How did you finance your Cobra?

[misfit41]

I paid for mine literally in hundred dollar bills,I have always had a "slush" fund,mostly money I make trading in my hobbies over the years,guns,cars,bikes,etc,now I do it for a living,sometimes its good,sometimes not,but I pay as I go,it's amazing how things get easier when I got in the habit of buying only what I had cash for.I look at it differently for some reason,,Tk

[Art Burtt]

I wrote a check!Then I wrote another one for "her"Lincoln Aviator.Funny, both cost about the same amount. She's happy I'm happy yippee!

[coyled]

Cash, but hey, now days, get a home equity loan, use your credit cards, get a car loan. Its all good, just remember, you can't borrow your way out of debt, greenspan are you listening? Scott

[Lowell W]

Red,

Guess it's easier to buy a red car than to change your name!

As long as you're dealing with HOC, ask Dave about registering the car in CA. He should know the ins and outs and may even be able to help you with the registration.

Good luck.

[Rick Bagley]

Sold some stock at the right time.....very lucky, the rest came from saving along time.

[flipper35]

Got a new car load at the bank in 1995 with an interest rate of 9.25%. Processed like any other car loan, except the loan officer called Shall Valley to see what exactly they were financing.

[RedCSX]

I sold my 67 GT-500. Enough cash to pay down on a few things and buy the CSX outright. With these cars its the best way to go.
Funny thing is people will go out and spend 50K on a BMW that will only be worth 20K, three years later, then they wonder how people can afford cobra or cobra replica.

[G.R.]

Sold a couple of custom home building lots when I bought my SPF--I'd owned these since the late '70's-early 80's--sold the car a month or so ago--lost about 5k in 3 yrs.

If in need of a tax write-off a 2nd is better than an equity line in a lot of instances, rates, etc., I'd check with a tax advisor/financial planner first about what is best for you--

Coyled sums it up pretty well

Good luck in your search-- can't go wrong with a SPF

[djseed]

I did mine the old fashioned way as well - cash. I had been researching Kit Cobras since the late 70's. During all this time I just watched the prices.

[Russ Dickey]

For you guys looking for financing, check out:

www.capitaloneautofinance.com

They used to be known as PeopleFirst. Several Cobra replica owners that I know of have used them (as well as lots of other automobile owners), and not one single person had a bad thing to say about them.

Russ

[Bluesman]

Take the vette money and purchase the "pallet kit". It has been awhile since I looked at the different levels you can purchase. If you feel confortable installing your own suspension, engine and drive train, then get the kit that has the dash plumbed and wired, all the brite work, seats, gas tank, etc. The "pallet car" gets you in with the chassis and body and many of the whistles and bells for an afordable price. Then as you save more dough, you can obtain the expensive stuff like jag rearends, F.E. engines and so on.
I don't recommend you financing your project.

[foothills gary]

As I was getting ready to start my last car project in the late 80's my bank officer won a quarter mil in the state lottery.Needless to say he was very amenable to loaning on anything while on that high.I had about 10 years of rapport with him,so he set me up an unsecured credit line,which I paid back early and is still open for my use at 2.5% over prime.I should have about 2/3's in cash and finance balance which hopefully I can clear in another 1-1.5 yrs. after that.

[Edley Rondinone]

Sold my house after eight years in the BOOMING Los Angeles Real Estate market; put a large sum down on the new house, and bought a Cobra......I have heard it said that it is not fiscally prudent to finance a toy such as the Cobra, as it were.....but no one knows your finances like you, yourself, do. JMHO.

[Dwight]

I SOLD FOUR MACHINEGUNS, THREE H&K's AND ONE M-16 AND THE ACCESSORIES. I STILL HAVE ELEVEN LEFT.


TRADED FAST GUNS FOR A FAST CAR!!

[RedBarchetta]

Originally posted by Edley Rondinone
......I have heard it said that it is not fiscally prudent to finance a toy such as the Cobra, as it were.....but no one knows your finances like you, yourself, do. JMHO.

