LocostUSA.com

The OP's post has "where do I get...", and "where do I buy...", while at the same time saying it's too expensive. Too expensive compared to what, a pile of raw tubing and a junkyard engine? If you're serious about your budget limitation, there are two choices: Build it entirely yourself, or buy someone's incomplete orphan project. Either way you're going to have to learn to weld. Can't argue with reality.

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

And $10K is cheap if you compare it to the other 7-type kits on the market. Doing everything yourself is the only way to have a chance of hitting your budget.

^^Yep - I couldn't afford, say, an actual Cat***ham (locally, they're up around the $90,000 mark, last time I checked), so I decided to pay for the car I want with 80% from my own labor, and 20% money (for stuff I simply can't build), approximately. I figure I'll probably be into the car for roughly $15K when it's done (are they EVER really done?) which is pretty darned cheap for an exotic, hand-built-to-my-personal-specs, brand new, high-performance, street-legal sports car.

I could have done it cheaper, if I'd used a single-donor car, but I'd have had to make a bunch of compromises I wasn't willing to accept. It's not like I'm ever going to build another one, down the road...I'm just too old for that.

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Scratch building, at continental-drift speed, a custom McSoreley-design framed, dual-Weber 45DCOE carburated, Zetec-engined, ridiculously fast money pit.

http://zetec7.webs.com/

To my mind, that's the key "value proposition" in building a Locost as they say now days. If that makes sense to a person, or is the only realistic way in which they will be able to have a high performance sports car, then they should do it.

Another possible side benefit is developing the skill set and acquiring shop tools necessary to construct your Locost. In my case, I know they will serve me well for years, as I do other projects that I have in mind. So that part is a 2-fer for me. It also lowers the cost on future projects as I have the tools and skills already. So, in my case, I guess it's really a 3-fer.

Cheers,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886