I recently came to the realization that I’ve got too many projects and not enough time or money to work on all of them. Between work, house chores, trying to maintain my RX-8 and other responsibilities, I just don’t have any time left for two classics. I’ve gone back and forth on which one to focus on and I finally came to a decision. I really enjoy the Blakely, it’s fun to drive, easy to work on and gets lots of attention, but I simply like the practicality of the Fiat better. And after it sat in my car port for a couple months and got dusty, I decided I’d rather see it go to a good home where it can be enjoyed than for it to just be collecting dust. Plus the funds from it will help buy the last few parts I need to finish making the Fiat a reliable daily driver! I’m asking $4,000 or best offer and the car is located in Boise, Idaho. Please message me via the form below!

If you’ve always dreamed of owning a Lotus Seven, but just can’t justify the cost, this car is a great alternative. The fiberglass body isn’t quite as attractive as an early Seven, but it actually looks great and keeps the car’s weight down. I haven’t weighed it, but based on how it handles, I would guess it is around 1,300 pounds. And as you can see, after giving it a bath, it’s looking pretty good.

This car even has the Ford Kent 1600 cross flow engine, although it lacks the trick twin cam head or dual carbs. The engine runs great and sounds fantastic. I’ve changed the oil, installed new plugs and spread bars on the valve cover. I also rebuilt the Weber carb, it had a serious fuel leak when I got it. The previous owner removed the choke from the carb, but the car starts right up and idles without any issues. It’s happy to rev now and feels surprisingly peppy for an engine that came out of a Pinto!

Yes, this car used a Pinto as its donor, but that isn’t a bad thing. While the body and chassis were manufactured by Blakely, the front suspension and drivetrain were pulled straight from a Pinto. Some things, like springs, are customized to work but the majority of parts are straight from the Ford parts bin and are readily available. I have all the documents for the Blakely and the 1972 Pinto that gave it’s heart to make this car go. The original owner kept lots of paperwork from the build, which obviously comes with the car. I have a clear title for the Blakely and a copy of the original title for the donor car. I even have the 1983 news paper classified where the builder found the Pinto!

Bill Nay, the car’s builder kept lots of the documents for both the kit and the Pinto. It looks like he started shopping for a Blakely around 1980, I even have a Popular Mechanic flyer that Bill wrote the cost of each model Blakely offered at the time. The Hawk had a starting price of $4,795, which from what I can tell only included the chassis and body. He then purchased the Pinto, which had been rear ended for $250. It looks like he actually purchased it from the original owner, the Ford Warranty card is here with the original owner’s information on it! He declared to the Stat of California that the car cost him a total of $6,816 to build, but that doesn’t include the $2,400 he spent on a trailer to haul it or the cost of transporting the donor car and unassembled kit. This really wasn’t a low budget build, especially when you adjust for inflation. In today’s money, Bill would have spent about $16,890 to build this car!

Here’s how the car looked prior to coming to Idaho from California. The owner I bought it from tried to hill climb the car, but was disappointed that it wasn’t as fast as his Formula Ford racer. Prior to taking it racing, he had a set of cycle front fenders made, painted it black, installed a smaller steering wheel, swapped the Pinto seats for plastic buckets, mounted 5 point harnesses and put some seriously wide tires on it (I have 2 more rims with tires that come with it). I have the original front fenders and the mounting brackets for them, if you’d like to have a little more protection from flying rocks and water. I also installed a set of Triumph TR3 wind wings, which do help with wind noise and water spray off the tires.

This car really doesn’t need much to be a fun daily driver. I wanted to change the seats out for something with more padding, as the hard plastic seats aren’t very comfortable, but haven’t found anything that’s low profile and comfortable. It’s leaking a little bit of oil from the differential, but gaskets are available for it. The black paint looks alright and polishes up if you work it carefully. You can see that the original green gel coat is underneath, so you might be able to remove the newer paint as it’s fairly soft.

While I’m sad to see this one go, (when will I ever get to own another one?) I know one of you will give it a good home! There really are endless possibilities for it and I’m excited to see what the next owner does with it. Seeing as the frame was designed to handle up to a V6, there are all kinds of engine options for it or you could just upgrade the 1600. If you have any questions about the car, want any specific photos or are just ready to buy it, please message me via the from below!

Asking Price: $4,000
Location: Boise, Idaho
Title Status: Clean