Talk:Kit car
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The following section has now been added twice. I have taken out the key items and added them to the main text. Much of the translation is very hard to understand. I have left it here in case anyone else wants to check it over
- 1.1 Kit Cars from the viewpoint of social science and economy (consumer behavior)
- Right in the beginning of the automobile industry, there was a possibility of manufacturing a customized "dream vehicle" for a special market. For example, the Englishman Thomas Hyler White [ 1 ] developed a kit car in 1896. Mr. White assembled this in the same manner as the respective buyers of the components assembled the subsequent models. (Among other things, technical designs were published in a Magazine called English Mechanic for constructing a car oneself).
- Current kit cars are usually replicas of well-known and expensive old timers on a 1:1 basis. Everybody, who has got some technical talent, can manufacture these at home. After assembling such a replica, one can drive these kit cars on the public roads. [ 2 ] These replicas of well-known older car models are generally not bought as a complete kit, because the chassis and body come separately. [ 3 ] From outside, these replicas look like the original. Their bodies are made of fiberglass mats soaked in polyester resin [ 4 ] instead of the otherwise usual "sheet metal dress".
- Even technically, the prospective customer can clearly deviate from the original in these vehicles. The components such as motor, gears, axles etc. are mostly taken out from the current, usually secondhand cars and are often technically processed before alterations, i.e. parts which are worn out are replaced. Kit Cars enable the classic car respectively vintage car enthusiast to possess vehicles, which would be financially exorbitant for him to acquire in original. Apart from this, genuine old timers are often not fit for the daily use.
- If one considers the fact that the idea of first kit cars was already implemented in England at the end of the last century and the appropriate technical plans for private assembling were that time itself on sale, it is quite a surprise that the people are unaware about such vehicles, especially because the Volkswagen Buggy-Replicas [ 5 ] appeared in relatively large numbers in the 60s/70s. [ 6 ] Most of the car drivers react skeptically, when they first hear about Kit Cars. It appears to them as if it is technically impossible to assemble a car individually at home and also use this on the public roads. Besides, they are scared that such a car would not subsequently pass the mandatory quality inspection [ 7 ] (road worthy test) done for the motorized traffic by the "Technical Inspection Authority".
- Therefore the Kit Car enthusiast has to put up with the stigmatization that he is just a tinker. This shows that for the success of an artifact, it is not sufficient just to offer a well-conceived technical product (along with the sample appraisals of the individual components of the kit cars), but it must also be socially acceptable. Due to lack of acceptance for kit cars (i.e. culturally biased) the market for these vehicles thus gets a strong social dimension.
- Assembling of a kit car should not just be regarded as a quaint niche occupation, but also incorporate the idea, that this product could offer a possibility for a continuous social change by being an alternative to the conventional automobile industry.
- The question can be raised, why the modalities are not being worked out to increase the turnover of kit cars. To answer this question about market expansion, different areas such as work, spare time, economics, educational system as well as legal principles within our system would have to be considered. Thereby, the division of market between the models ready to be driven off (commercial production) and kit cars (to be assembled by private persons) would have to also be taken into account. This very soon leads to the realization that due to different life styles with their individualizing tendencies, especially in Germany, a different kind of treatment is meted out to the kit cars than for example in the USA or Great Britain. If one compares their education systems, one does not find any deficit between their polytechnic education [ 8 ] , which is though, particularly in West Germany, imparted in a too scientific manner. Probably it is, therefore, very common in the USA and Great Britain to assemble one’s car oneself. In a post materialistic society such as the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), it is additionally evident that a kit car can only become a pass time object within the framework of Do-it-yourself-construction. But the majority of the population is not realizing the possibility of understanding the technology afresh and individual mobility as such. A significant result of the specialized publications on this topic is that the private kit car construction cannot gain the same ground as the "Car from the conveyor belt" because of the social attitudes and consumption patterns. Especially the factor ‘time’ speaks against an increase in the turnover of the kit cars, because a kit car cannot be assembled in less than 100 hours. The quantitative time investment clashes with the fulfillment of giddy paced internal urges of our "adventurous society" [ 10 ] . This mainly explains why the possibility of kit cars being elevated to everyday cars and pass time objects is limited. This is also quite evident from the survey done for an empirical study [ 11 ] of around 600 kit car owners in the FRG, USA and Great Britain. The image of the “Rolling High Tech Equipment”, created by the automobile industry over decades, is so strong that the kit cars with their tinker-image of the past can hardly defy it. Even though various English monthly scientific magazines and annual catalogues show that many people, who are interested in a car, are expressing their wish to acquire a kit car, yet this is contrary to the specific conditions prevailing in our society.
