The future of Cobras and hobby kit cars?

[buddyg]

Originally Posted by itstock

It should have been a $250k car.

Agreed if that, I can't believe anyone paid $450k for that car.

[dallas_]

I pity the fool who tries to do a frame off restoration of a modern car in 30 years.

[Ace23]

Originally Posted by dallas_

I pity the fool who tries to do a frame off restoration of a modern car in 30 years.

That about sums it up. All the plastic garbage and the 500lb's of sensors, wires and widgets that they are made of now.

[dallas_]

Plus I don't think they put cars into junkyards anymore do they?
I think they just grind most of them up.

Car Grinder

So the used parts market could be a challenge.

[OnyxRider]

Originally Posted by dallas_

This thread has made me ponder what (if any) will be the collectable cars manufactured today?

What car of today will our kids desire enough to pay big dollars for when they are our age?

Certain Shelby Mustangs? Corvette Z 06's? GTR's?

Scarcity does not always equate to future value, but mass production certainly does not either.

I expect it partly depends on what is available in 30 or 40 years and there is no way to know that. If quality continues to improve as it has over our lifetimes the cars then should be fantastic.

I come across that question often and still say if you like it drive it and don't worry about appreciation. I like what Leno stated about Vipers. How many offers he gets for low mileage ones that are garage kept because they thought it was an investment. Not to much has caught my eye in the last 25 years. One of my favorites is still the F1. Some like the Buick GNX or Grand National.

Originally Posted by NewYorkGuy

Any car in a popular video game like Gran Turismo.


The Lexus LFA was made between year 2010- 2012. Showroom price $450,000 U.S. dollars. So in 30 years, this car will sell for double, triple, or break even?

You ever play the game The Run? A few years ago a young boy was playing this and I had to stop and watch for a second. As I left I sort of was talking to Cozy in the great beyond and said this generation plays games and we use to do the real thing.

[NewYorkGuy]

The Run, is that Need for Speed? Never played Need for Speed. When I feel the urge to 'get away", I turn on my Playstation, sit in front of the 50" TV, put on my Dre Headphones, grab my steering wheel with paddle shift control and I am at Nurburgring, at Spa, wherever.

It's just better than sweating in a car with no roof, no AC, no radio, no cup holders, inhaling gas fumes and stuck in New York City traffic.

[AL427SBF]

I think I found your ride should you decide to take the plunge.

[Dominik]

Originally Posted by NewYorkGuy

The Run, is that Need for Speed? Never played Need for Speed. When I feel the urge to 'get away", I turn on my Playstation, sit in front of the 50" TV, put on my Dre Headphones, grab my steering wheel with paddle shift control and I am at Nurburgring, at Spa, wherever.

It's just better than sweating in a car with no roof, no AC, no radio, no cup holders, inhaling gas fumes and stuck in New York City traffic.

Not quite the real racing, isn't it? :-)

I was 23 when I finished my first (Phoenix) Cobra. What a POS. The RAM in '93 was many times better.

I could have never built the first one if my dad had not given me the funds for the kit. Could have bought a new eco box (OPEL Corsa 1.2l) for the same money!

The future in the kit car industrs lies in financing. But who finances a kit, if 85% of them are unfinished? Complete cars have a better chance to get leasing or financing. We offer such for the GT40s we import into Germany. Leasing, Warranty and offer to buy them back after.

If you trade in expensive cars, on the level of Porsche, AUDI R8, Ferrari with a "Replica" you better offer comparable service.
I am generally of the opinion that Cobra "replicas" (you know what cars I mean) are way too expensive. But maybe only because I know what it costs to build them.

[Mr Jody]

Originally Posted by dallas_

I pity the fool who tries to do a frame off restoration of a modern car in 30 years.

Frame.....what frame? With few exceptions, they are all unitized bodies these days.

[buddyg]

Originally Posted by NewYorkGuy

The Run, is that Need for Speed? Never played Need for Speed. When I feel the urge to 'get away", I turn on my Playstation, sit in front of the 50" TV, put on my Dre Headphones, grab my steering wheel with paddle shift control and I am at Nurburgring, at Spa, wherever.

It's just better than sweating in a car with no roof, no AC, no radio, no cup holders, inhaling gas fumes and stuck in New York City traffic.

Not even close to getting out on a track with a real car. If you haven't tried it you should it is totally addicting!

[NewYorkGuy]

Originally Posted by buddyg

Not even close to getting out on a track with a real car. If you haven't tried it you should it is totally addicting!

I was into F & F street racing in LA and Mexico.

Now I race online. Doesn't matter if u win by an inch or a mile, paypal is real money!

[NewYorkGuy]

Originally Posted by AL427SBF

I think I found your ride should you decide to take the plunge.

Nice. For 2 years ago.

I'm getting a VR headset. Sorta like adding a supercharger to a tired engine.

[AL427SBF]

Originally Posted by NewYorkGuy

I was into F & F street racing in LA and Mexico.

Now I race online. Doesn't matter if u win by an inch or a mile, paypal is real money!

Interesting, you actually have losers sending money to winners via some sort of "honor system"?
That's funny, different internet speeds, cpu power and graphics cards makes for a playing field about as level as the grand canyon.

[NewYorkGuy]

Originally Posted by AL427SBF

Interesting, you actually have losers sending money to winners via some sort of "honor system"?
That's funny, different internet speeds, cpu power and graphics cards makes for a playing field about as level as the grand canyon.

Nice to know when I take a poop, someone is there to clean up.

best,
nyg

[Mark Brye]

In another 20 years, I think performance cars will be AWD Electric with each individual tire turned by its own engine. I also think they will have triple the power of todays performance gas engines and be lighter and better balanced vehicles. IMO there will be a new breed of car enthusiasts.

