[Ant]

Man I would have loved your choices way down here in NZ when I first started my current build. I guess one could have been shipped to here, at great $$$$$$, but then I would not appreciate the car if someone else had built it!

ERA and FFR to my way of thinking are both very good in different ways, as mentioned the body look is important, most Cobra bodies here in NZ, apart from the Almac are way off beam, with sellers claiming they took the mould off an original car - yeh right they forgot to brace the donor body up properly and all the panels drooped and splayed out, before they took a mould off, they are rubbish and the more I look the more I just shut my mouth, and let them burble on and say my body is heavy and sh*t compared the theirs!

I personally like the ERA and sticking to the FE 427 engine, the ERA will be good for some fun on the track, resale value etc and keeping the Cobra look and theme they appear excellent.

If you are serious about track use, then you could with some difficulty add a backbone to an ERA, maybe ask them to do a custom stiffer chassis (they may provide custom work?) or do what I am doing building my own chassis based on original design and look, with a triangulated backbone through it. FFR do a nice chassis, I am not sure about their body accuracy, so what suits your taste and budget. As track performance is a major consideration for my road going Cobra, I would be a fool to say how ERA compares to FFR for lap times, as I have never compared them.

Also I am a committed FE fan again, as my body is a Mk3 427 shape etc, it would be an injustice (mispent $$$) not to fit an alloy FE 427, for many reasons, resale value, correct engine for model, and less stressed performance. The availability of alloy blocks has further enhanced my decision.

What ever you do in my opinion, everything has to compliment each other, eg. the look under hood, with the right header tank, brake reservoirs, throttle linkage, air ducts, wiring, that is where ERA do a great job.