- In view of a restructuring of the production form [ 12 ] (concentration on the work), it can be assumed that analogous to the manufacturing of special trucks, the kit cars, compared with other segments within the automobile industry, could fulfill the criteria leading to Small Technology and Local Economy as a way of decentralization.
- [ 1 ] Cf. Alan Sutton, Mr. White and his motor cars, in: The Automobile, June 1986, p. 29ff
- [ 2 ] As per the survey of nearly 600 kit car owners in the USA, England and Germany, evaluated by the author Dr. Dr. Ingo Stüben, for mounting 100 to 1500 hours are required depending upon the model and the status of the semi-finished product, that has been acquired. Published in: Bausatzkraftfahrzeuge (Kit Cars) als ein Beispiel technischer Freizeit- und Mobilitätsinnovation, Tectum Verlag, Marburg 2000
- [ 3 ] An example has been explicitly presented in the publication: Ingo Stüben, Mallory. Die Entwicklung eines Kit Cars, editiononline.de, Hamburg 2004
- [ 4 ] For fibre-glass soaked in polyester resin (epoxy-glass resin/glass-fiber reinforced plastic), the abbreviation GRP is usually used. This GRP is largely used in the construction of the boats. Hulls of sport boats or canoes are almost exclusively manufactured from this material due to its simple processing. GRP as a cold-setting medium requiring a hardener offers users the possibility to freely arrange components with a relatively low effort.
- [ 5 ] Volkswagen Buggies are based on the chassis of the Volkswagen beetle. For this, the body, which is screwed, is separated from the chassis and a GRP-body from the car accessory shop is mounted. The Dune Buggy was an open jeep like fun car, individually created with relatively little effort.
- [ 6 ] Cf. also the publication: Ingo Stüben, Kit Cars. Ein Weg zum neuen Volkswagen, editiononline.de, Hamburg 2004
- [ 7 ] For obtaining the first official permission for the German traffic, every motor vehicle with a speed over 6 km/h without general operating license (ABE) or an EC type permission (EC-TG), especially in Germany, has to undergo, as per the § 21 of Road traffic licensing regulations (STVZO), a technical inspection by an officially recognized expert of a Technical Inspection Authority. See also § 16 STVZO and § 18 (1) STVZO
- [ 8 ] Cf. Heinz Frankiewicz, Technik und Bildung, Berlin 1967
- [ 9 ] Cf. W. Schmayl, Pädagogik und Technik, Bad Heilbrunn 1989
- [ 10 ] Cf. Gerhard Schulze, Die Erlebnisgesellschaft. Kultursoziologie der Gegenwart, Frankfurt/M 1993
- [ 11 ] Cf. Ingo Stüben, Bausatzkraftfahrzeuge (Kit Cars) als ein Beispiel technischer Freizeit- und Mobilitätsinnovation, Tectum Verlag, Marburg 2000
- [ 12 ] Cf. Norbert R. Müllert, Veränderungschancen in der Industriegesellschaft. Die Botschaft von einer sanften Lebens- und Technikform, in: Technologie und Politik 11, Reinbek 1978
Malcolma 07:57, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
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- Could we trace the user via the history page of the German article if he has an account there, in order to communicate with him that further edits on his part are unnecessary? -- DeLarge 08:25, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
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- EDIT: Nuts. The text was inserted into the German article by a userIP, 139.11.6.208. Scratch that idea. -- DeLarge 08:29, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
Given that we're unable to communicate with this unregistered user, and that his edits come from multiple IPs (which make it difficult to block him), how realistic would it be to tag the page with {{semiprotect}} for a few days? I know that the frequency of edits (1-2/day) mean it probably doesn't warrant it under the strictest terms of WP:SPP, but this has been going on for almost a week.
In the meantime, I'll maybe add some <!-- stop adding this! --> text to the main article as a deterrant. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't duplicating his own (translated) information... -- DeLarge 16:52, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
- It gets a bit annoying. I think it's time for a semiprotect. That would at least get his/her/its attention. // Liftarn
