Poor Man's Elise: La Bala
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Resident Monkey
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Poor Man's Elise: La Bala
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/16/p...ds-170-hp-25k/
170hp, 1500lbs, and only $25,000 plus engine/trans
170hp, 1500lbs, and only $25,000 plus engine/trans
Our infatuation with the lightest means of four-wheeled transport has put a number of cars on our must-have list. Today, it's grown by one. La Bala, Spanish for "The Bullet" is the brainchild of Steve Graber, "an average guy in an average garage," whose only goal was to distill outright performance into a compact package.
Beginning with a friend's MR2, Mr. Graber, now the founder of Graber Cars, stripped the mid-engined coupe down to the frame, performed a number of chassis modifications, and then clothed his masterpiece in simple, yet attractive, body panels. The dry weight of La Bala is an even 1,500 pounds, and when mated to a 1.6-liter, 170 HP turbocharged motor, allows the quirky track toy to reach 60 MPH in a mere 4.3 seconds.
Pricing for the kit was just announced and it comes in at cool $25 grand, sans engine and transmission. His site, Grabercars.com, has an overabundance of information about La Bala, including videos and a journal of the buildup. We're only halfway through it now, but we're totally sold.
Beginning with a friend's MR2, Mr. Graber, now the founder of Graber Cars, stripped the mid-engined coupe down to the frame, performed a number of chassis modifications, and then clothed his masterpiece in simple, yet attractive, body panels. The dry weight of La Bala is an even 1,500 pounds, and when mated to a 1.6-liter, 170 HP turbocharged motor, allows the quirky track toy to reach 60 MPH in a mere 4.3 seconds.
Pricing for the kit was just announced and it comes in at cool $25 grand, sans engine and transmission. His site, Grabercars.com, has an overabundance of information about La Bala, including videos and a journal of the buildup. We're only halfway through it now, but we're totally sold.
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Peeping over the fence
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My DD is a 89 MR2 so I've been following the La Bala build for a couple years now. It's crazy, this guy just started engineering a car in his garage for his own personal use and now he's making them for sale. If you read through the build process you'll see some pretty inventive ways to building a car. It'll be street legal...
Renesis would be a PERFECT match for this little guy, who needs torque when you weigh in a little over 1,500.
Renesis would be a PERFECT match for this little guy, who needs torque when you weigh in a little over 1,500.
#7
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At $25,000 for a roller, I'm going to need to find the poor man's la bala, let alone an Elise! Very impressive work however, and I'm sure its worth every penny. I just wish I had enough pennies for one.
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