Quote:
Originally Posted by ERA 626
Let me save you a tremendous amount of time... Look at Kirkham, ERA, Superformance, Hi-tech, CSX...
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But it would help if you'd give us your budget.
All high quality. Kirkham is aluminum body only and will be highest price. Kirkham sells most of theirs unpainted (really, don't do it) and painting puts them from Kirkham prices them higher than the Shelby CSX aluminum car which is (with recent vintage) just a painted Kirkham. Earlier CSX aluminum cars are built either in-house or by Kirkham but painted. All aluminum cars demand a premium but are worth it.
In fiberglass, all of them are good, but something to remember is that CSX cars will hold their value or appreciate (not enough to fund a retirement program, but enough to track new vehicle replacement from Shelby. SPF hold very well in the resale place. ERA so - so. SPF are built by HiTech but that is a different South African company. Hi-Tech was in Arizona. Used Hi-Tech and ERA are good value.
None of these are anything like any car you've owned. The technology is primitive even for the 60's. They're all essentially a copy of a "car" that was designed as nothing more than moving an engine around a track and they are not comfortable to sit in (for driving) or ride in (if you're the passenger). Your foot will bake as though it were a turkey in an oven. Plus the angled pedal offset means and close footbox make driving position uncomfortable for long periods (it turns out, it's about how long a tank of gas lasts.) Shelby told me "I paid the drivers to drive not to be comfortable." [The same can be said of any true race car.]
No Creature Comforts. A Cobra is a "Man's Car". Now power steering or brakes. Turning the wheel wile parked is a task. Braking demands planning. The 0-100-0 claim from the Cobra is true, but measured, more than half of that time was spent BRAKING!!! And it took two feet on the pedal.
Do your research. This place has info on just about every brand of Cobra ever made.
Stay away from kits you find in someone's garage. Almost all are worth nothing more than the offer to remove them from the garage. Some the owner should pay to have hauled away.
Other kits are troublesome. If you're an experienced machine fabricator with auto body experience sure go for it. Otherwise you'll spend lots more on tools you'll only every use once and lots of other stuff, and remember, much of the assembly requires a helper, so unless you have a kid or a really good neighbor, you're going to need some help and as with many, the helpers soon time out. If you want a Cobra, buy a used sorted out one and drive it now instead of saving no money and waiting 5 years.
All of this advice and more has been given dozens of times in other Newbie topics. Review them.
Good luck.