Autoweek snobs

[CSX 4039]

From the August 18, 2003 issue of Autoweek, page 35, regarding sale of a nice looking BRG Austin-Healey 3000 replica-

"I'm no big fan of replicas, especially ones like this that aren't even close to the car they are copying. It's one thing to put together a Jaguar XK-SS using parts from a donor Jag, modifying them where necessary and draping a hand built body on the finished product. It's a fake, but at least you have a slight claim to heritage. And driving a well-done one can provide a sensation similar to the real thing at a fraction of the cost. But a Tupperware Healey with a V8 and power windows? At Healey meets they'll have you put your car by the Porta-Johns. You'll be welcomed at kit-car conventions, parked next to the Laser 917 replicas and HMS Countach fakes. But really, are those the car guys you want to spend your weekends with?"
Keith Martin

Okie-dokie...

[Edley Rondinone]

At least Mr. Martin didnt mention Cobra kit cars!! lol !! (At least someone called my Cobra a "Nice fake!") lol !!

[Tom T.]

I don't think Keith has much of a problem with Cobra replicas...they're considerably more accurate, as a group, than the Laser 917 and Countach replicas. But your point is well-taken--hanging out with just about any car guy, kit, lowrider, hot rod, etc. beats the heck out of a lot of things in life!

TT

[B. SMITH]

"I'M NO FAN OF REPLICAS", SAYS IT ALL.

EVERYTHING HE SAID AFTER THAT WAS WORTHLESS.

HIS COMENTARY ON "ANY" REPLICA IS TAINTED AND COULD MAYBE IMPRESS HI-SCHOOLERS.

WHAT DOES HE REALLY DRIVE HIMSELF????

A "REAL" TOYOTA CAMRY..

B. SMITH

[KobraKarl]

are those the car guys you want to spend your weekends with?"
Keth Martin



Y'mean those unwashed , uneducated, poor, ugly, stinky, buttcrack showin, toothless, moronic,stubby fingered mouthbreathin,dirty fingernailed,sh!t fer brains,V-8 huggin,do-it yerself, sasquatches???

24-7 , before id spend an insufferable minute with a self pronounced blue blood like that stiff.

KK

[Robert T. Faust]

You'll be welcomed at kit-car conventions, parked next to the Laser 917 replicas and HMS Countach fakes. But really, are those the car guys you want to spend your weekends with?"
Keith Martin

Hell yeah I want to spend my time with these guys. These are the guys that are there to help you when your building your dream, or if your car won't start they'll stick around until it is running.

[Dan Semko]

Hey,
we're not big fans of hanging out with "replicas" either but we associate with Evan anyway. But then again, we run with sticks, throw stones and drink Raki with Blackjack, so I guess that says it all.

[Art Burtt]

The other day a guy stops at the end of my driveway and seeing the body of my Classics Roadster sitting in the garage and yells "hey is that a bug eyed Sprite"? I nearly died laughing.
Some people are so clueless it's a wonder they live on this planet.

[Excaliber]

Not sure but I BET he was reffering to the "new" Austin Healeys that have been on the market for some time.

If indeed that IS the car to which he refers, it's not offered as a "kit", but perhaps as a roller? Hmmmm,,,,don't think it's even offered as a roller. Up until a few months ago I had a REAL Austin Healey 3000. I saw the "new" ones being offered, as described above and thought they were pretty cool actually.

I would RATHER have one of those than do what some of my friends have done with their REAL ones. Drop in a Chev V-8, modify the frame BIG TIME, 9" Ford rear and sitting so high it looks like a four wheel drive!

Ernie

[REAL 1]

Dan: I resemble that. I'm REAL!

[Cal Metal]

In deference to Keith Martin, he does, at times, complement a well presented replica. His standard is the original car, and if the deviation of the build veers from that standard, he will dress down the car in question.

I guess if I were Keith, I would be more angry at the guy who attempts to pass off something as original than directing my disgust at someone who makes no pretense about what he has.

If he doesn't like the replica concept, he could simply disregard them in his auction reports, and any future auction report coverage he offers to AW.

[Edley Rondinone]

I read Autoweek every week, including Keith Martin's article. He seems a straight-forward type of guy; honest, truthful, etc. Sure, he said he wasnt a big fan of replicas; but he DID say something about a well-done one...sensation...fraction of the cost. A while back, he said there was an owner of some particular car that did not get a very good deal on a purchase...he gave reasons as to why the buyer basically had his head up his arse....You guessed it, that buyer was Keith Martin himself!

