[JWilly]

This is a question that has bounced around in different forms on this site. My standard answer is the best Cobra replica brand is the one parked in your garage. When I was looking to buy, basically, I wanted a street car that I could have fun with. My cobra is not a daily driver, but I drive it as often as I reasonably can. I believe the ranking LMH gives is likely, absolutely correct for an anatomically “correct” cobra. I decided against the CSX continuation car pretty quickly. It would be nice to answer the “Is it real?” question “yes” but I would know the complete answer would be “yes, it is a CSX car but it not an original”. I believe the CSX continuation car has more in common with present day replicas than it does with the originals (have you seen the fit and finish of an original?). Since I am not obsessed with my car being absolutely identical to an original and considering how I wanted to use the car, it did not make sense to me to pay the additional cost of the CSX series. To be honest, the aluminum body of the Kirkham sacred me off. I am sure these are more robust than the old aluminum bodies of the past but I just did not want to worry about dents. I have seen a Kirkham and it was, without question, an outstanding car. If you like the idea of an aluminum body and can afford the extra cost, you can’t go wrong with a Kirkham. I’ve not seen an ERA but they too get excellent reports. There is about a year wait if you want a turn key ERA (if you order an SPF, rather than buy from the showroom floor, there is also a bit of a wait for the SPF). Also, I am not aware of a dealership type of network for ERA. I’m sure that getting parts to an ERA is not a problem but my guess is that most ERA guys do the repairs themselves. Because of my particular situation, any project beyond really short and simple would take me forever to get done. I like the idea of a dealer with a service dept. available. The car I thought suited me best was the SPF. The car is a manufactured car but the SPF factory is not like a Ford or GM factory. There is no conveyer belt assembly and there is a good bit of hand-work in the SPF. It is not a perfect clone of the original but I have gotten the “is it real?” question at least a 1000 times. Although I would not describe any of these replicas as particularly user-friendly, I think the SPF is about as user-friendly as it gets (e.g., slightly higher side pipes make life a bit easier sometimes). I really enjoy my SPF although I’m sure I would enjoy any of the other brands as well.