How to Build a Cheap Sports Car (Motorbooks Workshop) [Paperback]

Keith Tanner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Motorbooks Workshop | Publication Date: December 18, 2005

Share in the trials and tribulations of turning a bare frame and wrecked Miata into a racetrack demon, and learn how to build a sports car of your own along the way. This book provides specific answers to common questions and covers the entire building process, including the post-build fine-tuning of the car that is necessary to extract the car's full performance (and fun) potential.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Car and Driver, August 2006
Included in “The Homemades: Yes you can build a sports car for just a few grand”

“This book is useful for Locost builders in the U.S. because it focuses on the Miata as the donor vehicle, a car that is readily available ...  it’s an instructive read.”

                                                                                                                                                                                               

American Car World (UK), December 2006

“This is a good effort and an enjoyable 192-pages that will be a useful addition to your workshop manual type book collection.”

 

Grassroots Motorsports, October 2007

“An absolutely brilliant read for anyone even remotely interested in cars, engineering, high-performance track machinery, engine and suspension tuning or garage projects in general. Turns out Keith’s a fine, often funny writer with a wonderful, practical, nuts-and-bolts grasp of things … Better yet, he puts it into words and phrases that an average Joe can understand. And enjoy. Go online and buy yourself a copy right now.”

About the Author

Keith Tanner has been working on Miatas for over a decade and works as a technician at Flyin' Miata. He spends his days modifying, repairing, dismantling, and providing technical support for Miatas. He's published two other books in the Motorbooks Workshop series; Mazda Miata MX-5 Performance Projects and How to Build a Cheap Sports Car and has also written a number of magazine articles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; 1st edition (December 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760322872
• ISBN-13: 978-0760322871
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written Build Diary, May 16, 2006

By 

Alfred Racho (Manila) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Build a Cheap Sports Car (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

A more accurate title of this book should be "Keith Tanner's Lotus 7 Replica Build Diary"

As another reviewer has mentioned, this is more of a companion book to Ron Champion's book. That statement shouldn't discourage anyone from purchasing this book though.

Champion's book was more of a how-to cookbook, whereas Tanner's is a variation of the recipe. It is quite interesting to see another build, especially a US-based build (Champion's being basically a UK build).

This Miata-based build diary is a great way of seeing a different kind of variation. I, for instance, am building one around a Toyota 4AGE powerplant, and it is good to see how Tanner was deviating (and working around) the cookbook approach that Champion did. With a little ingenuity, one could use the "problem-solving techniques" that Tanner did.

That is not to say that Tanner outlined any techniques; rather, his diary was exactly that: a build diary. He shows what problems he encounters, and how he goes about solving it. The reader then has to infer what thought processes Tanner used, and the reader should be able to come up with his own.

I would have given this book 4-stars for the content, but it earns an extra star because of the way Keith Tanner writes. He manages to inject a lot of humour and wit in his writing. So when the time for your build comes and when the frustrations start pouring in (and believe me, they will start pouring in), go re-read this book and enjoy.

You will also notice that the author has this stupid grin [hey! His words, not mine... I think...] plastered on every picture that he appears in. You can even see that silly grin through one of those pictures where he's wearing a full-face helmet. Can't blame him though, as that Seven sure looks like it will plaster an idiotic grin on anyone. Heck, as I read the book, his infectious "stupid grin" has migrated to my face as well.

There is a child-like enthusiasm that Keith Tanner has, and it shows on practically every page. And it is contagious -- after all, I think boys will be boys, and this is one helluva toy. I wonder how many times the author has written VROOM-VROOM in this book? I could remember quite a few. :)

If you are building a Seven, and especially if you are building a Seven in the US, this makes a great read. It is a worthwile companion (not a replacement) to Ron Champion's book, and any builder should have this in his library.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book, well written, April 24, 2006

By 

Brian Bell (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Build a Cheap Sports Car (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

I bought this book after looking over Keith's website. If you approach the book more as a miata-based build diary, rather than a how-to book, it is a great book. The pictures and information are well put together. I am in the process of my own build, using a pre-made chassis from coveland7.com, and reading Keith's book gave me a realistic idea of what to expect during the build process and provided the information that I needed for my own planning process.

I also have the Ron Champion book, which goes over how to build the actual chassis. Since I am planning on buying a pre-welded chassis, this book is less of a use to me than Keith's book.

Thanks to Keith for putting together a well written book. If you are going to build you own locost project, I would recommend buying this and the Champion book.

-Brian

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not particularly useful, March 22, 2006

By 

M. Warner (Tucson) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Build a Cheap Sports Car (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

The book was an interesting read. I nice overview of a start-to-finish build of a lo-cost. The author does a good job and the results are entertaining. The book itself, too, is genearlly well written and of high quality. The publisher puts out a nice product, with high-res color photos and high quality materials.

The biggest problem I had with the book was simply that I wanted more. I wanted to read much more detail and get more information than what was presented. With a title like "How to Build..." I expected (and wanted) more "how-to." Instead, the book is primarily a description of what was done, not why.

All in all, the book is interesting but not particularly useful