By Dean Larson

It’s an unfortunate aspect of our automotive hobby that so many unfinished projects go up for sale under the pretense “health issues force sale.” But where one dream fizzles out, another comes true. And if your dream is a well-designed GT40 builder kit at a discount, this Active Power Cars GT40 on eBay could be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

Active Power Cars has been in the replica game for years now, and all their products have a reputation for great engineering and quality. The Active Power GT the company currently offers is based on a semi-monocoque chassis consisting of a steel tubular space frame and aluminum skin. Active Power’s suspension takes advantage of modern Corvette C5 and C6 components and rack-and-pinion steering. The fiberglass bodywork on the GT is hand laid and the company’s rollers come with a safety glass windshield installed, doors hung and intermediate aluminum panels fitted.

The GT here on eBay is a standard Active Power roller and comes with most of the parts required to finish the car. It appears the seller was able to install the Corvette suspension, brakes and fit the engine before progress stalled on the build. The engine is a running Ford 302 HO with some trick parts, including aluminum AFR heads, a full-roller cam, four-barrel carburetor and a shorty water pump. The small-block power plant is hooked up to a Porsche six-speed transaxle via a Kennedy Engineered Products adaptor kit.

Take a thorough look through the seller’s photos and description and you’ll see just how many specialty parts come with the GT. An air-conditioning system is included in the sale as well as a GT40-style steering wheel and a gauge set. Nice-looking knock-off spinners can be seen in several of the photos and are destined to hold a set of BRM-style wheels — a personal favorite. Some other items included in the sale are the radiator, fuel tanks and plumbing, lights, axle shafts, pedals and some interior components. Also note the new-old-stock FoMoCo roundel light in the photoset.

There’s no doubt the GT is a worthwhile project, but the big question remains: what should the car sell for? The auction is a no-reserve sale, and the seller is adamant that the last bidder will take the car home. The current bid sits at $7,600 with six days remaining, a far cry from the $49,000 the seller has invested in the project. While there’s always risk in taking on someone’s unfinished build, anything under $16,000 to $18,000 sounds like a win to us, with the prize being a finished MkI GT40 in the garage.

Check out the seller's eBay ad here for more.