Gee, you guys have some interesting stories compared to mine.
I admired Cobras ever since I saw them but I probably wouldn't have actually made the plunge if a certain young man hadn't wrecked my '90 5.0 LX black notchback. What a great work car it was. I constantly got admiring remarks from co-workers. When I first got the LX, my intention was to bracket race it with a 460 in it, like my buddy. I was surprised by how well the 5 litre ran and vaguely considered someday putting it to use in a 289 type such as a slabside if I replaced the 5.0 with the 460. The local dragstrip fell through so the swap would have never happened.
After the LX was wrecked my first inclination was a kit. I checked with Unique's factory and would have eventually bought Unique if FFR hadn't popped up in the interim. FFR allowed me to start sooner financially because of their lower initial cost and my available donor. FFR's early ads were so rinky, I almost didn't check them out but now I'm happy with the decision. Their ads have improved a lot.