By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, Craigslist

Since the beginning, the kit car market was built on the ability of a skilled person to construct something in their garage that rivaled the exotic look and feel of much more expensive, unobtainable cars. The Manta Mirage and other new kits took it to the next level, by offering some real performance potential, and ever since, the industry has seen an explosion of true home-built performers.

The cars available today have truly reached the top echelon though. With adequate funds, and skills of course, you can buy a kit or roller today and go to the track and win races. High profile races too, as the Factory Five GTM and Superlite SL-C have won all sorts of endurance, touring car and national class championships — pretty impressive for a kit car.

Beyond that, you get quite a bit for your money when you compare against other mid-engine performance cars. In the case of this Superlite SL-C on Craigslist, the list is quite impressive for just over $75,000.

Designed mainly with GM’s line of LS engines in mind, this car is powered by a sensible wet-sump LS3 that is said to churn out 430 hp. A six-speed Porsche G95.50 transaxle puts the power to pavement through Forgestar F14 wheels, measuring 19 x 9.5 and 19 x 12 respectively. Four-piston Brembo brakes clamp down on 14-inch rotors, and the car is fitted with a front lift assist.

The car appears fairly standard inside and out, and is fitted with the race tail with a carbon fiber and aluminum wing. A Pearl White 3M wrap covers the exterior gelcoat. The interior is all business, and fairly spartan with fiberglass buckets and a KOSO gauge unit, however the cabin does feature full heat and A/C.

Superlite lists an average completed weight for the SL-C at 2,400, making this car as light as a Hennessey Venom GT Spyder, Koenigsegg CCXR and lighter than many of the most powerful cars in the world. The SL-C’s radical look also attracts some serious attention, backed up by the current owner.

“This car has been very reliable and gets tons of attention even stopping for gas. I'd almost say too much. I took it to Cars and Coffee at Katie's in Great Falls, Virginia and it easily beat out all the Ferraris and Porsches for attention.”

Check out the SL-C here on Washington DC Craigslist.