Is a cobra right for me?

[240M3SRT]

Im trying to learn with "search" button, but each time i read it just brings more questions.

Is the cobra a good platform for a daily driver that can also do well in performance driving events? What about having a/c?

It seems these cars might be one of the few cars that dont really depreciate. If im not too concerned with the "fun factor" of building it but do want to save money, should i build or buy one? In the past my best car deals were on modified cars that someone had to sell quick, for considerably less than they actually had in it. Is the cobra world the same?

It also seems there are many different manufacturers. Which is best? And has anyone heard of these guys (copy and paste):
http://www.lonestarclassics.com/lsc-...ca-kit-car.cfm
The only reason i ask is they are local.

Ive seen these cars range $15k to $55K+. What a broad range! Any advice on what to look for is appreciated!

[WarrenG]

If you checkout a few posts you'll find that probably nearly every manufacturer is represented by an owner on this site. Everyone (including me) of them will (hopefully) tell you why the one they chose is the "best." I chose ERA because I felt their car best satisfied what I was looking for.

I know of several owners who use their car for a daily driver. They tend to be loud, both due to exhaust and wind noise, and quite often you can smell the exhaust while driving/riding in them. Ironically enough, many of the owners that I know own a cobra rep for street driving and another car, such as modified mustang or miata, for track events. One guy has two cobras, one for street and another for track. In my limited experience gas mileage can range anywhere from 5mpg to 21 mpg.

If you can find a used one that has what you want in it, you will probably get the lowest cost going that route. Check out cobracountry.com, there are always several listings representing many of the manufacturers for sale on that site. Of course, as with any "used" car purchase "caveat emptor." If possible check it out before buying it. If it is too far for you to check out personally, you can probably find somebody on this site who is local to the car who would volunteer to take a look at the car for you.

The closest you can probably get to "instant gratification," that you'll get in a new car would be Superformance as they manufacture theirs in almost an assembly line manner in South Africa. They have dealers throughout the US and make an excellent car. There is a post elsewhere on the site that Kirkham, thought by many to be one of if not the best replica out there, is having a sale and that would be worth checking out. Lonestar also has an excellent reputation. I don't think that you could go wrong with them either.

In the end it just depends on who meets your desires the best. If you decide to buy used, just remember that the quality of any of these cars depends almost entirely on the competence and quality of the builder.

[pgermond]

Originally Posted by 240M3SRT

What about having a/c?

Based solely on this question I would have to say NO. Absolutely not.

[wood]

[I have a small cobra company I just finished one for a customer. You have to loose the glove compartment,and buy a compact AC unit, depending on the motor you have. You may have to change your brackets. If you buy a cobra and won't AC,E-mail me and I'll send you the info. you need on it. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH A COBRA.Even if you decide you don't like it you can make a good profit on it. If you are looking to buy one, I HAVE KIT'S STARTING AT $5.000 to $25.ooo. I have one of the easy build's on the market.I hope you join the wonderful world of cobras it's a BLAST of fun any time!!! PS you do not have to buy any thing from me for me to help you with any build you are working on.I LOVE TO BUILD & HELP BUILD CARS & BIKES. I HAVE 25 YEARS EXPERIENCE BUILDING. Please feel free to contact me any time at (ezbuildcobras@verzion.net) THANK YOU FOR TIME.

[Woodz428]

Another insolicited offer. Just think, a Cobra kit builder that says the car is the right one and that there's a bunch of profit if it's not. Gotta be true. Maybe we should start a thread on all the profit makers here. The ONLY way that I could see a "good profit" (whatever that is) on a Cobra is if you built it with all USED parts. These cars ,typically, you get what you pay for. Someone that builds a good replica will have too much in it to make any decent profit. Someone that plunks together used junk in a new wrapper can make lots of profit while generating a bad name for builders that are a little more "detail oriented".

[fsstnotch]

Originally Posted by Woodz428

Another insolicited offer. Just think, a Cobra kit builder that says the car is the right one and that there's a bunch of profit if it's not. Gotta be true. Maybe we should start a thread on all the profit makers here. The ONLY way that I could see a "good profit" (whatever that is) on a Cobra is if you built it with all USED parts. These cars ,typically, you get what you pay for. Someone that builds a good replica will have too much in it to make any decent profit. Someone that plunks together used junk in a new wrapper can make lots of profit while generating a bad name for builders that are a little more "detail oriented".