[Excaliber]

Hey by the way. Is it "proper" to take a replica Cobra to an "All English" car show? I did not attend this years event with my Excalibur because I felt it would out of place (and don't have an "english" car now).

Man was I bummed I didn't at least go as a spectator when I found out a real Cobra DID attend the event.

Ernie

[GeorgiaSnake]

Last Saturday, while at the local NAPA store, this guy came running in and asked if that was my car outside. I said yes and he responded - " that's the first real Cobra I have ever seen" I corrected him and he responded "wow a replica, where did you get it?" Go figure

Randy

[CSX 4039]

Originally posted by Brett J. Bolte


But really, are those the car guys you want to spend your weekends with?"
Keith Martin

When I read it, it seemed like the offensive part was the cut to the people, not the cars.
When someone on the site makes a negative comment about the make of another owners car, that person more often than not takes it personally, and gets p.o.'d, when the comment may have only been directed at the car, not the owner.
Here, this guy not only flames the car, but openly flames the owners, and largely gets a pass.
Interesting.

[Russ Dickey]

What Keith Martin needs to realize is that given the choice, most of us would probably own originals if we could afford them. But since I'll probably NEVER be able to afford an original Cobra, a replica is my only outlet for "living the dream".

I will say that there is a bad stigma surrounding "kit cars", and what most people don't realize is that the majority of Cobra replicas and continuation cars are actually better-engineered (in most cases) than the originals. New suspension, brake, chassis, engine, and transmission technology has allowed for this. I've also met people that were like "Yeah, but your car was assembled by hand in somebody's garage", saying it like that's a bad thing. I remind them that the originals weren't done much differently, as they were also hand-assembled cars, just like ours are, in what amounted to a small shop in LA.

I think people still associate the word "kit car" with taking the body off of a Fiero, and replacing it with a crappy look-alike body of a Ferrari or Lambo. I call this "Bradley GT" syndrome. I've actually met people at car shows that think the whole premise behind the Factory Five "Donor Car" program is that you take the body off of an '87-93 Mustang, and drop a Cobra body on!!

I must admit, and this is probably my Cobra-snobbery showing through, that I don't have the same respect for other non-Cobra models of kit cars, because I've never seen one or riden in one that was engineered for sh*t. They were all junk.

I think the Cobra replica market has been engineered over the past 25 years to be superior to the majority of other replicas. However, I think that a lot of folks, including Mr. Martin, still lump our Cobras in with those damn Bradley GT's.

Russ

[Excaliber]

Brett,,,maybe were seeing a kinder gentler Club Cobra? OK,,,maybe not, go figure.

I SURE would like to know WHAT Healey Martin IS referring to. The new Healey is so vastly different than the old I just can't help but see them as two different cars.

It would be like trashing the new MINI because it's such a "poor replica" of the old MINI. There TWO DIFFERENT cars! No big deal.

Lets throw the NEW T-Bird in there, pretty poor "replica" of the old one!

I'll take one of each please!

Ernie

[Back in Black]

Is the number of people that think my West Coast is an "original" cobra.. with the full width rollbar and the huge rear wheel wells, etc... but the only people I have met that did not like it were those who "felt" upstaged compared to their cars.. (most recently a viper owner. He left the sports bar within seconds of our arrival, after giving me a wierd look.. It was a great looking viper so the reaction was silly, I supposed he realized mine was faster or something, and felt upstaged ? )

Man, the personal auto sure is an ego thing for some folks...

[Cobra Carlo]

Back in Black could you email me?
I have a question about your car.
Thanks

[Lowell W]

B in B,

You sure the guy in the Viper was leaving because of you? Maybe he looks like that all the time...

Would I rather have a real Cobra? Sure, if I could support it and fit in it. On the other hand, my car is more dam fun than anything else I can imagine (except, perhaps, for a Bugeye Sprite with a V-8!) and if the purists don't like it, well, pi$$ on 'em. Let 'em think what they want; I'll bet I'm having more fun than they are. And, yeah, I like spending my time with greasy fingernailed, v-8 huggin', knuckle draggin', wrench turnin', whatever-else-they-were kinda guys. I are one! Sometimes, anyway...