Kirkham 77k-SPF 65k. Your choice ?

[jhv48]

Don't you mean one is a more expensive kit car than the other?

[madmaxx]

SPF is priced incorrectly, you read the add correct. New SPF's of his options are $70K plus. Dealers dont have excess inventory anymore and build on demand. So a guy wanting a "new" one can spend $55K? or $70K and wait and sort, he may get $60k on a whim. I'll go $55k instead of $70k new. As far as the kirkham I was head over heels and sure was my next cobra. The bottom line they are RAW in the aluminium state. The question is would you spend $70K on new spf or this kirkham for $75K?, no brainer kirkham for $75K. The kirkham will always be worth $70K, the SPF will settle in low $50's

[madmaxx]

As far as cobra as investments, pick your poisen. BAC,CSCO,msft,qqq, they are all down more than my cobra. Compared to my lexus dropping $40K, GMC, $30k, Cobra been my best INVESTMENT car wise.

[Igofastr]

I'd take the Kirkham. Again.

I'd say $75K is about the bottom of the market nowadays for a runing Kirkham without significant flaws. And, this is in a poor economy. Of any of these cars (barring Shelby) I'd say you have a better chance with the K-car of appreciating or at least not dropping from this point.

I suspect you could buy it, drive it for 5 years, and sell it for at least what you have in it.

[mreid]

If you can afford the $20k difference, then the Kirkham everytime.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by mreid

If you can afford the $20k difference, then the Kirkham everytime.

Well that's just more "brand loyalty crap."

[Hydramada]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Well that's just more "brand loyalty crap."

Finally we agree on something!

[mreid]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Well that's just more "brand loyalty crap."

Damn right!

[STL Mark]

Both are really nice. Neither should ever be considered an "investment". If you take either to a car show or have a conversation with the average Joe at a gas station they will always ask you first - "IS THAT A REAL ONE?" They will not be able to tell the difference between either, and you will always have to answer ""NO" to their query. Sure you can explain the differences. Their second question will be "Does it have a 427?", and their 3rd question will be - "How much does it cost?". If you can afford the Kirkham - go for it. But in the end - it only really matters to you. You'll spend plenty of money no matter which car you choose.

[jhv48]

Just my personal opinion, but I don't like the unpainted aluminum body. Don't care if is polished or not. Just doesn't look right to me.

Therefore, I bought the SPF.

[madmaxx]

Made $10K on my first one, guess it wasnt an investment, lost $300K in 2008 what a great investment. If you buy anything you are invested in it. POS 529 plan I opened for my kid 5 years ago lost more than my or any fking cobra will.

[Igofastr]

Agree.

Bought mine in '05, sold it in '09 for what I had in it (minus the sweat-equity of installing the motor).

A better investment than my 401K, my house, or any of my other cars. Heck, if I hadn't had a three-way trade worked out on it at an agreed price, I'da probably made money.

[Silverback51]

I looked at both, and chose the SPF for two reasons.

First is I really did not want an aluminum body. Second was I did not like the round tube frame.

For those wanting originality, it's the only choice. I was not going to use a FE style engine, so that was not important to me.

Don't get me wrong, the Kirkham is a work of art. Just was not for me.

[FUNFER2]

Those are good points. The tube frame is not as strong and the aluminum dents easily. Unless you're a body man like me, having a body shop hammer & dolly dents out is specialize field meaning you must know what you're doing, especially with thin aluminum, and can be expensive. But hey, it's a KIRKHAM.

[Silverback51]

The Kirkham I looked at had the brushed body finish. One of the things I considered was having it painted with a translucent blue. That way you would still see the brushed aluminum body work under the paint.

Don't know if anyone has ever done that or not.

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Silverback51

The Kirkham I looked at had the brushed body finish. One of the things I considered was having it painted with a translucent blue. That way you would still see the brushed aluminum body work under the paint.

Don't know if anyone has ever done that or not.

Don't know if that would work as alloy needs some specialized primers for proper paint adhesion and that would negate the aluminum showing through a translucent (candy) color.

[FUNFER2]

I believe I would get the brushed aluminum then clear coat it. I could always spray color on it later if I ended up not liking it a virgin.

[Bill Bess]

Hmmm! I guess I would take the SPF because I'm more practical. If you really want to decide witrch car is the best value and not a choice based on emotion you can use this decision method. Make a list of things you" Must Haves" on the car, ie. engine type, alum., etc. then make a list of "not requireds" and give each a numerical value from 1 thru 10. You can make a decision using this method and get the best overall value for your buck.
Actuaslly I would go for the ERA..hands down.

[Igofastr]

My Kirkham was a daily driver. I see no difference reliability-wise between a Kirkham roller and one from SPF. So that should be taken out of the equation, unless this one was bought unassembled (I haven't checked).

As for bare aluminum, I can understand the taste issue, but in terms of general durability and ease of maintanance, NOTHING beats bare aluminum. Perhaps a delorean owner can chime in on the merrits of brushed stainless, but I can assure you that aly would be easier to fix than stainless if it were dented.

I've owned a number of cars; painted steel and fiberglass, and bare aluminum. In terms of maintanance, I'd take brushed aluminum every day of the week, and twice on Sunday.

I agree with Duane, the Kirkham will sell first.

[decooney]

Originally Posted by Igofastr

My Kirkham was a daily driver. I see no difference reliability-wise between a Kirkham roller and one from SPF. So that should be taken out of the equation, unless this one was bought unassembled (I haven't checked).

Hi Ron,
I see... "daily driver" huh. Feelings are hurt now..., we rarely saw you driving your former Kirkham to one of our monthly Cobra meetups. Maybe once or twice a year at most, as I recall. Now we know for sure that you did stiff us and kept that car all to yourself. Just kidding. Oh well, hopefully we'll see the next project a bit more, eh?

The point about the "daily driver" comment also came from the perspective that you can painlessly park a glass car in a supermarket parking lot, expect people to bang on it to see if its aluminum or not, and survive it without a panic attack. With a Kirkham, driving it as a "daily driver", you better have Sandwich's phone number handy in your cell and plane ticket ready for him to get on a plane and come pound the dents out for ya, know what I mean? I've had three people bump or kick my ERA accidentally since I've owned it, without issue, and no dents. Maybe I'm characterizing the Kirkham as being a tad more delicate and something you may not want to leave in a supermarket parking lot just to go get a carton of Milk, but I'd do it with an SPF or ERA without concern as long as the ignition was disabled! Not sure this makes sense, but trying to make a case for my "risk avoidance" argument as lame as it may seem. If I had a Kirkham, it would never be left to sit in a supermarket parking lot anywhere, even if I was sitting in it. People just wanna touch that aluminum, tap-tap-tap, knock-knock-knock... Whooops!