Bought a Brand New Kit Car

I bought a brand new, never unpacked kit car yesterday.  It is a Mercedes "Special Roadster" Marlene by Classic Roadsters.
I know, you are going to say Classic Roadsters has not sold that kit for 20 years.  Right on, this one was bought by a couple in Pasadena CA, and has sat in their garage for 20 years, not even being unpacked!  The guy died several months ago, I bought it from the widow, the little old lady from Pasadena!
It is the best kit they sold, seems to have everything you need to finish except an engine and transmission.  I never expected I could own one of these, and am very excited about it.  

http://s187.photobucket.com/albums/x161/Doneda/?action=view¤t=0f14_1.jpg  

This may well be the most beautiful car in the world!!!!!  

Classic Roadsters did make some spectacular kits of the Mercedes 500K and 540K roadsters. And the Mercedes 540K of the mid-1930s is considered one of the most beautiful cars built from the '30s. You'll get no argument there. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I happen to love the Art Deco influenced styling of cars from the '30s. But, automotive enthusiasts who are younger than me might not share my same passion for these elegant and often coach built automobiles of the 1930s.

Have you started working on your new kit car? Please keep us apprised of your progress on the project. Have you planned what drivetrain you'll be installing? Do you know what color you'll paint it? You have a bunch of fun and challenging decisions and work ahead of you. Good luck and God Speed.  

Happy Thanksgiving To All KIT CAR Subscribers, Newsstand Buyers, and Internet Surfers!

Best,

Brian, aka AutoSmith  

To answer the questions, it comes with a polished gel coat, no need to paint it ever!  Mine is white, with blue interior and top.  Classic Roadsters sold this one in 1988, this is the Deluxe kit with about $5000 in "extras".  This means the chassis comes assembled, springs, disk brakes and rotors, differential, all installed.  It also has the V6 Ford and automatic transmission option, which suits me fine.  I could throw the V6 stuff away and put whatever I wanted, but the V6 Ford is fine with me, the kit includes mounting change for the alternator and AC compressor.  Speaking of which, it comes with the AC kit, roll up glass in the doors, spare tire in the fender well, even the new wide whitewall tires.
It is being transported from Pasadena CA to my Rio Grande Velley home next week, so I can start on it as soon as it arrives.  I will keep updating information as I unpack it and start bolting it together.
The way this one was bought, ALL you need is an engine and transmission, nothing more.  

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x161/Doneda/PB240012.jpg  

Congratulations! can't wait to see it all put together  

Hey Don, I just bought a Marlene today myself.  Mine is not brand new as yours, but it will be just as nice once I finish it.  Just curious would you have any literature that came with your kit that I could get a copy of?  I am going to need to find someone that can supply a soft top, a rear bumper, and some mouldings.  I can't wait to get her looking pristine again.  

Congratulations on getting a Marlene! sounds like it's going to be a fun car!  

So happy to hear that!  You did not say what make the kit was, I did however wind up with two assembly manuals for mine.  I suppose if it is other than a Classic Roadsters project, it might be worthless to you..  

Dear ekimball.  I just joined this forum and am having a hard time navigating to where I want to be heard.  I am hoping to find a Porsche 356 speedster or similar
kit that someone has started (maybe even decades ago) and gave up on.  I want to buy a more-or-less complete 356 kit (minus engine/trans OK) as inexpensively as realistic and finish it out in a very bare-bones, "rat" format (sacreliious, I know.
I'm talking a flat black finish, red steel wheels, checkerboard dash, bomber seats,
Serape upholstery, etc.  I am not interested in a pristine 356 look-alike that could
"fool" all but the trained eye.  I care only about the overall shpe of the car and would rather spend my money on the performance.  As I stated at the beginning of this post, I'm not even sure where to look for a reply to this post.  If possible,
reply to my email at adrian.vallejo@suddenlink.net with some guidance on working the forum and hopefully some leads on where to obtain the project I'm lookng for.
Thanks Adrian Vallejo  adrianv356  

Congrats on the Marlene! I worked on the tooling for that kit and have assembled several. I worked for Classic for 12 years. I am currently building myself a Sebring MX.  

Interesting one this. My Marlin 5EXi was built by Which Kit on an age related plate and I have always MoT'd it every year.

By contrast my good friend Dave Bence has an Onyx Firefox also on an age related plate and he has been told it does not need an MoT for 3 years and gets a tax disc every year without any problems.

I tend to agree with limpabit in that the DVLA really are not sure themselves.



car transportation
auto shippers  

I have a question on assembly that the manual is vague on, and am held up on building.  Could you please email me at DonGeneda@rgv.rr.com