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Sneak Peek - Goblin V2
Anks329
Well-Known Member
- Anks329 Well-Known Member
I’ve got my deposit down, I’ve got to sell the v1 to fund the v2, and I’m using all the good will from this year (and probably next year) to do this project in 25. Thought long and hard, but I’ve hit the limit of what I can do with my current Goblin and I’ve learned so much that I can use on the new build. Looking forward to it!
comegetjoe
Goblin Guru
- comegetjoe Goblin Guru
Never heard of it before you. Good sales pitch 
Goblinfanclub1234
Well-Known Member
- Goblinfanclub1234 Well-Known Member
I am thankful that we could take many hundreds of clapped out crap cobalts off the road and utilize their parts for something cool!
ah.b.normal
Goblin Guru
- ah.b.normal Goblin Guru
I'm kinda on the same page with you. I couldn't cut up NEW to 5 y/o cars like I have been doing for my research. 10 to 15 y/o cars, however, Fire at will! They're just junk at 10 y/o. I've yet to spend $4K total.
It's nice out here out side the box and beyond the fence, but most folks find it scary.
- Mhuerter Member
Not a sales pitch as I have been looking at both and was about to go the Rocket 2 route as I could not find a Cobalt that had a turbo charger or supercharger, but now that Goblin 2 is coming out and VWs easier to find, may go that route. Depends on price on what direction I go.Never heard of it before you. Good sales pitch
- Lonny Administrator
Pricing seems to be the toughest part of this business. We are still sourcing parts and machining bucks for fiberglass molds. It will be a little while before we can price out everything.
We also have to see how much tariff taxes DFkitcar has to pay and add this to the kit price.
If we set our prices too high we might not sell enough kits to keep the manufacturing and hardware costs down.
Too low and there might not be enough profits to stay in business.
If you built a Rocket 2 what engine would you likely use and what WHP would you shoot for?
I would like to see a detailed build cost for a Rocket 2 to see how it compares to the V1 Goblin with comparable WHP.
ah.b.normal
Goblin Guru
- ah.b.normal Goblin Guru
Truth is: Donors will eventually run out.
I look for 07-09 Cobalt / clones (manual) every week or so on FB Market, searching for another donor when I return home next spring. I rarely search for SS models but still see probably 2 turbo and 4-6 S/C every week. (Some are pretty rough!) I am generally searching within 250 miles of Columbus, GA. but every month I widen the search for all US.
I see the most Cobalts from Texas north into Kansas, MO, into Ill, Ind, Ohio to Penn, south into Ky and Tenn, tapering off going south from there. Phoenix seems to be a hot spot. There are usually donors for sale in the classifieds section on this forum.
Also the Pontiac G5 is a donor, but I am not sure they made a S/C or Turbo or 2.4 N/A auto version, badge engineered cousin, mostly body styling differences. HHR SS and Saturn Ion Redline's can be "driveline donors" but have completely different electrical systems. Many HHR SS are automatic.
MORE Boring/Blatant Opinion Follows:
In three months on our NZ/OZ vacation, I only saw one Cobalt(an SS at a car show, it was stock US spec{not RHD} and it attracted a mob. Duh, it was red.) but they were never sold there.(In OZ I rented a Golf called a "T Cross", it didn't seem like a Golf to me.)
Cobalts were not offered in EU GM dealers to my knowledge.(We moved from Brussels to US in 05) Plenty of VW Golfs(or whatever they call it now) available in Europe.
IF you actually want more Cobalt info PM me so we don't bother everyone.
Dale E
Goblin Kinsman
- Dale E Goblin Kinsman
@ Lonny, the Mev Rocket ll, mostly was a Ford based power train. Some have built with other engines and there is a Youtube of one with a Honda power train. I don't know if the 350 plus hp Mustang 4 cylinder would fit, but well, you have a welder and can make brackets. The importer is Phillip over in Rogers, Arkansas (or was) and @ Ross knows him. He can fill you in on a total cost of build.
The Ecobusa he was driving at the Midwest sevens event was a different chassis and I think it would be north of 20,000$ to completion. Phil could tell you. He also had two Rocket ll's from the old Dove racing, and they may be at his shop in Rogers, Ak., so you could get a first hand view of one.
About all I can offer.
The Ecobusa he was driving at the Midwest sevens event was a different chassis and I think it would be north of 20,000$ to completion. Phil could tell you. He also had two Rocket ll's from the old Dove racing, and they may be at his shop in Rogers, Ak., so you could get a first hand view of one.
About all I can offer.
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Desert Sasqwatch
Bigfoot Goblin
- Desert Sasqwatch Bigfoot Goblin
Is that nose a copyright infringement - looks like a BMW 'double D' - and is far different than the original Rocket's '30s Ford' slatted grill? Like the Goblins, the Rocket will attract a particular crowd that leans toward the Ford drivetrain. Looks like the open cockpit is the only option - similar to the Atom. Price point to build a Rocket 2 looks to be in line with builbing a Goblin, don't see this platform stealing a significant number of potential builders from DF. But good to know about the competition.
- mike_sno Goblin Guru
@Dale E is, as far as I can tell, the best informed person when it comes to other kit cars. When I got into the Goblin he helped me quite a bit with background information about all other kit, replicas, Atoms,... You name it, he has a story.
I ended up buying the Goblin, because of the overall mixture. It's the highest average and I don't see that another platform would steal customers. But that are just my 2 cents and every customer is different. For me price was a big reason and I don't regret it! I don't think I would trade up for a V2. I had enough of VW
- Mhuerter Member
Lonny, I fully agree with you that pricing has to be the tough part of the business as you definitely have to make a decent profit. I have looked at the Rocket for years in anticipating of building something as I approach retirment and then discovered you all a couple of years ago. Even Dove racing has raised their prices and I have calculated to build a Rocket 2 it would cost about $17,500 including import dutries and then would source a Ford Focus ST ecoboost that would produce about 270HP. So estimate total cost would be about $20,000 all in. I believe where you have the advantage is you have a great community of support from builders in the US and have a lot more volume of owners in the US and you as an owner I can tell, want to provide the best product and support that you can and that is a big deal and makes a difference. The Rocket 2 has very low volume and you wait a long time to get one as they try to get mutiple orders in before they order, in order to get as many as they can in a crate in order to try and keep import shipping costs down. I also feel you would be more on your own trying to figure out how to build it, where you all have great instructions. Before I do anything I would make a visit to come down to see you all in person.
MeltedSolid
Active Member
- MeltedSolid Active Member
I want to see one with a DAZA 5 cylinder at some point. Lots of interesting engine options that will fit in the same spot as an EA888.
