[boxhead]

Hi Hoity.
I have a similar preamble to yourself and most others.
I saw one in Melbourne in early 80's. pointed at it and asked my stepfather what it was.
Gloss black Cobra, chrome everywhere and big wheels, and a sound that was earth rumbling, the seed was set and I promised myself "I will have one of them one day".
Life rolls on and after a few relocation's and growing up, The chance to finally have a serious look happened.

I am a mechanic by trade and consider myself fairly hands on, with a willingness to have a crack at anything.
My "must haves" where
1- removeable body (I liked the idea of being able to work on it without having to crawl under body work while assembling)
2- Correct shape, some kits just are not quiet right in there overall shape (CR isnt spot on, but it is pretty close)
3- being able to source parts from donors, some see this as a bad thing, but a big part of the fun I had (and continue to have) is the hunt for parts I needed.
4- My build was always going to be a long slow process, as I am a tight arse, so I would save money, buy the next bit, then hunt and buy the next bit etc etc.
So a single supplier all in one hit was going to make it hard.

When I started looking, I was living in Nth Qld, i had pretty much nutted it down to Harrison or CR (CR in prime possi as Harrison body is fixed to chassis), on a drive to Melbourne, I stopped at both Harrison and CR to check out the cars with my own eyes, I had also "met" Aussie Mike through this forum, and he had recently obtained a CR and offered me a look at a car pulled apart.

After seeing the Harrison car, I was very happy, Warrick was very accomodating and showed me around, I then saw Ian and the CR, There was a red car in there being assembled (Sloths car), and I fell in love with it.
After seeing Mikes car in Melbourne my mind was set.

Life took a quick change and found myself relocated to Alice Springs, Money was saved and a CR was placed on order, Ian built the car quick smart and it was ready in approx 6 weeks.
I arranged for it to be freighted out, and so the story of building began.
I found the build fairly straight forward, but I also became acquainted with a great bunch of guys who where mostly all in the same boat of building a CR, the knowledge willfully shared certainly made building easier.
Yes, Ian is not the best salesman around, but he built the nuts and bolts of a good product, and with the genius of Aussie Mike, these cars just get better.

The CR car is a different beast now to the one I built (square tube chassis V round tube chassis), but from the ones that are built and being built, it appears the owners are having a similar experience to what I did.

Would I do it again, without a doubt.