Specialty File
Since 1983, we've reviewed 11 replicas of the great Shelby 427 Cobra roadster. The Cobra is the undisputed darling of the kit-car industry, comprising about 70 percent of all kit cars sold. The replicas cover the gamut from $100,000 copies of near perfection to $30,000 packages that are simply kit cars with Cobra bodies.
We first noticed the ads for Factory Five Racing's 427 roadster kit in 1997. The company made quite a claim: Pay $10,990 for its kit, then acquire a V-8 Mustang built between 1987 and 1993, and you're on the way to winding up with a Cobra copy for less than 20 grand. We were skeptical: Our experience told us that inexpensive Cobra replicas usually feel like what they are -- cobbled-together fiberglass bathtubs with wheels. So we didn't get around to a test.
What revived our interest was news that a racing version of this kit car was being built, for only $1500 more. A year ago, Factory Five Racing even put together a series for its "spec racer" car. It's pretty much the same kit car, but now it's outfitted for racing duties. So we rang up the folks at Factory Five Racing, and a short time later, two factory-assembled cars were delivered to our Ann Arbor office for tests.
Factory Five Racing (FFR) was started in 1995 by the car-crazy Smith brothers, Dave, 31, and Mark, 32. We've all heard of dreamers losing their minds and their worldly goods trying to build cars -- even kit cars -- but the combined backgrounds of these brothers -- in business, engineering, and manufacturing -- brought a discriminating and more cautious quality to the often tumultuous business of making cars. They've been successful from the git-go and today sell about 550 kits a year. Since there is no national kit-car association, industry statistics are virtually nil, but Jim Youngs, editor of Kit Car magazine, says the Smith brothers sell more kit cars than anybody else.
Their spec racer pictured here has been converted for racing by the addition of an SCCA-legal safety bar, a racing seat, five-point racing belts, a fuel cell, a small driver's-side windscreen, and a stripped interior. You need two things to build it: The $12,490 kit (plus shipping costs ranging from $450 to $1000) and a 1987-93 Ford Mustang with an intact 4.9-liter V-8 engine and five-speed manual transmission, which should cost somewhere between $1500 and $3000 for a damaged but usable example. Simple. No chasing parts. Between 1987 and 1993, Ford sold thousands of V-8 Mustangs, so they shouldn't be tough to find. Speaking of business smarts, FFR provides a list of salvage yards that will find a car or supply only the needed parts.
Assembling the car is a matter of unbolting selected parts from the Mustang and bolting them onto the kit-car frame. Your handsome Frankenstein will need the Mustang's V-8 engine, five-speed manual transmission, brakes, front spindles, radiator, driveshaft, wheels, tires, rear axle, and rear shocks. The front suspension and the steering rack come with the kit.
The frame is composed of two steel tubes four inches in diameter with welded square-tubing substructures. The trunk floor and the passenger compartment are made from prefitted aluminum sheets that the builder rivets to the frame. Finally, the fiberglass body is bolted to the frame and acts like a skin covering the mechanical bits but providing no structural support.
The kit comes in boxes packed in order of assembly, so there's no need to wade through everything to get started. The only things you'll need to farm out are the shortening of the driveshaft and the painting of the body. Even all the fasteners are included.
Assembly times are dictated by the experience of the builder, but FFR estimates 250 hours to build its replicar. If that's a job you want to avoid, FFR can recommend a builder in your area, but it will add about $5000 to your cost. Our test car was assembled by FFR, and it came with some extra gauges and rear disc brakes that upped the price to $18,500. That price included a donor Mustang the company found for $1800 but did not include any labor costs (we estimated $23,500 for the as-tested price of our car, which included labor). The ultimate cost will depend on what you pay for the Mustang and how much of the work you do yourself. Whatever the case, it is clearly possible to wind up with this Cobra replicar for a good bit less than 25 grand.
