What is the best Cobra Kit to buy?
 

I am thinking of buying a cobra replica already built. What in your guys opinion is the best car to buy? Backdraft? Superformance? Factory Five? or ???

What is your budget and intended use (track, cruise, show, dirt road rallies, etc)? Both, should be a factor in your search.

The best? Kirkham

$90K Basic roller
$200K 50th anniversary model with real Shelby badges
$500K Competition model with real old NOS parts

The nicest one you like that you can afford.

Ed

What is better .. Ford or Chevy? You need to do the basic research. Kirkham = aluminum body, makes bodies for Shelby. Superb car. They will build you a "turnkey minus" and install the engine of your choice. You can get a nice crate engine for $10,000 or go crazy and get an aluminum motor and heads for $25,000. So it really depends on what YOU want.

Opinions vary on quality. General "guideline" is Kirkham Aluminum = best car built, period. Of the glass body cars. Shelby sources cars to their spec from Superformance. Superformance builds a very high, consistent quality "turnkey minus" car, and any of their dealers will make the arrangements to put the engine of your choice, mated to the correct transmission, in the car. ERA gets props for outstanding quality and race quality ruggedness. They will build you a turnkey, or deliver a car in whatever stage of finish you desire.

Factory Five is the more budget oriented of the selection, designed to allow a home builder with a "donor Mustang" to put together a good quality cobra replica on a budget. There are several companies, including Levy Racing, that build turnkey FFR cars. Levy has built over 100.

ERA is a boutique shop and basically builds 50-60 cars a year .... and has been doing it for over 25 years. I have been in the ERA shop when the owner of ANOTHER COBRA kit stopped in and Peter .. the owner of ERA .. helped him with some problems on his build as the company the guy bought from had no customer service. Check out Cobra Country .. for ideas on used cobra pricing, and buy a copy of Curt Scotts "complete guide to cobra replicas". Also review ERA's website for endless technical information on cobra history and builds .. including owners manuals and descriptions of suspensions etc. etc. Research .. and pick one you feel comfortable with.

Your title said kit and of the 3 you listed only factory five is a kit.
Superformance and Backdrafts are not kits.
I personally would figure out what you are willing to afford and that will really narrow down your search.
If your in the 25k-40k range get a Factory Five mk3 or newer.
If you can go higher Superformance is a great car IMO.
Dan

And never buy a cobra sight unseen and without a test drive no matter who the manufacturer is. A lot can happen between the time that the car leaves the manufacturer and when you are looking at a used one. Bill, Mrmustang, has pt together a buyers checklist that you should take a look at.

You then do want to consider what kind of support you are going to get from the company that manufactured the car originally. I can attest to the quality and character of Peter and his Staff at ERA, and also of Rick Muck and Dennis Olthoff of Superformance. I have personally met all of them and had discussions with them and they all are people of high integrity.

As stated above, what is your maximum budget and your intended use for the car?


Once you respond to those two, we can assist you narrowing down what will be best for your particular wants, needs, and potential monetary restrictions.


Bill S

Steve, always remember, the car is NEVER done taking your money! You'll see other cars with things you want, you'll read about things you've just got to have, and then, there's maintenance. Our babies are not like a modern car that'll get 100K miles out of the plugs, brakes, clutch, and somehow, these things manage to wear out tires much quicker??? For me, its all well worth it and has been for almost 20 years. For "she who must be obeyed", not so much.

What Bill said. Your Cobra could range from $28k to $200k. A pretty broad range to narrow down!:eek:

Do everything noted above and visit local Cobra car shows to become familiar with them.

As Karl said above in so many words, the price of the car is just the "Entry Fee". They require proper care and feeding on a regular basis.;)

When you get one, I have a Cobra car cover for you to cover up that pretty machine, on sale...

A Cobra kit you can finish building and drive.

Here u go, almost complete FF Cobra for $10K with engine

Replica Kit Makes Cobra Replica Shelby | eBay

Ya gotta be kidding!!:eek:

Quote:
Originally Posted by NewYorkGuy View Post
Here u go, almost complete FF Cobra for $10K with engine

Replica Kit Makes Cobra Replica Shelby | eBay


Wow, I wouldn't buy that at half that price.

There's not even $10k worth of usable parts. :eek:

ERA or Contemporary.

Won't take more than three hunnert, fiddy dollars to finish!

A Kirkham base roller is $100,000.

I'd stick to the Nissan Leaf Forum. :rolleyes:

I agree with whoever said look at as many as you can. You will get to know the differences. When I was going through the process, I concluded the ones that appealed to me the most as far as quality, fit/finish, and look were Kirkham and ERA. Not surprisingly the most expensive ones. My goal was to build the car myself, so I went for the ERA. Not a single regret with the car or the customer support from ERA.