I have a DRB 2000. Having only been in contact with Peter by email, and occasionaly by phone, I found him hard to talk to, and sometimes I got the feeling he didn't really know what he was talking about. Example, I rang him when I discovered I could not get my engine in because the sump was hitting on the cross member. He said, "oh, you've got your sump on backwards". But it can only go on one way!!
I am relatively happy with the way things have turned out, but to me, its not perfect. We paid a lot of money for our cars, expecting it to go together with not too many issues. But instead we had to modify a few things here and there, which should be standard in the first place.
I know that if I was build another Cobra (and I hope to someday) that I could build another DRB with ease, only because I know what I know now. But these little problems have somewhat put me off buying another one. I dont want to resort to buying one any further afield from Australia, as it would be more expense to ship here. But if I have to do that to get the quality I want, then I might do it.
In some ways, I wish I had bought an Almac Cobra, from here in NZ. I know three people with these Cobras, and they did not have any of these sort of problems during their build. I chose between Almac and DRB for my car. DRB was better for me, because it has extra legroom, I liked the donor parts mainly coming from all one car (suspension etc), and I liked the the steel floorpan and bulkheads, and the overall structural design of the chassis. Also, the finish of the body was better by far. But now, it seem that everything has been made to within 2 or 3mm of what it actully should be, and thats not good enough. I also dont like the fuel filler being on the left, and the fact that the recess where it mounts is not perfectly round. If other manufacturers can do it, why can't DRB.
Maybe DRB can produce more cars this way, after all they are the biggest Cobra manufacturer in Australia.
When considering Almac, I thought they were a bit of a patchwork quilt. With donor parts coming from here and there. But now I see they have far more options and are far more adaptable for parts, being able to take just about any engine and tranny combo. Sure, the shape may be a little off, but with the right colour, you dont even notice. I like the ladder frame chassis better than DRB's. It may not be as safe, but sometimes (most of the time actually) simple is better. It allows the 4 into one sidepipe setup. The fibreglass floorpan is'nt as sturdy, but it's is strengthened by the chassis.
Over all I think Almac is the better package. Check out their website,
www.almac.co.nz
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