Hi everyone, I'm interested in buying a Shelby Cobra replica car and was a little stumped on pricing. I've seen some in the $40k-$60k range, and some well over $100k. Just wondering if anyone can provide a little insight into why this could be? I'm thinking it has to do with manufacturer, production year and condition, but I don't understand why some are double the price of others. Any info is appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
A lot of it is based on manufacturer, there are Shelby licensed replicas and then there are the cheaper replicas. In addition, they're a blank canvas, and so some are true donor cars builds, but many have all new parts, modern running gear, etc. I followed this space for years, and was a big fan of the FFR Cobras. Solid engineering, great company, great group of people. I'm pretty sure Klayfish owned one, hopefully he'll chime in.
In reply to dj06482 (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks so much for the reply! Appreciate it
There are a lot of kit manufactures but not all of the cars are accurate to the original shape. Longer, wider, bigger doors, etc, are all easy tells.
Underneath, there are frames that are faithful to the original and others that are not. Live axles, Jag rear ends, lowered seat pans, on and on.
Engines can vary from pull out 5.0s to more faithful Ford small and big blocks to any form of Chevy engines. Auto or 4, 5 or 6 speed manual transmissions.
The biggest price differential is with an aluminum body. HUGE money.
I'm not taking an opinion as to what's best, other than the aluminum body, but just pointing out some of the millions of reasons Cobra replicas vary so widely. I've personally seen them in the high teens and approaching $500k
If it is a glass body, the FF is the only option if you want to retain value or appreciation.
In reply to 67LS1 :
Ok awesome. This is exactly what I was looking for. I've only been researching for a couple weeks now so I'm not super familiar with pricing yet but this makes a lot of sense. I've been seeing/hearing a lot about factory five I'll definitely be looking closer at them. Thank you!
NOHOME said:If it is a glass body, the FF is the only option if you want to retain value or appreciation.
I would argue that the Factory Five, while one of the better replicas, is not even close to a Superformance in quality or value retention/appreciation.
I would also argue that the bulk of sales of either of these brands are not "kits" but really unpowered completed cars. Which IMO is the way to go.
Fit finish and purpose...
Faithful to the original, a car that just drives down the street, or a race machine better engineered than the original?
As stated above, body construction and quality is big. Aluminum body is serious $$$$$$ (I doubt you can get one for under $100k, been wrong before, but...)
I've driven some FFR's, been around superformance, backdraft, Shelby continuation, and some cheap "cruise in rod" builds. For my purposes, FFR would have my money, but superformance has merit. The ones with lousy chassis, well I don't care for them.
Your mileage may vary, but a replica is its own thing, not necessarily linked to the original.
In reply to 67LS1 :
Is superperformance not an alloy body?
In reply to NOHOME :
No, they're fiberglass.
Superformance offers an aluminum body option. HUGE money so 99% are fiberglass.
The only other company that I think might have offered an aluminum option would be Shelby, ie, the continuation cars. I'm not 109% sure on that.
Kirkham used to offer aluminum too.
67LS1 said:NOHOME said:If it is a glass body, the FF is the only option if you want to retain value or appreciation.
I would argue that the Factory Five, while one of the better replicas, is not even close to a Superformance in quality or value retention/appreciation.
I would also argue that the bulk of sales of either of these brands are not "kits" but really unpowered completed cars. Which IMO is the way to go.
I know someone who was very, very upset after he bought a Superformance Cobra, it began to disassemble itself structurally at track days, and when he contacted them about this, was told that Superformance kit cars are not intended for track use.
Meanwhile, Factory Five had a race series for their Cobras.
I have spent a good amount of time in, under, around, and driving a Factory Five. They feel very nice as cars, at least from the perspective of a tube frame 60s LBC, which is kind of what the originals were, too.
Pete, others -- have any of the Cobras you've driven have tops? Did you ever drive one in inclement weather (rain, cold, etc.)?
Absolutely not. The one I played with didn`t have exterior door handles or locks, in the old English sports car tradition.
If it rained, you simply got wet. I guess it doesn`t rain too often in England...
In reply to nderwater :
One of the ones I drove, it wasnt on at the time I drove it, but the owner has a soft top with side curtians. (this is factory five) But his is one of the older "MK"'s vs the current. A brief search doesnt show one in their current catalog.
What I gathered was that it was similar to what my bugeye sprite would have. You will still get wet, just not completely soaked. (IE, old british car designed in the 50's standards)
Factory Five has the benefits of volume to help with quality of the finished product.
If you are only going to make a handful of units, you wont even have statistically significant data to predict initial or future quality. So while FF is no where near an OEM in the quality department, they do at least have enough cars under their belt to have evolved the product over time.
What do you want to do with it if you get one? If you're at all considering doing track days, and if the industry is still basically the same with respect to offerings back when I was following these, the only options I would go with are Backdraft, Factory Five and Superformance. Of those, I only have experience with Factory Five and only with the Challenge Series car. I loved it. The frame of their Roadster is almost as good and suitable for track days with roll hoops. Factory Five is the best bang for buck.
In reply to MMezz99 :
Hey, MMezz99, I have a cobra replica that my brother bought from Lone Star Cobras when they were still operational. The company was bought by what is now Ultimate Classic Car, Owner is Dennise Cahill. Anyways, my brother bought the kit, body and trim from Lone Star, engine is a 351W from the Engine Shop in NJ, From and suspension are from Roush. He has run into some health issues and is looking to part ways with it. The thing is, that the car is not finished. It is about 90% done and then needs to be painted. The engine runs great and it wouldn't take long to or much to finish it. You mentioned that you are interested in purchasing one that wouldn't be the equivalent of buying a house, let me know if you'd like to know more about it.
You'll need to log in to post.
