[Anthony]

[b]QUOTE]Originally posted by nikbj68


Steve:
High Gloss is easier to lick clean!
I don`t think AC have been in the position to "deliver lots of aluminum Cobra's" since about 1967..... They are 'here' to appeal to a (small) number of customers who will pay a premium for an AC built /Shelby partnership Cobra the likes of which hasn`t been made for 38+ years.

I don't agree. If we could all turn back the clock, we would have all bought Cobra's in the 60's for a bunch more than the Corvette and not gotten a top, heater or windows. I believe SAI even stated that the new csx1000 cars are for a "select" number of people, who are willing to pay more for a "genuine" AC produced body/chassis. There have been multiple different manufacturers of the aluminum bodied cars, including Kirkham, Kimmons, others, and now AC. How this will affect the price of each of these cars in the future, I don't know. Will the AC csx1000 car always be worth $30,000 more than the Kirkham, or more or less than that. We'll wait and see. We all would have bought these cars in the '60's if we had the chance, foresight, as well as hemi convertibles, jaguar D's, old ferrari's, etc. But, that doesn't mean that alot of the same people who would have bought these cars in the '60's will now buy the new "perfect aluminum CSX1000,4000 cars now, meaning I'm not sure the market may be the same.



We also know that as volume goes up, the price goes down so, a lot of Cobra's produced might end up being more affordable than one might think. Also, affordable aluminum should be the focus. Not Fiberglass!. Many have found that the difference in the final cost of a well done fiberglass car is not far off from aluminum and the re-sale value percent of depreciation on the fiberglass is certainly much more than the aluminum. A well done fiberglass car doesn't lose much value either, as does a well done aluminum car, meaning 427SO's, toploader, etc, everything done to close to original spec. I've seen some fiberglass cars go for about $60,000, and I've seen kirkham's go for about the same as well.


This is the 21st century. We should be able to make it better, cheaper, faster or at least a combination of 2 out of 3.
I have a sign on my desk. It says; GOOD, FAST, CHEAP Pick 2.
You can't have it all but, at least you can get close.
If Shelby concentrated on only aluminum, I bet they could deliver more cars at good prices and not have to deal with fiberglass at all. It seems like SAI has alot more upper level management costs to cover, so I don't know how cheap they could build a car for, competing with companies with little upper management costs, etc.

Let's not forget that in 1996, the Shelby glass car finished as a painted roller was in the $50,000 - $55,000 range. A Kirkham PAINTED Roller was $50,000. So, yes. It can be done and already has. When I was looking into the costs in 1998, a finished glass CSX4000 roller was about $50-55000, while a finished Kirkham roller was $65,000.