I was surfing the net and started to look at kit cars. They look pretty cool and are a fraction of the cost of the real deal. Seems like they would make a cool sunday driver someday for me. Any of you have one or know anything about them?

 

IMO Factory Five racing is the best.
http://www.factoryfive.com/

I would love to build one of these one day..

 

I have a Factory Five Roadster. It used to be my Sunday driver until I got the C4.

 

I don't have any experience with them but the husband of one of my wifes employees has one and it looks and runs good. I don't recall which one he has. I'm thinking it's a shelby kit car though. IIRC

He takes it all over the country to shows and Civil War battle fields.

 

How difficult was the build? I hear they are very well documented and the boxes are numbered in the order you need them.

 

Thats cool c4scoreand7yearsago!! Do you have more pics? How hard was it to build?

 

 

They look cool.....but they are still a kit car. Freind on the back side of my shop builds Lambo's with Vette engines, brakes and then parts from other cars. The fiberglass body is exact. Just realize that they are not the real thing.

Kind of like putting a Vette body on a VW chase.

 

I have had the factory five brochure for a year now. I am told it is among the best of that type kit car. Check their web site, prices don't seem bad to get in the door, wish I had the cash!

 

I would love to build a Factory Five Roadster. Factory Five makes some of the best kits on the market. Somewhat pricey but very fast and fun. I figured I could get a FF Roadster on the road for around 20K with just basics. 30K if I wanted to have some big fun.

 

I'm working on getting a video uploaded of the build. With the help of a step by step build manual and lots of info online, it was pretty easy to build considering I didn't have any mechanic skills beyond oil changes and brakes. No welding or fabrication required. Put about 150 hrs in the the chassis and another 150 into the body work. Pulled the drivetrain out of an '88 5.0 Rustang, rebuilt the motor and tranny. Runs to 60 in just over 5 seconds. I've never been a huge fan of the Shelby Cobra, but I always wanted to build a car and this is the best kit out there.

 

You are right, I have about $20k in it and thats about as cheap as you can go. Saved several grand by doing the bodywork myself, including spraying the primer. Had the paint sprayed at Earl Schieb for $600 and it turned out great. Its a driver, not a show car so I wasn't about to spend 3-4 grand for paint.

 

Not Factory Five. They use a real tube frame chassis for all models of their kits. More like a race car with a fiberglass covering.

 

Yes.. I was turned off by Kit cars until they came around.
You can drive the Race car like frame without the body on it they are so well built.

 

For real? You was so excited you couldn't pull the sticker off the tire?

 

FYI that's not me. I'm not lucky enough to have one yet.
But I would have been just as exited.

 

Factory Five is one of the big players and has a reputation of high quality....HOWEVER....they are wedded to the concept of using a 5.0 mustang as a donor car, including the 4 link live axle in the rear...but it does make for an inexpensive build.

I'm sure up grades are available...and other "kit" car manufacturers turn out very high quality products...more than an equal to the original...and higher performance to boot, with prices to match.

some of the most interesting "kits" are those that use C4 running gear and drivetrains; as in the Chuck Beck Lister, an 1800 lb repop of the Corvette Listers that spanked Jaguars in the late 50's and Dragon Motor Cars, which, while finding inspiration in the Corvette Lister, has evolved to where it is nothing more, or less, than a full on race car with license plates.

Cobras dominate the kit car scene and I agree Cobra Daytona coupes are especially nice. But so are Listers, Cheetahs, Scarabs, and Corvette Grand Sports, all of which were Corvette powered back in the day.

And truth be told, even a fair number of Cobra kit's are Chevy Powered; just as Carroll Shelby originally wanted ("sorry Mr. Shelby, Chevrolet won't supply the engines, America already has a sport's car").

 

I helped my buddy put his factory5 cobra together...

 

GJ it looks awesome

 

Ill let him know! Thanks