Agreed. But I will consider to finance, say 20% or $10K, of a $50 acquisition. The other 80% would be paid in cash, split between the proceeds from my Corvette, exercising some company stock options (I've always viewed them as "free money" anyways) and a good portion of my annual bonus (timing = Feb). Oh, and since the $10K financed would be on a home equity line, the interest is 100% tax deductible.

I'm really not willing to compromise on quality...example: buying someone's FFR versus the SPF. I might consider a BackDraft as an alternative, but I really believe that you get what you pay for in life. There are good reasons why one company's TKM is considerably less than another's. JMHO.

That said, I'd also consider buying the "wrong color" for less (if I could work a deal), and for $5K I could have it professionally painted in whatever shade of RED I choose.

Decisions....decisions.....

[bullseyeprec]

I saved and sold about everything I had for several years and paid half down, the bank loaned the rest like the would on a regular car. I had to buy a finished car running, No partially completed car would do. I went with anthem motors (backdraft #65) Banks are flaky about antiques and replicas but they perk up when you take them 20K to put down on one, first break I ever got with a banker!

[jhein]

With blood, sweat, tears... oh yeah and don't forget non-dominant limbs... over the last 15 years...

John
spf1421

[Edley Rondinone]

RedB: I agree with your plan...makes sense to me, 'specially with the home equity line!

[Excaliber]

Hmmm,,,,,, it can be tricky getting the tax beneift from a home equity line of credit as opposed to a classic mortgage (1st or 2nd). Maybe it depends on how it is set up?

As my house was paid for all ready I took a minimal line of credit that did not require the classic appraisal, no closing costs etc. Real simple, BUT, I get no tax advantage unless I go to a classic first mortgage thing.

Hope "Lew the Tax man" recovers from his crash soon, we need him!

Ernie

[MilwDoug]

Back in 1997, my Dentist who is a good friend got loaned a factory demo Excalibur Cobra by Jens Geitlinger, the owner of the company, who happened to be a patient. He had it for the entire July 4th weekend.

I was out of town most of the weekend, but when I got back, there was a message on the machine to come over to take this great car out for the evening. It was a beautiful summer night, and I tooled around in it with him for about 4 hours, and HAD to have that car. Having owned a Tiger in the past, I had been a big Cobra fan for years, and just fell in love with this car. It was red with white stripes, handled great, had great pipes, sounded just right, and good power. It had to be mine.

I came up with a great financing plan. My business car, a 94 Impala SS was just about paid for, was running great and only had about 90,000 miles on it. I figured I would sell my 65 Bonneville Convertible for the down payment, drive the SS 3 more years, take a loan on the Cobra, and in three years, it would be paid for. Effect on cash flow, zero. Essentially the car was free.

So I got home that night and told my wife I was buying the Excalibur. Naturally she asked how much it was, and I explained that it was free! Of course that required a bit more explanation. The car was $33,000 but from a cash flow standpoint, it was free!!

I will never understand women's inability to understand basic logic when it comes to financing, especially when it comes to the purchase of classic automobiles that obviously have no way to go in value but up, up, up.

Unfortunately, I was not able to convince her that it was a good investment, and had to pass on the car.

But I had the fever and started searching the web, checking out Excaliburs and all the other kit cars. I think I even saw Ernie's Excalibur for sale in Hawaii.

Fast forward 2 years. I had just survived a big health scare involving a tumor in my spine that conveniently disappeared just prior to surgery. 4th of July weekend again and we are returning from a vacation in Northern Wis. We stopped at a Classic Car store, and there in the showroom, I swear, shrouded in a faint glow that must have come from the heavens, was a beautiful Black 1996 Excalibur Cobra with 3000 miles on it.

I looked at my wife and said I was buying it. She said wait a minute, we don't even know if you'll be alive in a year. I said that's right, so it may be now or never. End of argument.

And the best thing was, my original plan worked. I loved that Impala SS so much, I was still driving it, then with about 150,000 miles on it.

Fast forward 3 more years to the present. The Excalibur is paid for, just sold the Impala SS for $5,100 with 262,000 miles on it (man do those cars hold their value) and I still have my Bonneville to boot. My health is fine too, but if I had died it would have taken the mortician a week to get the smile off my face.

And that ladies and gentlemen is the long version of how I financed my Cobra.