Ok ready to buy, whats the best?

[Tommy]

Jerry -
There is such wide variety in how Cobra replicas are made that it's hard to generalize. But as it seems you want easy answers to difficult questions, I'll try. There are fundamentally two type of replicas. Some like Superformance are factory constructed with everything except the engine, transmission, wheels and tires. There is good consistency in the quality of these cars. Others like Factory Five are true kits that can be constructed by the owner, someone hired by the owner, or small businesses that build and sell the kits. In true kits, the builder decides what types of components (e.g., new or used brakes) to use. There is great variance in the quality of true kit cars. You should have any car you may buy throughly inspected by an experienced mechanic familiar with kit cars.

Several people who replied to your initial question asked how you intended to use the car. They did that because it will help determine whether or not you should spend extra for features like carbon fiber (lower weight), road racing suspension (IRS and/or adjustable suspension), drag racing suspension (9" rear axle). As your plan is to go weekend cruising, it probably doesn't matter if any of these features are on your car as long as the price is right.

Owning a Cobra replica is very different from owning any conventional contemporary car. Cobras are not as reliable and trouble free as a Honda Accord. The amount of trouble depends largely on how well the car was built, how much you abuse it, and how often it's driven. Seldom used cars seem to have more problems.

One question you didn't ask is what you, the driver, has to learn to safely operate a Cobra. In my opinion, these are very unforgiving cars. Light weight, high power, short wheelbase cars are very tempting to drive hard and fast. Every year several Cobra drivers die in accidents resulting from loss of control. And these cars have few of the safety features common in modern cars. I hope you have the self discipline to save your aggressive driving for the race track. .. Good luck with your search.