Thought I would add my .02 worth of opinion and try to put my spin on a couple of things I have read.
A couple of folks have mentioned quality of having "professionals" making high volume cars. Let me say that I do not doubt the Superformance professionalism at all. I do question why some think that ERA is not as professional since they more or less hand build?
Having watched the group up in Ct. go to work on their cars, I can say that they treat each car they are making as special and work extremely dilligently on each aspect of the car to get it "right". "Right" being the way the customer wants it. They do not have a dealer system, but they are completely comfortable at passing along the names of people who can work on FE engines, transmissions, etc... across the country. These cars are not high tech machines. An excellent mechanic should be able to handle all tasks if needed.
The flip side to this is that Superformance pushes these cars out of a factory and ships them to their dealers. The dealers will give you the personalized service, but the car at that point is built (which is a plus if you want one quickly).
Questions to ask yourself if you are buying a new Cobra: (not used)
1) When do I want my car? Sooner = SPF
2) What will I use the car for? Just for driving kicks for a while. I want the car until I am unable to drive, retain value.
3) Correct looking car Cobra?
Both are great cars. You can not go wrong. The owners of each of these cars that I have personally met are all great people. Can not go wrong there either. There are more SPF owners. There are very dedicated ERA owners.
Jhein:
I will agree with Jamo on his thoughts. For two reasons.
1) ERA has an original sitting in their facility. Very often they have it sitting out side by side to one they are building. It is extremely difficult to tell the difference between them.
The first couple times I was up there and saw the original I thought it was one they had been building and had not delivered. I finally asked when the customer was going to pick it up. I was laughed at accordingly. I could not tell the original from the replica. Let me say that I was not crawling under the car to check out the different bolt, nut, screw and rivet positioning to determine if EITHER was original.
2) My wife -- Yes my wife is the second reason. At any car show that I have dragged her through, I never mention to her what brand of Cobra it is that I am drooling over. She has always been able to tell the difference between an ERA and SPF. As she states the butt on the SPF seems higher. She also knows the FFR's at sight as well. While at Lime Rock during the vintage races there were originals, ERA's and SPF's parked all in close proximity. When we got to an original her first comment was "gee that is an old ERA. You need to make sure you buy a new one."
My last thought on the looks department is that each manufacturer uses a different method to make it mold. Those that have used originals do not all use the same original. The originals did not all look "exactly" like each other in the first place. Fender flares typically being the one area that varied the most. Therefore the looks of each replica will be different.
Ray R
Enjoy the car you choose. You can not go wrong. You will be spending a lot of money either way so get the car that you will value to your own standards. Once you get the car please take me for a ride in it since mine is still going to be being built in my mind for a while longer
