Were I to replace my Replica.....

[Hal Copple]

I have owned my SPF for precisely three years and now precisely 50,000 miles. Even wanting a replica since they first came out, in the '70's, I never imagined how great the experience could actually be. Long trips, drag racing, road course events, meeting so many other Replica owners, just everything one can do with one of these cars. But the best part of it all has been the sharing of the experience with my son Chris, now a senior at Clemson University. He has had in-car instruction by any number of professional drivers, and no doubt has put at least a third of those miles on the Great Stroker. We go everywhere in our car, with him driving. There is no question that he is a better and safer driver for all his "seat time" in our car.

We laugh and talk and banter all the time, and one thing we often talk about is what we would do if for some reason we had to give up our Replica. I have made it clear to my wife that Chris gets the car if anything should happen to me, but if i lost it, or had to give it up for a medical reason, we often talk about what else is out there. So if i could not have another SPF....

I could never have a car with this much "performance", so it would not be a C5, or Viper, and we don't waste time talking about the unattainable, like a Ferrari Modena. An M3 or Porsche is not interesting for me, either.

So if financial resources were limited, i would try to buy a Turbo Mini, and i could afford about what i have in my SPF, it would be a used V8 Lotus Esprit. Chris wants a Rover Defender for his daily driver when he graduates, he now drives a nice Pathfinder.

Chris and I are great friends, and part of that experience for me as a dad has been because of our Replica.

So what would you realistically replace your Replica with?