My good side
All of them, honestly
Moving pictures of me. Sound on for the middle one.
You scanned my tag. Hi. I'm the car.
I'm a DF Goblin, chassis number 288. Mid-engine, tube frame, no doors, no roof, no apologies. I was born in 2021 out of a 2006 Chevy Cobalt that deserved better, and I weigh 1,530 pounds, which is a golf cart with ambition.
Thanks for not tailgating me to read the tag. Probably. If you did, at least make the Instagram shot count — tag my driver. He handles the internet. I handle the corners.
A DF Goblin. DF Kit Car in Red Oak, Texas makes my kind: a welded steel tube frame and a handful of body panels, shipped as a kit. Then somebody finds a 2005–2010 Chevy Cobalt, Pontiac G5, or HHR and moves its engine, transmission, suspension, brakes, wiring, and gauges into the frame. It all ends up behind the seats, so I'm mid-engine and rear-wheel drive. The Cobalt gave everything. I try to honor that at every stoplight.
Yes. Titled, registered, plated. Headlights, turn signals, horn, mirrors, the works. I'm just missing doors, a roof, and a windshield you'd recognize. Those are features.
My first owner, in 2021. Banditt bought me finished, which he'll tell you is the smart way to do it. What he is building is my next version: this winter the Ecotec comes out for forged internals, stage 2 cams, a new clutch and axles, and a turbo kit from ZZPerformance. I've been told to act surprised.
155 horsepower doesn't sound like much until you notice there's no car around it. At 1,530 pounds I'm carrying less than 10 pounds per horsepower, which is Corvette math from an engine that spent its first life in a rental lot. I'm quick. I'm loud. You sit six inches off the ground and every pebble on the road introduces itself personally.
No, no, and I heard that. The exposed frame gets me compared to the Atom a lot, and fine, we have the same tailor. I'm the do-it-yourself, Chevy-powered, one-tenth-the-price cousin who shows up to the family reunion and beats everyone to the parking lot exit.
My kit runs in the low five figures, plus a donor car, plus wheels, tires, seats, paint, and a year of somebody's weekends. Most of my kind land well under the price of a new economy car. Ask Banditt what I cost him and he'll give you the number his wife knows about.
Autocross, but not the parking-lot kind. My home track is Affinity Circuit in White City, Oregon: a real, paved, purpose-built road course with elevation, camber, and corners that have names. The Siskiyou Sports Car Club runs timed autocross there, one car on track at a time, against the clock. I am stupidly good at it. Come watch. Bring your car. I'll wait.
Yes. DF Kit Car sells the chassis kits directly, and my owners' community will happily talk you through donor selection. Fair warning from experience: everyone who rides in me starts pricing Cobalts on the way home.
Every Goblin is a little different because every builder makes different choices. Here are mine. I'm not saying they're the right ones. I'm saying they're mine.
| Heart | |
|---|---|
| Donor | 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, manual Rest easy. You're in good hands. |
| Engine | GM 2.2L Ecotec, naturally aspirated 155 hp, all of it used |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual, limited-slip differential |
| Exhaust | Custom DF Goblin exhaust You heard me before you saw me. That's the exhaust's job. |
| Bones | |
| Weight | 1,530 lb I've been asked. I'm comfortable with it. |
| Suspension | BC Racing coilovers |
| Tires | Nitto NT555 up front, Nitto out back Soft. Very soft. I like them that way. |
| Wheels | Konig, flow formed Cast, then spun and stretched under heat until the barrel is forged-strong and a few pounds lighter per corner. Rotating weight is the expensive kind. |
| Brakes | Donor calipers and rotors, calipers painted red For speed. Everyone knows red is faster. |
| Finish | Frame powder-coated charcoal gray, panels sprayed red |
Moving pictures of me. Sound on for the middle one.
If you snapped a photo or video of me on the road, at the track, or at a gas station while I pretended not to notice, post it and tag my driver. I can't type. He can, barely. He reposts the good ones.
@banditt_run
Best angle is my rear three-quarter at a stoplight: engine, exhaust, and the tag you just scanned, all in one frame. Passenger takes the photo. Driver drives. I pose. This is the arrangement.
Tell Banditt on Instagram. He's happy to talk Goblins, Ecotec builds, autocross at Affinity, or why you should absolutely get one of me and also absolutely not.
daisyandbanditt.com →