[CowtownCobra]

Originally posted by SSS


Hi Matt, welcome to the madness. I'll try to give some advice from my personal experience. I researched Cobra replicas for 2 years before I made the plunge, and it was not until the end of my research that I felt I had a grasp on what the difference is between a $25k and $50k car.

I could never consider a $50k car, because my budget would not allow it. I ended up purchasing a custom-built car for $26k complete. I'll go over the various aspects of my car and point out where I think a "premium" Cobra should be better. The Cobra replica industry is very mature, and I think you can count on getting your money's worth. If a car costs more, with similar components, it's going to be superior in quality and detail.

Here's the photo gallery of my Cobra. The manufacturer, Pacific Roadsters, designed the car to accept "donor" parts from '87 to '93 Mustangs, similar to FFR. I specified a "street car" look, with original interior, soft top (not shown), no roll bar, and no bumpers (my personal choice). This was completely built for me with engine, radiator, solid axle, gas tank, and some suspension pieces from a '93 Mustang with 108,000 miles. The tranny is a rebuilt T5. The wheels are 15" Edelbrock 454's, which I think work perfectly on a Cobra.

Engine/tranny - you are correct to exclude these from comparing cars. They aren't part of the car, and whatever combination you want can be put in most any Cobra replica. A donor build was the only way I could get a Cobra in my price range. Other than aesthetics, I am totally happy with my 200 hp EFI setup. It's plenty loud and fast. Nobody ever guesses by the sound that it's a small block. If I were in the market for a premium Cobra, I would only want a carbed big block for authenticity's sake.

Body - I absolutely love the shape of the body on my car. It's one of the main reasons I chose Pacific Roadster. You don't have to pay extra for good looks. As far as quality goes, I think it's probably thicker than most. There are return lips in all openings. It looks great. But, where the return lips end I can feel fiberglass threads. You can't see them, but you can feel them if you reach inside. I would expect a premium Cobra to not have loose threads. Under the hood, the underside of the scoop has a coarse finish. The fit of the doors, trunk, and hood are not perfect. I don't think there's much (if any) metal inside the doors or hood or trunk. The latches all seem to be mounted to fiberglass instead of steel. This is adequate, but you have to be careful. You can't slam the doors too much. I would expect a premium Cobra to have all hardware mounted to steel. I doubt the smoothness of the body is perfect, but I don't notice any flaws. It's not perfectly symmetrical either. For example, the left rear fender rides 1/2" higher over the tire than the right side. I think this is adjustable, but I don't really care at this point. It's not noticeable at first glance.

Paint - you should separate this from your comparison. Any body can be given a top notch paint job. My car was also painted by the builder, with a less than show-quality job. Overall, the paint looks great. The return lips in the cockpit are not perfectly finished. There are pinholes along the edges, but it's not noticeable from the outside. There are runs at the very bottom edges of the body which I only noticed when the car was on a lift. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it. I'd like for there to be no pinholes in the return lips, but I don't think I'd change anything else. I bought this car to drive, and there are HUNDREDS of chips in the paint on the nose and the rear fenders from rocks and whatnot. If you plan to drive your car, I think it would break a heart to see these chips on a show-quality paint job. Keep that in mind.

Frame - I wouldn't get too caught up in the structure of the frame unless you want a car specifically for autocrossing or some other unique application. Except JBL, all Cobra replica frames are ladder-style. Some have round tubes, some have rectangular. I think the simpler rectangle-tube frames with few crossmembers would be more flexible than the others. They're ALL strong enough. My car has a 4" round tube frame, and it's plenty stiff and strong for a street car. Too stiff probably. What you should be more concerned with in a frame is the suspension geometry setup, and the quality of welds and paint. I don't know anything about welding, but I can tell you the paint on my frame is crap. It has runs everywhere and the coverage is inconsistent. If I had built the car myself, I would have done a much better job in this department. Safety features such as side impact protection, functional roll bar, and gas tank protection are important. I doubt that Cobra manufacturers have the skill or testing to make crumple zones that are actually useful. I'm not aware that any Cobra replica has functional quick jacks either. I doubt any have bumpers that could actually withstand a 5 mph collision without doing damage.

Suspension - this is an important consideration. My car has custom adjustable upper control arms front and rear, with Mustang lowers. My car has Aldan coilover shocks in the front, and Strange coilover shocks in the rear. As I said before, it also has a Ford solid axle. The ride of my car is the single biggest thing that I don't like. The roads in the Dallas area can get pretty bumpy, and I feel every damn bump. My shocks are 5-way adjustable, but no setting satisfies me. My wife has to brace her chest while riding with me, or she'd be drooping to her knees in no time! I would expect a premium Cobra to have a more advanced suspension (IRS for sure), that handles well yet is driveable on the street without rattling your brains.

Brakes - my car has Mustang discs in front and drums in rear. This is actually one feature I overlooked, and assumed I was getting 4-way discs as they were all 5-lug. My car probably only weighs 2400 lbs, but the brakes don't stop it as well as I would like. A premium Cobra should have 4-way discs that are large enough to stop you well. If you have a lot of horses, they must be matched with enough brakes.

Chrome - my car has ceramic coated sidepipes and BBK headers. There is a straight pipe that connects the headers to the sidepipes. It cost a few hundred for the ceramic coating, and it is absolutely worth it. It insulates the heat very well and looks fabulous. I've grazed the hot pipes with my leg a few times with no burns. If you don't like chrome, I would advise black ceramic coating. I don't have a roll bar, but if I did I would have had it chromed. That's a couple hundred extra. Chrome (or ceramic) is not a huge difference in price, especially for a $50k car.

Interior - I wanted an original style interior, and I think mine accomplishes this. I have autometer vintage style gauges in the original street layout. I don't care for a big wooden steering wheel, so I got a smaller black one. It's difficult to steer at low speed, but it's easier to get in the car with a smaller wheel. I have an original style shifter, and the e-brake is from the Mustang with a custom boot. It works for me. My seats are vinyl, and I can't think of any good reason to get leather unless you want them to look worn out in no time. The vinyl is perfect. I have 5-point belts (the fifth point holds the belt down to your hips, which is important). It's so much trouble to buckle the thing, and I keep forgetting to release the parking brake first, so I normally only use the lap belt. I'll be eating the steering wheel if I have an accident, though. In terms of comfort, I'm about 5'10", and my car has PLENTY of room for me. It's still a trick to get in and out, especially when the top's on. I doubt that any Cobra would be comfortable on long trips.



Not necessarily. I think my car is proof that you can make a great looking and sounding car for $25k. You'd have to drive it or open the hood or look at the underside on a lift, or carefully inspect the details to see the difference.

One other consideration I didn't mention is how serviceable the car is designed to be. I'd want a premium Cobra to be designed so that it is easier to work on than mine. Every time I work on the car, I pull my hair out because it's so difficult to reach any bolt. Most of the time I have to bend my wrist at an odd angle and can only turn the wrench like 15 degrees at a time. This kind of thing would be indicative of a design that is worthy of a higher cost.

A lot of my complaints with my car are due to the quality of the build. Premium Cobra manufacturers purposely keep the build quality of their cars high by doing most of it themselves. This builds in an extra cost.

I know this is a lot, but I hope it helps!