mrs found me after buying the bike , I showed her the book & said "I,m gonna do this 1 day", yeah yeah was her reply, off we go & left the shop.

Two weeks later was my birthday, & the mrs had bought me the book & said " Go on then get it done "

So, I got the wifes "green light" .

cheers
andy

[Twin]

I joined HMS Sultan & was bored! so I went to "The Range" (big shop) for a walk. Thats where I came across the bible (as Handy puts it).

Now i'm letting the fact that it's a "SELF BUILD" and not a kitcar get to me! anyone else notice themselves saying "it's not a kitcar"?

[Oscar]

I've allways loved the shape of the old 7's, seeing them round the lanes in the summer and at the local car show, even the caretaker at my secondary school had one!

Never considered building a car of my own until christmas '09 when my Dad gave me the holiest of all books. Spent all christmas day reading it and declared boldly (after a few drinks) that I would build it! It will be easy, the book says so!!!

Disbelieving laughs ensued.

Half a year later a mate down the pub said he knew of a decent donor, and it's gone on from there.

[Davey]

Well I've been around cars and engines since the ripe old age of three according to my father (the best engineer I've ever known) and always been mad about all things car like. Started my own business in 2005 and there's a small breakers yard 200 yds away. Anyway one day I spotted a sevenesque car in there and after pestering the owner for a fortnight he eventually sold it to me for £150. Got it back to my workshop to discover what a piece of poo it really was, a LOCUST!!

Then my son bought me the bible so I resolved to rebuild the Locust (spit) and turn it into a better car using the Haynes book for guidance.

D.

[rdodger]

A ride in my Uncles Moss Monaco when I was around 10.

30 years on having owned a GTM Libra for 4 years and rebuilding it every one of those years it sold a year or so ago. Now it's time to build it my way from the start!

Maybe not the "right way" but my way

[shh120m]

I started my build because id always been into thrills and adrenaline.

At first i started with rollerblades. The sence of speed and the rush of wind in my hair was exhilerating. As time wore on i got used to the sence of speed and i just wasnt getting the "hit" anymore. Then my dad bought me a bmx which was awesome, but i soon got bored with that too. Then came the skateboard. Thats when i thought id found the holy grale of the adrenaline world, but the grazes and gravel rash were too much. Thats when i found the roadster book......

[flyerncle]

Christmass present a couple of years ago,the rest is history.

Interested in all things mechanical from being 6 years old and mech for the last 39 years.

[alga]

When I was a student, in the late nineties, I read an article in FT about this "Caterham" car, based on the venerable Lotus 7, which you can buy ready made, or as a crate of bits you have to put together yourself. The idea appealed to me very much, but was way out of reach.

Then in about 2008 I found the Locost book/car/movement on the Internet. I immediately knew I'd build one. But Ron Champion's books were all sold out on Amazon, and this new book based on a Sierra donor came about. I bought it during the 2008 Christmas hols, and got to it.