Build Your Own Car in Just 400 Easy Steps

Yes, the manual is the size of a phone book. Yes, it takes hundreds of hours. But assembling your ride from a kit offers rewards that buying off the lot can’t match.

- Ezra Dyer

Think of a Factory Five kit car as the ultimate adult Lego set.The premise: An average weekend warrior,armed with basic tools and about 250 hours of spare time, can build a hot rod, a midengine supercar, or a replica Shelby. Spend $19,990 for Factory Five’s Mk4 Roadster kit, add an engine, transmission, wheels, and paint, and you have a sweet Cobra for less than $35,000.

Yes, the term “kit car” still carries a bit of pejorative sting. The early days of this automotive sub-industry included machines that were unappealing concepts (art deco roadsters based on Volkswagen Beetles), had parts that didn’t fit (this was before computer aided design), or both. Not so anymore. Modern kit cars are designed using 3D CAD software and engineered around powerful, reliable running gear like GM V-8s or Subaru flat-fours. A half million-dollar laser CNC machine cuts parts with accuracy to within a hundredth of a millimeter, so the pieces actually line up.

Even so, the prospect is daunting.Can a half-competent wrench jockey like me really build a whole car? I’m at Factory Five’s Massachusetts head quarters to find out.