[A Snake]

I had the choice between ERA and Contemporary. I went with Contemporary, because it came the closest to an original at that time. No alloy cars were available then either.

I occasionally get arguments from the ERA guys, but one of the things that stopped me on the ERA was that, at the time, they used two round tail lights instead of the rectangular. Sounds picky, but twin round ones were on street cars, not S/C's. Other things like a mixture of Chevy parts in the front suspension colored my thinking too.

A Contemporary is all Jag except that the front A arms are fabricated to duplicate the originals.

FYI SOBRAC, the funny looking stamped hinges on the Kirkhams and Shelbys are as original. Just look at an original. Anything else including Contemporary is nice but not original.

dennish456 it's hard to see in pictures, but have a look in my gallery. That car represents an $80K investment. Sold for $60K in 1999 and was glad to get it.

If the car you're looking at has the details of an original and good fit and finish, 50-60K is probably not out of line. Just depends these days on how motivated the seller is and how bad the buyer wants the car.

If you're not up on Cobras yet and are trying to get near to an original in appearance, you should spend time looking at them before buying a replica. The closer you get to original, the more they're worth and also, they become the most desireable.

Don Borders is indeed a good man. He was the builder of Contemporary's cars. His Image Auto Works cars are just like a Contemporary only better. He's fixed some of the dumb stuff Peter Bayer insisted on. Just don't make the mistake of asking him for Chevy motor mounts......he won't do it.

If you don't mind a little wait, Image would be a really good choice in my book.

Al