Contemporary or ERA

[RICK LAKE]

Dennis Mosley Dennis what are your plans to do with the car? Shows? autocross? roadrace? drag race? Cruising? Investment for the future? Or the MIDDLE AGE LIFE ISSUES???
Any way, comparing these 2 cars, I went throught this back in 95. Got down to 3 companies at this time. ERA, Contemp, and Uniques. ERA and Contemp where the bench marks of the cobra replica industry at this time. I likes Uniques pallet car for the complete way to buy it. You needed a motor and trans and you where done. The car came painted, wheels and tires on it, brakes bleed, a good price also. The suspension was weak IMO and not a good buying point. A couple of years after I got my car I saw they added rear radial bars to the rearend assembly for better stability.
I had been going to the Kitcar show at Carlisle since 88 and talked to Peter Bayer and Peter P. about there cars. At this time I had kid looks, Peter Bayer was not the best salemans for a product line. Short, to the point, a bit of a snob. I made an appointment to go and visit his factory on a weekend. Got there Sat morning right at 9:00am. He was on the phone. Told to walk around and see the cars in build. I got 5 minutes of his time and he wanted $45,000.00 of my money. I said we would return on a day when HE had time for ME. Couple of weeks later, same issue Had $5,000.00 for down payment. We walked out without talking. I am gald because I think I ended up with the best replica car builder.
ERA builds tanks for cars, I have seen them hit embankments at Mid Ohio, about a 120 mph in turn 13. Front of the car damaged up to the raditor supports, rest of car straight and no body cracks. Driver walked away with bruises. Have seen other cars have less of a accident and have alot more damage. The rectangular tubing IMO is stronger than round tube from a twist point of strength. I am looking at safety first. ERA car body is bonded to the chassic and is not a main support member of the car. Other companies use the car body to strengthen there cars. My car is 16 years old, 15 years of racing and I have no noises from picking up the car in any corner causing a twist and creek sound. The car is solid. You should hear some of the other cars. ERA has been undating their cars since car #002. Better wiring system with all wires numbered, better brake system with both 11" and 12" front brakes. Rear brakes have a choice of inner or outer brakes on the rear of the car. Pin drive hubs are 1 piece and not a bolt togeather setup. Motor and trans options are up to you. ERA has a power steering setup that works quick and smooth. They are working on an electrical one also. ERA has an in house engineer and support staff that can help you fix or problem shoot your car with a phone call. The strange thing about ERA besides Peter P's hair is the 6 month wait BEFORE you can buy a car. You give 5,000.00 dollars and wait 6 months for a number for your car. Any problem and you get a refund of the full amount back. The rest of the ERA family can fill you in on other things.
If this car is going to be a street cruiser, the smoother ride will come from a torsion bar car over a coil over spring car with all thing being even. I have driven both and riden in both. Problem with Contemp is they are out of bussiness and finding parts could be a real pain in the butt. ERA stocks almost everything in house. Contemps car is as close to orginial as it gets without a CSX#. Contemps was having problem with rearend hopping and breaking parts. They had to add a watt's linkage setup to stop the bad hop. ERA has a sub assembly that allows there rearends to move and not have the the wheel hop on an accelleration trip. You can't go wrong with either car but where do you get parts on one of them?? Who can fix it?? Who can you call for help if you need it right now?? ERA is still here, Contemp is gone. The other issues we can talk about on a P-M. Good luck with your choise. Rick L.

[strictlypersonl]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

If this car is going to be a street cruiser, the smoother ride will come from a torsion bar car over a coil over spring car with all thing being even. I have driven both and riden in both.

If all things were really equal - including the spring, anti-sway bar and damping rates - the coil-over has inherently less friction than a damper/torsion bar combination. Any different between the ERA and Contemporary derives from the E-Type's street origin and the ERA's more performance emphasis. But most people are very impressed at the ERA's Street Friendliness anyway.