YOu keywords... "GOOD PROFIT." I believe that, IF you do all the work yourself and don't use junk, you can get SOME profit. But it will be marginal at best. Probably not just abrely enough to pay for your tax and registration fees. Bottom line though... if you put the time and effort into it instead of the money for someone else to put their time and effort into it, you won't be upside down.

It also helps to know people... My best friend is a painter by trade so we will paint the car at the cost of materials.

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by pgermond

Based solely on this question I would have to say NO. Absolutely not.

Assolutely spot on. I wished I could do Andrew Dice Clay's little whiney voice and read the freeking question out loud here.

I would suggest you abandon your account that you started the thread with, and open a new one. Do not admit to anyone that you ever asked this question.

WTF is this lately...damn PTA with Volvos parked outside?

[240M3SRT]

Originally Posted by Jamo

Assolutely spot on. I wished I could do Andrew Dice Clay's little whiney voice and read the freeking question out loud here.

I would suggest you abandon your account that you started the thread with, and open a new one. Do not admit to anyone that you ever asked this question.

WTF is this lately...damn PTA with Volvos parked outside?

I notice most of the post regarding my a/c question are from people living in beautiful CA. Its now Oct 1st and its still hot and humid as hell outdside. Theres no way anyone here in DFW could drive a non a/c car to work and appear presentable when they arrived.

So assuming the car is not a dd and more of a fun fair weather car (ie. nighttime or short day cruises around town), im asking myself dollar spent vs. time driven is it a wise investment?

No.

But it just wont stop calling out my name, and i havent even been in one yet.

BTW guys, im going down to Lone Star Classsics tomorrow to snoop around. One step closer to the dark side.

[WildBill3]

Now if you got a kit that has a hard top or a coupe the air should be no problem if its a must have,I can tell you with no air ours is like a microwave oven in the summer, we have the air just havent got around to installing yet.Thers lots of great kits and manufactures out ther just go heads up into this and you will be fine....WB3

[Dangerous Doug]

Buying used is cheapest. Find a used FFR with a mild small block Ford (302, non-stroked, 345 hp) and you'll have something fun to drive with some umph without breaking the bank. You can pick one up for $25k or so. You may not go racing with it, but you'll have fun and will be able to drive it to work (on non-rainy days). If you get bored with it, you could sell it for near what you paid for it.

On the other hand, if you REALLY want to have some fun, spend more money on a nicer car with a more powerful engine. Building is more expensive than buying used, but you get what you want.

Cobra air conditioning = no top. That's it. No frills. Cobras aren't for everyone. If you want air and drivability, go with a used Jaguar XK8 for around the same price as that FFR I wrote about.

Dangerous Doug

[Tom Wells]

240M3SRT,

I see you are in Texas so the a/c question is probably not frivolous.

Most of the Cobra replicas have black upholstery - not good for warm sunny days but very, um, original.

There is precedent for tan upholstery. Some of the originals have it. I chose the tan interior to avoid the "other snakebite" as I am in Florida.

I can attest the tan leather (dunno about vinyl simply because I haven't tried it) is perfectly fine on 95 degree sunny days!

Tom

[WarrenG]

Originally Posted by Tom Wells

240M3SRT,

Most of the Cobra replicas have black upholstery - not good for warm sunny days but very, um, original.

There is precedent for tan upholstery. Some of the originals have it. I
Tom

The other very popular original interior color (at least in England) was red! Have seen it used with black, red, and blue exteriors.

[GlynMeek]

I just finished building a Lonestar. IMHO, probably one of the top 5 kits you can get!

Check out my gallery for some build pics if you like.

Glyn

[Chaplin]

Did RSimones register under a new name just to yank our chains?

[fsstnotch]

If you have to ask, I'd say it's probably not for you. You might want to look into the corvette. Don't buy a cobra because it doesn't depreciate! haha It depreciates alot when you have no desire for the car!

And HUrricane-motorsports is definitely the best!

[240M3SRT]

Wow guys, thanks for the great response. I feel like such a noob since i dont know jack about these cars. Ive had quite a few turbo cars and a few m3's that did nicely at the track and the drag strip, but never anything quite like this.

