What made you decide to build a Goblin?

[Brian74]

Lots of kit cars out there… Everyone has their own motive, skill level and perspective when weighing the pros & cons; before deciding to pull the trigger on a project like this. It obviously requires both a time and $ commitment.

What was it specifically about the Goblin that made you decide to build your kit?

 

[k.rollin]

I wanted something mid-engined and affordable. Before landing on the Goblin development thread on GRM I was considering a Midlana.

 

[escapepilot]

I wanted a project car. I’m no body man and don’t paint or weld, so paying for those services on a custom build would be $$$$. Did a lot of dreaming about a Factory Five truck for years, but again, it came down to cost.

The Goblin makes use of semi modern drivetrain, has minimal paint and body requirements (if you choose body panels), has no welding unless you want to add something custom, and is a reasonable cost for what is really a big boy toy. There is excellent factory support and with over 300 kits sold, there is a pretty large builder community for support also.

 

[jirwin]

I had a 2010 Cobalt manual lying around that was mechanically sound, but rusted to hell from daily driving in Michigan winters. I was looking for something marginally more practical than my R6. It was either a bike with bags/storage or this. At the end of the day the Goblin won because I don't have to suit up to drive it.

 

[JBINTX]

I helped my son J swap his 91 Miata. It turned it into a 260 Hp little fun race car. It was a fairly easy heart transplant project.
He showed me the Goblin shortly after that project. So of course I said why not? Gotta have something to go faster than the kid - right??!!
The real selling point was Lonny giving us a ride at the factory. Memories of a Briggs and Stratton powered go-cart as a kid flooded the mind.
Been a blast every day since.

 

[G Atsma]

At the end of the day the Goblin won because I don't have to suit up to drive it.

A cold winter day may affect that line of reasoning... LOL

 

[Ark :D]

In 2015, I succumbed to the pressure from my wife and family to trade in my 2010 Mustang GT convertible. I've owned Mustangs all my life, starting with the 1990 GT ("Vanilla Ice"), and on to a 94 GT conv, a 96 GT, a 2000 GT, and the 2010 GT conv. I loved all of them except the 94, because it was an automatic. Silly me, I bought a car that my wife could drive too, and she never drove it once. So yeah, I traded the 2010 in for a 2013 Ford Explorer XLT, which in its own right is a fine vehicle, but it's safe and roomy, not fun and agile. Enter the Goblin.

I learned of the Goblin in 2018, but I didn't really think it was a project for me. I just read about it as a 3rd party, with interest but no real intention to buy in/build. Then a Goblin showed up on the Goonzquad channel. I watched the whole series and was hooked.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

A looming first retirement (offered an early out) and not having a big boy toy for too many years since selling my 68 Camaro SS in 2006, I needed a project to keep me out of the house. Like @JBINTX, fun times as a kid with my cousins on the farm with an 8hp go kart - with no brakes and direct chain drive - brought up memories when I found the Goblin. An adult go kart that is fully legal on the street - here in AZ - sold me immediately. Taking a ride with @RichRich in his TC sealed my thinking and I had the donor and kit ordered shortly thereafter. Now if I could just get moved soon I can keep working on my 2nd retirement project.

 

[DCMoney]

 

[Brian74]

I wanted something mid-engined and affordable. Before landing on the Goblin development thread on GRM I was considering a Midlana.

That thread was pretty amazing. I’d say that was a huge selling point for me as well.

 

[Rauq]

I had a clean, low miles S2000 that was a hoot, but I never could tinker with it knowing that I'd be flushing money down the toilet. Sold it for 15% more than I bought it in order to fund the Goblin. Better open air experience, faster and quicker, and endlessly tinker-able. But goodness if I won't miss those 9000 rpms.

 

[Jareth]

To be honest I was doing some research because I wanted to build a Miata Exocet and then I stumbled across the DF-Goblin. Did not take me very long to determine that the Goblin was the project for me, it is such a complete kit and the videos and this forum made it that much easier a decision.

Also when I showed my wife the Exocet her reply was "That's butt ugly", I then showed her the Goblin and I had her full support to pull the trigger and order the Stage III kit. Even yesterday she wanted to bounce some ideals on paint off me, its nice that she has an interest in it and has been helping me a little with the build. (although she has no interest in appearing in any of my YouTube Videos)
.

 

[Dsteinhorst]

Back in 2017, I read a review in Road and Track about this car, the Caterham Seven Sprint

The review made want a small, light, open air car. And a weird one. I always gravitate towards weird cars, for example, I've had three turbo PT Cruisers. The Seven has always been a "kit," so I began to research other kits. I stumbled across the Goblin in the process and it fit my love for sport compact cars. I got my finances in order, and bought my donor in August of 2019. Finished the build in May of 2020.

 

[TravMac]

I had a goal that I wanted start into some sort of car build after finishing college. After looking at plenty of tuner and muscle cars, I decided I needed something more special - a kit car. I had originally had my heart set on an 818 from factory five. I benchtop built one probably 100 times with some coworkers. At the same time, I was actually autocrossing in a Cobalt SS as a fun build with some other friends. Then, someone at work pointed out that a kit car exists with a cobalt doner platform... and here I am!

So, yes, some of it did boil down to cost. The cost of achieving performance levels of the goblin's magnitude is well below building most any street car. But more than cost, it was about being a little bit different. I've got friends who built exocets. I have seen an 818 in the lot at work. But to have something in relatively low production (120 kits back then...), while still allowing for all the performance and fun of the other kits in the world: it just stuck out that much more. Not to mention I already had a bit of knowledge on the platform from the autocross adventures.

Speaking of autocross, I really can't wait to race it against my friends in the other Cobalt. I have a feeling there will be another build in a not so distant future...

 

[KD0AXS]

I started looking at kit cars because I have a Miata and thought it would be cool to build something like an Exocet. However, my Miata is a Mazdaspeed which they only made a little over 5000 of and it's in great condition so there's no way I was going to use it for a donor car. I started looking at what other kit cars were out there and that's when I came across the Goblin. After doing some reading and watching some videos, I started looking to see what a donor was going to cost. As luck would have it, someone had just posted a cheap Cobalt SS/SC on Craigslist that day. He accepted my offer of $1000, so I guess that's what made up my mind for sure that I was building a Goblin.

 

[Tinkles]

I have been messing with Ecotecs for quite a while and really like them as a engine platform, but got tired of messing around with a FWD platform. Plus building a kit car has been a life goal of mine. So it was a perfect match for me, but I did deny it for a few years. It wasn't until I watched Demolition Ranch mess with his that I finally accepted fate and started working towards building one.

 

[Mahkoi]

I've always wanted to build a kit car. I was set on an Exocet after finding videos of one with a LS engine. While I was researching the Exocet I stumbled on the Goblin and the thought of mid engine and insane power to weight ratio if you got the right donor never left my brain. A few years went by and one of my buddies found a wrecked 08ss Cobalt on Facebook so here I am, frame #299 will be here next week.

 

[jamesm]

I never set out to build a kit car. One of my bucket list items is building my own airplane. Through my research on kit planes, I wasn't sure if I had the dedication and skill to complete an airworthy plane. Looking at a 2000+ hour projects was pretty daunting. I decided I needed to find a way to wade into the kit building pool. I was looking around at other kits that required far less time and far less money and I found the Exocets. I was starting to look into them when I saw a mention of the the Goblins. I looked them up and immediately thought the exocets looked like poo compared to a Goblin. It was inexpensive, easy to build, had an amazing community, and good support so I went for it.