Copy Kits: Back in the late 1960s Ferrari faced a challenge. Ford's super muscle car, the GT40 threatened to knock the Italian racing car giants off their pedestal. Ferrari's reaction was the fabulous P4.
Unfortunately their plan didn't succeed and the GT40 went on to win Le Mans in 1967. Ferrari scrapped plans to put the P4 into production after making just four. In the intervening years one of the quartet was written off and the other three have become collectors' items, fetching multi-million euro sums when they occasionally come to the market.
For John Adam of the Irish Kit Car Club this posed something of a problem. Having fallen head over heals in love with the P4, he realised he would never be able to scrape together the €10 million needed to buy one of these supercar classics if one ever came to market.
So, instead he decided to build one himself - and €30,000 and 2,000 man-hours later, a gleaming P4 sits in the driveway of his Westmeath home, and he is justifiably proud of his achievement.
"After importing the kit, I spent every weekend and most evenings putting the car together from the chassis up. I got a 3.5 litre Rover V8 engine and rebuilt it to put it into the car. I did all the electrical work, put in the interior, everything from the seats to the carpets to the clocks, myself. It's my dream car and I now own it."
However the story does not have a happy ending. When John went to register his car he was told he would be liable for VRT and VAT to the tune of over €10,000 just to get his car on the road.
"I contacted the Revenue Commissioners who were very sympathetic to my plight but were ultimately unable to help. The bottom line is that VRT applies to any new chassis or monocoque registered in the state.
"Many kit cars are built on existing chassis such as those from the Ford Sierra, or the Escort. If I had built my car on an existing chassis, the VRT wouldn't apply, but because it's new to the country, I have to pay."
On the suggestion of the Revenue Commissioners, the Club has written to the Department of Finance in an attempt to find some solution to the issue, but hasn't had a reply.
"We in the Irish Kit Car Club have no issue with VRT being charged on fully assembled vehicles being imported into the state. But, when we put in such huge effort to build a car from scratch, it's very unfair that we are then charged VRT on the full value of the vehicle.
"What we suggest is that, when a kit car is built on a new chassis, no VRT should be charged. If the car is sold on within two years, then the original owner could be liable for VRT. This would get around any concerns that the authorities may have that the car is being built to sell on and make a profit."
The Irish Kit Car Club came into existence in 2002 after four interested parties responded to a classified ad seeking interest in forming a club to help enthusiasts assemble and insure kit cars.
Until the club was formed it was virtually impossible to own and drive a kit car in the Republic because of issues such as insurance, registration, VRT and VAT. The club now has 34 members with 10 fully built cars and another 14 under construction.
"Since the club was formed we have made huge strides in terms of sorting out the insurance issues" says John Adam. "We now have a club insurance scheme through Jardine Lloyd Thompson Ireland Ltd. The annual costs vary from car to car from about €800 t0 €2,000 for third-party policies with limited mileage. All our cars have been given the once over by an engineer for the insurance company to certify their roadworthiness."
While John may have spent €30,000 on his Ferrari P4, the cost of an entry-level kit car is far lower. "You can buy a kit for as little as £250. The more popular kits vary in price from about £2000 for a Caterham 7 type kit to about £9,000 or more for the AC Cobra copies.
"Many of these kits would fit a donor chassis. At the more expensive end you have Ferrari and Lamborghini copies. After buying the kit you then have to source an engine.
"We would encourage anyone interested in getting into kit cars to have a chat with us. Between us we have a lot of experience and knowledge of building cars and are more than willing to share this."
More information on building your kit car and membership is available on www.irishkitcarclub.com