Yeah, they started out as kit aircraft. Neat ones too, a friend had one for awhile. Taildragger, Retractable and Seaplane time all in the same ship. On his last flight my pal lost the engine on takeoff, fuel line came loose (engine vibrates some). He wasn't so sanguine to fly his Lanceair across the Atlantic after that.
The guy he sold it to soon sank it in a river and that was that.