Turn-Key ERA

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by patrickt

It's been a long time now, but when I was deciding what car I wanted, I had it down to the "big three" CSX, KMS, and ERA. I was well studied in the replica game, having followed it closely since the early 1980's. The reason I did not go with CSX was that I did not view the name as giving the car any more "realness" as any other company and, most importantly, the quality of the builds, under the skin, were of a slightly lower quality than that KMS or ERA. KMS and ERA were neck and neck on my list; the costs were not an issue. What tilted the decision in favor of ERA was that 1) they were on the East Coast, and 2) They have a service manual that is almost as detailed as the service manuals I order from General Motors when I buy a car from them. Over the last decade, I have taken most of car apart, and then put it back together again, or made modifications to it, mostly wiring mods, that would have been much more difficult without the detailed service manual. And I will tell you, even when I have disassembled something deep in to the bowels of the car, the pieces that are put together down there show the same careful attention to detail, and the same use of high quality components, that you would find on something right out in the open -- like the wind screen or radiator. Now, had I lived in Utah, I probably would have gone with Kirkham, and then painted it and gotten along without the manual. KMS uses a lot of custom "one off" stuff that is absolutely lovely, but will be a little trickier to fix when it breaks and the Kirkham brothers and employees have all passed on. ERA has some of that as well, but for the most part they tend to use high end stuff that is not custom made, so even after Peter, Bob, and the boys are all dead and gone I think the ERA will still be easier to fix. That, in a nutshell, is why I went with ERA.

Ya, once the GPS, ABS, automatic ride leveling and skid control go "on the fritz," I really don't know who the F is going to fix my Kirkham, when the Kirkham company no longer exists and the former employees go on to work for NASA.

Tell me, what exactly will break on the Kirkham that is "custom one-off"? The Wilwood brakes? The Penske shocks? The Tremec 5-speed? A CV joint that can be purchased at Napa Auto Parts? Come on. Be serious.

Granted, I can't even fix the friggin' WiFi at my home, but I know there are bazillions of folks out there like you that can figure it all out without a manual.

Just say ERA was closer to you and also an excellent company.