Exocets Done Three Different Ways

Keith Tanner said:

Because at the time the original Exocet was designed in the UK, the Atom was the daddy. It was a way to get something that looked like an Atom using common mechanicals for cheap. Like a Ferrari body kit on a Fiero.

Then the Americans got hold of it and got all focused on function. Having driven both, I think it's a better car than the Atom and it's sure a hell of a lot stronger. But those leftover curved side tubes definitely bring some compomises.

If you ask me copying someone else's thing is just about the worst sin a person can perpetrate in the product design world.  The only thing worse is copying it AND marketing it as cheaper.  Your telling the world you are unoriginal and you make low quality products.  

Don't think of it as a copy, think of it as an homage. Or don't. They're just as much fun to drive regardless.

And while those curved tubes may have originally been inspired by a high-priced Atom, the end result is that the Exocet has a much larger range of performance products available, can be legitimately registered in the US without shenanigans and is better designed than the Atom from a safety, chassis stiffness and suspension kinematics standpoint. The fact that it's less expensive to build is just kind of a bonus.

Quick, what's the most popular kit car in the US? Does it look like something else?

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Pretty sure all those Cobra guys are happy someone made a cheaper copy.

In reply to msterbeau :

Well, the good news is: no one will make you buy an Exocet! ;) 

Before I joined this forum, I just Thought I was an opinionated azz hat...

I am extremely opinionated, but I have never (at least I hope!) insulted people that thought different than I, like too many on here do. 

Haven't seen warren around here in a long time. Are Exocets still being made in Atlanta? 

Now that I know buying an Exocet makes you a contrarian, I'm even more tempted. 

OHSCrifle said:

Haven't seen warren around here in a long time. Are Exocets still being made in Atlanta? 

They are, but Warren works at Lucid now. He has an interesting side project that's been underway for a while, I'm not sure how public it is. 

Kevin Patrick is the owner of Exomotive and he's done a pretty solid job of navigating the pitfalls of running a kit car company. 

The idea of the Exocet as being an atom ripoff is just stupid. They have a couple of items in common and a ton of differences. Now IMO placing supercar bodys on air-cooled veedub chassis is silly, but that's an argument for a different day. 

I wonder, now that the Exocet isn't the item du jour like it was three or four years ago, are they still selling? COVID home isolation might have been a boost, but who knows?  

It was clearly inspired by the Atom from the start, there's no other reason to package those big arcing tubes. But it's more of a styling cue than a ripoff as mechanically it's totally different. 

As far as I can tell from the groups, sales seem to be holding fairly well based on the number of "mine's shipping! Wooo!" posts. The automotive aftermarket as a whole has been strong over the last two years. They are undoubtedly struggling with material supply and prices at the moment.

I need to ping Kevin about the status of the Exovette :)

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/exomotive-exovette/154047/page1/

In reply to accordionfolder :

Oh good.  I was worried...  O.o

I bought a used Exocet last summer.  Track model but a basic stock build.  Paid about what the guy had in kit+parts.  I figured he saved me 100+ hours labor.  I am now going through systems incrementally in sort of a rolling restomod.

Anyway, I absolutely love it!  Fun at any speed.  I can't think of another lightweight caged race car that I could fit inside.  With my torso height I can't fit in a normal Miata much less one with a cage.  The Exocet basically made "the answer" possible for me.

I really don't care what it looks like.  I had a FFR Cobra and if you fully cage one of those it starts to look like an exo car anyway.  Not to mention the entire Exocet costs less than just the Cobra body+paint.  Honestly I enjoy weird cars that are anti-status symbols.

For me it comes down to driving fun on the street at sane speeds.  The crap aero and exposed cockpit make it seem like you are driving faster than you really are.  A four wheel motorcycle with full cage.  I drove my friend's 1000HP Mustang and I had to be in reckless driving territory to get the same rush.

I love working on the Exocet - the exposed part access make it a joy to work on.  Compared to my C5Z which requires the rear subframe plus entire drivetrain to drop if you want to fix a gas tank hose leak.

Consumables are way less expensive than any race car I've had.

I guess if I was small enough to fit in a modded Miata, the Exo would be a much tougher sell.  You also need other car(s) for anything other than motorcycle weather.

Now my only question is FM turbo or LFX conversion?  Naturally aspirated LFX w/ 300HP and replacement engines for ~$500 seems like the sweet spot given the Exo weight.  I think LS would be expensive overkill.

With the turbo, you can bolt it on over a weekend and be driving on Monday. With the LFX, you're doing a complete drivetrain swap with all of the work and expense involved. I suspect the actual cost won't be much different than an LS swap other than the cost of the transmission.

An Exocet with a turbo four is bang on the sweet spot.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Keith - my other thought with the LFX swap is that I am replacing a high mileage Miata drivetrain with a much lower mileage LFX drivetrain.  Does your opinion still hold if my starting point is 200K+ miles?

That means you may have to do something about the Miata engine down the road. But then it's a like-for-like swap, and you know it works now. Your junkyard LFX wil be an unknown from the start. 

There's so much Miata turbo hardware out there that you've got to go really high in power levels before a motor swap is cheaper than a turbo BP.

If the budget isn't a concern, then I think it comes down to whether you prefer the response of an NA V6 or the rush of the turbo boost.

Keith Tanner said:

OHSCrifle said:

Haven't seen warren around here in a long time. Are Exocets still being made in Atlanta? 

They are, but Warren works at Lucid now. He has an interesting side project that's been underway for a while, I'm not sure how public it is. 

Kevin Patrick is the owner of Exomotive and he's done a pretty solid job of navigating the pitfalls of running a kit car company. 

Is Warren working on an electric exo car?

In reply to dean1484 :

I thought the same as you, then I drove the Exocet Sport my student had at NCM. I bought one two weeks later. It's epic!!

In reply to msterbeau :

"Your telling the world you are unoriginal and you make low quality products. "

OR, you used the original for inspiration and made it better. That is the iterative process of improvement that usually happens with any product. Cheaper doesn't mean, necessarily, "low quality".

In reply to Driven5 :

      While waiting on replacement body panels from Panoz during the pandemic, I ran my Panoz GTS-WC as an "exo/death cart" on some local tracks. Aero wasn't a problem at Barber Motorsports Park or Talladega Gran Prix Raceway, mostly because the LSX easily punched a 535 HP hole in the air on those tight circuits with short straights. Road Atlanta or Sebring may have told a different story.


It should be noted that those days were among the most fun I have had on any track, in any car.

Just drive the car on the track. Any car. Any track. Just drive.