I can tell the purist dont like the a/c question, and thats understandable, but TX heat at a stop light with side exhaust bouncing off other cars can get pretty toasty(Viper). My daily driver will be my trusty little nissan frontier, so its not like i have to drive this all the time. But id like to at least be able to take my g/f to the movies once in a while without hearing her ***** the entire way about the heat. The noise she will have to live w/

And im sorry about the question about depreciation/resale, but im only 26 and just bought my first house 2 years ago. It wont be easy to afford this as it is, but if i do get in over my head financially i need to be able to recouperate some of the money without completely loosing my ass.

[GlynMeek]

Don't worry about the comments here my friend. LOL...lots of 'grumpy old men' (me too...and proud of it) with attitudes and opinions on EVERYTHING

I have lived in Texas for 27 years now, and completely understand your heat issues, but AC may be a little impractical that's all. I actually added 'fans' and vents in both sides of the dash, but they only blow air at ambient temps. It helps, but with a roadster, real AC will just be wasted.

Now, with regards to your comment about the little woman..."without hearing her ***** the entire way about the heat"...most Cobra enthusiasts would recommend...

1) change girlfriends

or

2) leave her behind

Good luck out there. Since you live close to LSC in Ft Worth, go visit them. (Even though I have one, not necessarily saying GO WITH LSC, although I DID!, but with a 1 hour visit, you will KNOW if a Cobra is what you REALLY want and then you can take a little time to choose which one) Take a look around, sit in a couple of Cobras, ask for them to take you for a 'spin', talk to Brian etc.

Good luck

Glyn

[fsstnotch]

Ok, having said that, it's a little easier to see you in a cobra. But remember, it's still a rough car and won't have all those creature comforts! I live in OKC for 3 years with a very fast foxbody that had no A/C. My wife liked going to movies or anywhere there was people in that car. It sounded extremely mean and people gawked as you drove by! She liked the attention! haha There's also nothing like setting every car alarm off in the parking lot when you start it up! It only make the gawking that much more fun! haha I actually disliked the no A/C factor when it was 110 outside and I was getting out of work. By the time I made the 1/4 mile walk to the car in my BDU's (long sleeves and pants). then you have to get in the car that sat in the parking lot all day withthe windows up! But as soon as I fired her up and took off.. it was worth it!

I always recommend a look at Hurricane and shell valley. They were my top 2 choices and I obviously ended up choosing Hurricane.

As far as resale... if you build it yourself and don't go overboard, you shouldn't have much of a problem recouping your money. If you buy all the highest priced stuff and don't do most of it yoruself, you'll likely lose a little.

If you were to build the car, what are you looking for? Big block, small block? Sidepipes or undercar exhaust? You'll need a soft or hard top if you need A/C.

[240M3SRT]

Originally Posted by fsstnotch

If you were to build the car, what are you looking for? Big block, small block? Sidepipes or undercar exhaust? You'll need a soft or hard top if you need A/C.

From what ive read these cars average 2200-2500lbs. Given that power/weight ratio i think id be happy with 350rwhp, and id hope that with some sticky rubber and 1.6-7 60fts that would pull off mid 11 sec 1/4 miles. I think a small block would be best for weight distribution. And sidepipes are just beautiful(i wasnt aware one could fit an exhaust UNDER the cobra). Are most of these cars are carburated? Im more familar with fuel injection but i bet that would cost more.

Are the hardtops pretty good or cheesy, and do they require much hardware? And with a soft top, does that require those little button/rivets ive seen on some cobras(kinda ugly imo).

Can these cars accomodate either IRS or solid axle setup? IRS would be nice for the twisties!

Thanks for bearing with my onslaught of questions. But if i do get one of these cars im gonna have a blast!

[Excaliber]

I've been seeing some bumper stickers around town lately, "Surfing is dangerous, don't do it." Kind of left me scratching my head, then it dawned on me, those 'bumper stickers' were on surfers cars, vans and mopeds with 'surf racks' on the side.

The waves are crowded enough, they don't want 'new surfers', clever bunch those surf nuts!

In short, the Cobra is hot, smells like gas, is VERY dangerous and should be avoided at all costs (which of course will be HUGE). Yeah, thats the ticket, you don't really want one...

One day my girlfriend asked, "Do you love that car more than me?" I hesitated, thinking about the question, shortly thereafter I helped her pack...