[NewYorkGuy]

Originally Posted by Mark Brye

In another 20 years, I think performance cars will be AWD Electric with each individual tire turned by its own engine. I also think they will have triple the power of todays performance gas engines and be lighter and better balanced vehicles. IMO there will be a new breed of car enthusiasts.

The supercar makers, Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, BMW, Audi, Tesla, are all in on electric power. F1 Racing has an electric racing series.

In 60 years, car enthusiasts at Barrett-Jackson auctions will say there is nothing on the road (assuming that cars are not flying yet) that drives and feels like a gasoline engine GTR, LFA, Z06, 911, R8. Maybe these cars will become the fiberglass, carbon fiber, alum kit cars of the future?

As for the Cobra, it has survived over 60 years in continuation, replica, kit car, fake, tribute, whatever u call it. 60 years is a long time and nothing human or man-made lives/lasts forever.

[G-Pete]

Originally Posted by NewYorkGuy

nothing human or man-made lives/lasts forever.

Really? Tumulus Saint-Michel 4500BC and counting.....

[G-Pete]

and/or a simple plastic bag....10000 years no problem. Not even talking about these modern plastics in cars....



...now define "forever"....

[REAL 1]

Dallas raises an excellent point as do many of others. I am concerned about the future of the Cobra and Cobra replicas. Why? Because it is a car I grew up idolizing and reading about and saying "one day I will have one of those". They are part of the group of cars were the heros of my childhood. Hemi Cuda, Shelby GT500s, Z28's, 427 Vettes, Boss 302's, Mach 1's, Shelby Cobras. While these cars are all important and signficant to those of us who grew up with them and reading about them in high school or junior high they also represent a very special time in automotive history. A time when American Manufacturers were not labored by federal regs, insurance etc..and it was an all out performance war that developed camps of loyalty and friendly competition that made it fun and exciting.

I think it's all about how kids are raised today. You can be computer savy and techno savy but if you are raised to love something then you love it. If you dad loved something good chance you will love it too if you are taught and appreciation for it.

All my kids have been raised with an appreciation of muscle cars and iconic cars of the 60's. As a result one daughter wanted an SS Camaro for her first car. She got it. One wanted a VW bug 60's edition. She got it. My son wanted a Shelby Mustang. He got a '07 Shelby GT which evolved from a street car to 90% track car that he is now running with NASA.

Problem is I don't think there are enough kids out there that have an appreciation for these cars today and there are not enough guys my age handing down such an appreciation for wonderful cars of the 60's. . Yes, while some do, the bulk have moved into more modern cars.

I don't know where the Cobra will land in all this. I wish I did. But I think the future for it is dicey as the years pass and our generation grows older. Will the generation behind us be as interested in these cars? Or the generation behind them?

I agree wtih Dallas that in the next 10, 20 to 30 years cars like recent gen cars like the FGT, GTR, Z06 (C5 and C6), GT500s, Boss 302, limited production Shelby's like the GT500KR, Shelby GT, GT500 Super Snake, Shelby GT350 will all be highly sought after by todays generation as perhaps the last of the rare and special cars of the fossil fuel age. They will constitute the "Barn finds" of the future generation. At least I hope it turns out this way.

Perhaps the Cobra will endure. I agree that the original will continue to hold value for a long time. However, as well healed investors die off of the older generation and the successful of the newer generations take their place their interests will likely not change which means the originals could become of less interest and in fact cars like the FGT could take their place. It is highly likely FGTs could become $1,000,000.00 cars in 10 years due to this and the other now recent gen cars I listed double in value or more.

As to racing I heard the "i race" program is very good. I, can tell you, however, that having just this week finished the 5 day Bertil Roos race school with my son in Formula Fords there is nothing like the real thing. It is amazing how much there is to know and learn. It is a never ending learning process. An electronic game while fun and to a high degree can help hone your skills it can replace actually being in a race car on a race track with other race cars. The nerves, anxiety, the feel of being straped in tightand feeling like part of a machine, the vibrations, smell of fuel and exhaust, the sounds, the sights, the adreline rush of diving into a turn at speed and in a corner with another race car and strategy that develops, walkiing the track and learning not only the lines but the nuances to a track i.e. off camber, positive camber, increasing radius, decreaing, groves, differeences in pavement, patches, debris, puddles, drying rates after rain, green tracks, cold tracks, gaters, FIA curbing verses other curbing, painted curbing. Going out with a professional racer as an instructor after 4 days of learning and having him school you. I was taken to school when I failed to maintain the line went wide and my instructor drove right down underneath me and passed in turn. Got too aggressive and tried to stay with him in the high banking and ran too close to the edge, again off line watching him fade away in the distance on line and then spinning in banking at around 80 mph trying to get "both feet in" and maintaining some contol going backwards while the smoke from the tires is now flowing out in front of me and other cars are coming around the banking. Alot of Chit is going through your mind around that time.

A video game can't replace all that.

It is an overload but an experience of a life time. Eventhough I will get my SCCA license I am content to just watch my son in the SCCA. He finished 2nd in the main. I finished 9 out of 10 cars 4 seconds off his pace and the leads pace. But it was fun trying.

It gave me a new found respect for roadracing and the pro's that do it. Man, they are fast and talented! It also gave me a higher respect for those heros that drove Cobra's and GT40s into history in the golden age. Man those guys had guts and skill!.

[NewYorkGuy]

Iracing is the best racing video game. If u are good at the game, u can drive a real car on a real track and have the same success. The winning contestant of a Gran Turismo game contest was signed to the Red Bull Racing team and he had no real racing experience. Not sure if he even has a driver's license.

I have been playing racing video games for over 15+ years and on the "virtual track" I do not see any Cobras. It is not a popular car among gamers because the Cobra doesn't handle or go as fast as other cars.