Newbie Needs Help

[clayfoushee]

Ron's right. These days, $35K will buy you a pretty nice small block Cobra, probably based upon a 302 or 351 Windsor block, and some of these may be stroked to higher CI displacement. Those are very reliable engines if built well, and give you more than enough power for a 2200-2400 lb. car if you're just planning on using it as a street cruiser. An original FE or 427 side-oiler will up the price another $5-10K or even much more depending upon the build.

In that range with small blocks, look at Uniques, Everett-Morrison, Lone Stars Shell Valley, and with a little bit of a stretch to $40K, you might find a nice SPF. $30K can buy you a very nicely built FFR, and there are many of those on the market. Backdraft is also building a nice car, but they are newer to the market, and I'm not as familiar with used pricing on those. ERA is very good, but a little more pricey, unless someone needs to sell it quickly.....right Ernie? Contemporaries are also very nice replicas, but no longer made and might be more pricey than $35K. This is by no means a complete list, but just off the top of my head.

Among those mentioned above, there are huge differences in what we refer to as "period correctness" which relates to closeness to the original Shelby in body style, chassis, interior and engine set-up. Generally, the more "period-correct" a replica is, the more costly, and you need to decide how important that is to you.

Also, let me stress again, there can be huge differences in the quality of the build no matter what replica type it is, so you should have the car thoroughly checked out by a knowledgeable person.