What Kit Car Segments and Categories Does Madabout Kitcars Cover?

Updated

Madabout Kitcars organises its listings into eight kit car segments, each with a count shown on the site: 3 Wheeler (12), Cobra (15), Fun/Utility (22), Original (102), Replica (95), Road/Race (35), Seven Style (37) and Vintage (51). If you already know the style of car you want, the segment name is the fastest way in; if you are still exploring, the larger segments (Original, Replica) give you the most to browse.

The eight segments at a glance

Segment Listings What it points you towards
3 Wheeler 12 Three-wheeled kit cars
Cobra 15 Cobra-style builds
Fun/Utility 22 Practical and leisure-oriented kits
Original 102 Original designs rather than replicas
Replica 95 Cars modelled on an existing production model
Road/Race 35 Road and track-focused builds
Seven Style 37 Lotus Seven-inspired cars
Vintage 51 Vintage and period-style cars

These counts come from the site's own segment listing, so treat them as a snapshot of what is currently catalogued rather than a fixed total.

How to use the segments to find a car

  1. Decide whether you want a replica (a car that copies a known model) or an original design. That single choice splits the two biggest segments, Replica (95) and Original (102).
  2. If you want a specific silhouette, check the dedicated segments first — Cobra (15) and Seven Style (37) each cover one well-known shape.
  3. If wheel count or era matters more than model, use 3 Wheeler (12) or Vintage (51).
  4. If you are building for road use, track use or general tinkering, Road/Race (35) and Fun/Utility (22) are the relevant buckets.

The site also notes that each segment page links on to individual cars, so a segment is a starting point rather than a final list.

What a single listing tells you

Within a segment, a car entry can carry a useful amount of build detail. The Seven Style spotlight for the Striker by RAW Engineering, for example, lists:

  • Type: Seven Style
  • Donor: Various Ford components
  • Chassis: Space frame
  • Body: GRP and aluminium
  • Engine: Ford Crossflow, Pinto, Zetec, Rover V8, Toyota 4AGE, bike engines

That structure — type, donor, chassis, body, engine options — is the pattern to look for when comparing cars across segments, because it lets you judge a build against your own skills, garage space and parts availability.

Beyond the segment lists

The site is more than a category index. Its own stats page reports 370 cars, 3,283 car images, 292 owner feedbacks, 209 manufacturers, 86 IVA guidance pages and 427 knowledgebase articles, plus a forum with 105,000 posts. There is also an eBay feed of kit cars for sale, with example listings including a Haynes Roadster MX5 Turbo at £11,750, a GTM Rossa 1.6 from 1993 at £2,450, a Locost 7 at £4,500 and a Porsche 356 Replica project at £16,500. Prices and availability there change with the listings, so check the current entry rather than relying on any figure quoted here.

Popular forum threads give a sense of what owners actually build and discuss — for instance Peepsy's MX250 (173 replies), a Spitfires thread (156 replies), "My first build: Kobra" (187 replies), the Tribute Automotive A352 Project (452 replies) and a Dual 7" Servo thread (693 replies).

Choosing your entry point

  • Know the model you want to copy? Start with Cobra, Seven Style or Replica.
  • Want something not tied to a production car? Start with Original.
  • Building for track or fast road? Start with Road/Race.
  • Restoring or going period-correct? Start with Vintage.
  • Just browsing? The segment counts tell you where the volume is: Original and Replica together account for roughly half the catalogue.