Randy Corson had many other interests and left the Fieros business quite a while ago. One of his main products was a V8 kit which was essentially a ripoff of the design manufactured originally for Pontaic Motorsports by Gary Zumalt pf St Louis. I knew a guy who installed a Corson kit and after finishing his V8 swap opened things up a few times and snapped an axle in half. The sad thing is that his V8 SBC wasn't all that powerful. There were several other manufacturers of Fiero V8 kits ove the years like Ron's Mechanical, HiTech, and Shelby products. To my knowledge V8 Archie is the only remaining V8 Fiero kit manufacturer. This could be because Archies V8 kits worked the best or because more Fiero owners can acheive the performance levels that they wish for a lower cost by using some of the more powerful and modern V6's and fours or a combination of both factors. You can get most of the same type of products that Corson sold from V8 Archie so if a V8 is your thing, he's the man!
------------------ 87GT - with 3800SC Series III engine, 4T65eHD 87GT - 3.4L Turbocharged engine, modified TH125H " I'M ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
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09:04 PM
Doc John Member
Posts: 749 From: Fayetteville, Arkansas Registered: Feb 2007
I think War Hammer was referring to the Ferrari BBi replica kits that Corson used to make - I know I was!
I believe that Ferrari took legal action against all kit car manufacturers that copied their designs. They were all forced to cease production and destroy the molds. Notice that you can't buy a Ferrari look alike kit anymore.
------------------ 87GT - with 3800SC Series III engine, 4T65eHD 87GT - 3.4L Turbocharged engine, modified TH125H " I'M ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
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10:46 PM
Amida Member
Posts: 2357 From: Seattle, WA. USA Registered: Jul 2003
From what I've heard, Corson Motor Cars (in Phoenix) went out of business in the 1990's. There were a total of 98 units made - kits, cars, coupes and convertibles. It was an expensive body kit,( about $10k) but high quality as far as fiberglass body kits go. Randy's contact info was posted on a website dedicated to corson owners a while back, but people were cautioned against contacting him - he reportedly has No interest in the subject. The website was owned by a corson owner in NJ, but has since gone down. The cars show up on eBay once in a while and have been holding decent value, depending on engine and interior. There was no "standard" interior kit, only the exterior coupe or convertible body work. I'd expect a nicely done corson with interior and engine upgrades to go for $25k or more as a gross guess-timate.
PISA used to sell the targa top kit made by Corson, and that was a rare item.
If you don't wanna wait for one to show up, you might start with an Aldino and "work back" to get the look you want - it's only superfical bodywork mostly on the rear; the structure and mounting would not be affected. By the way, Rich at Aldino is a Very good guy to work with.
My wife and I went to Scottsdale (From Atlanta) to meet Randy & Pat Corson back in the early '90's. They met us at their hanger at the Scottsdale airport in Randy's beautiful Spyder. It was breathtaking. My wife, who could have cared less about seeing this car, was overwhelmed by the car and became a big supporter of my dream to buy and build one. In the Summer of '94, I bought the #076 Corson Motorcar (A Spyder.) I spent three years building the car on an ''86, 2.8l, 4-speed. During that period Randy and Pat were very helpful and supportive. Eventually, the car got a 3.4 dohc, 5-speed, custom leather interior, custom dash with additional gauges (Including a dual gauge A-Pillar pod,) custom DVD/CD sound system, custom SS exhaust system, Held Motorsports wide-track, coil-over suspension with 11.3" rotors, 4-piston calipers, an '88 cradle with Held coil-over suspension, 17" wheels with 225x45 front and 245x40 rear z-rated tires. A couple of years ago, I was thinking about doing a Corson registry. I managed to find several owners, but not enough to start the registry. I spoke with Pat at that time about their decision to close Corson Motorcars. She indicated that they got tired of answering phone calls from non-customers and non-qualified buyers. She, also, said that Ferrari had never tried to stop production of their cars. Our experience with the Corson's was a very pleasant one. They were, always, helpful and professional.
Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua:There were several other manufacturers of Fiero V8 kits ove the years like Ron's Mechanical, HiTech, and Shelby products.
I'm one of the lucky Ron's Mechanical kit owners. Ask me about it sometime...
------------------ 1986 SE 350 V8
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07:07 AM
James Bond 007 Member
Posts: 8871 From: California.U.S.A. Registered: Dec 2002
