Your Opinion on Superperformance Coupe as an Investment?

[neverwouldof]

Going towards a Contemporary Cobra Used. I recently viewed the SPF Daytona at a Hot Rod show down here and it looked great. But it didn't look like a 85-90k vehicle quality wise on finish. I think to spend that money i'd go to a Z06 backed by 36,000 mile warranty and up to par on crash readiness. Plus with the Florida sun and beaches how can i pass up a convertible that can still be thrown around on a track for 45-50k. I will however miss that A/C when it gets in the 90's!!!

[rcweingart]

Here's my comment about spending the money on a Z06 (and BTW, an injected coupe is $100K), my daughter and I recently drove the coupe to a restaurant for lunch where I parked the car adjacent to the restaurant and we were seated at a window booth overlooking my car. My daughter could not stop laughing at just about everyone, man, woman and child, young and old and everyone in between, who stopped to google at the coupe, bending down, looking inside, underneath, all over. And, not just casual glances but intently looking at the car. People actually went out of their way to come over and look. You don't see people looking at a Z06 like that. As the commercial goes, "priceless!"

[Excaliber]

The SPF Coupe, while VERY nicely done should not be confused with a modern production car as to 'fit and finish'.

If you bought a new Ferrari or Vette or whatever and paid 80 to 90K for it and it wasn't 'perfect' in fit and finish and detail you would be all over your dealerships butt to 'get it right'.

An SPF Coupe, compared to a new Ferrari for fit and finish leaves a LOT to be desired. But 'we' tolerate a certain 'lack of refinement' with the Coupe because of it's limited nature and it's special place in the automotive world. Ferrari owners would never be so 'kind' as it concerns THEIR car.

[neverwouldof]

No doubt it makes people turn their head.... I imagine from where i'm at most have never even seen a coupe. The only thing i would change is the rims and wheels... not to crazy about the look but i'd keep them with car for resale.

[rcweingart]

The "stock" wheel is an 18" replication of the original Halibrand. It is in keeping with the flavor of the original car. Peter Brock, who designed both cars (and if anyone has the "right" to change the look, it is Peter) changed the wheels to a BRE wheel. Peter's car is dark red with no stripes and a split white/red rear cove with his racing number "73." Peter also changed from the double side pipes to a single stainless side pipe. His car looks really nice but I personally like the more traditional look. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all of the coupes are beautiful, some just a bit more than others.

[Daytona Lee]

Why don't you look at Highland Racing.com Even though the owner is a 1st class asshole, they build some great cars. They give you a 2 yr. warrenty on the motor even if you buy it for racing. I don't know any other company that does that. I'm happy with my coupe.

[rcweingart]

Because some people want roll up windows, heater/aircondonditiong, power steering, power brakes, windshield wipers, finished interior, etc. In other words, a street driveable "finished" automobile instead of a racer/kit car. If one were interested in primarily a track car, then Highland, FFR, Shell Valley and the like are all good options but no-one other than Superformance offers a "finished" street car - one that even has a semblence of pedigree, vis a vis, Peter Brock and Bob Negsted. And, if looking for pedigree of sorts, then a McClusky on a CSX chassis, especially a real roadster chassis.

[torqueboy]

Yes , I know this thread is 16 years old, but because I m new in this forum I had to read the hole coupeforum , beginning at the last site and there is lots of information to fill my brain and I need to learn about my Superformance Coupé.
Ron (rcweingart) , you are right. I drove 15 years a righthand driven RAM Cobra, made in the UK, than 6,5 years a wonderful Challenger SRT8 and now I made my dream real and had the chance to buy one of the rare Superformance Coupes in germany .... we have at maximum 10 of these Superformance Coupes in germany on the road. All of this cars where in germany absolut headturners..
Porsche 911, Audi R8 and AMGs you will see at every corner, but cobras are rare and a coupe is the rare holy grail.
For me two things were important to buy this car, first making my dream real and have a really nice car for fun , second Investment .... because 16 years after starting this thread, the world has totally changed.
All over the world, now you have this Eco freaks, all things have to be green, CO2
is the bad word of the year, Greta Thunberg, every car should be electric ,emission restriction and so on and so on...
They want us to have no more fun with our cars on the street.
So if you buy a new car it has to have Euro 6 Emission.... you will never get that with a roush engine and without catalytic converter.. and it has to be noiseless..
My coupe has 67 Historic Registration, since 2004, this is the only way to get a car like this get legal on the street.. but today , you will never get a new CSX9000 Series with 67 registration on our streets, never !
If I would buy some ... I would have a very very expensive convolut of spare parts in my garage with no chance to get this thing legal on the road.
All this makes the prices getting higher and higher.
And look, since the SPC changed to CSX9000 the price for a new coupe changed to minimum 160-180 k $.
Also SPF Mk3, if you want to buy a good used one in germany , you have to pay
about 100.000 Bucks ( 90.000 Euros).
For my used SPC, I payed 134.000 Bucks ( 120.000 Euros) and that was really cheap. After all Restauration work is done at my Coupé the price normally for this car in germany is
180000 bucks(160.000Euros)
The lady who sold the car to me earned lots more of money , as her dead husband spend in 2009 when bought this used coupe.
And I will never get fewer money for the coupe , as I payed for..
My coupe has 12700 km( 7800miles ) on the odometer...
And now look at the prices for used MK1 in the USA.... they are really not cheap , they are more expensive as when they were new.

Bernd

[rcweingart]

Hi Bernd, Here's what #51 looks like today after heritage mods on display at the Mullin Gallery at the Design Center where Pete Brock attended

[torqueboy]

Dear Ron,
yes I saw the picture of your wonderful „51“.... and my „40“ will get a look after restauration near to yours.
Wheels white powder coated with the rim outside polished.
Same mirrors as you have, complete exhaust system with open pipes will get white ceramic coated . The covers from front and headlight will be the new ones , of the MK2/ BRE.
At the moment , I’m reading and reading ... but there a lots of questions and as time goes by, I will you send a pm with my questions , because you did lots of work on your coupe in the style which I really love ��....sorry about my bad english ...but it is not my home language ��

[ERA 626]

supply and demand, there are LOTS of SPF, FFR, Backdraft cobras on the market, many way over priced. Not saying they are better or worse, just talking market value.

How many ERAs, Kirkhams, CSX cars do you see? not very many. When you do see them for sale they sell fast. A nicely built ERA is north of $60k-$70k. The Kirkhams and the CSX cars are all north of $100k and holding value unless you find a fire sale.

[torqueboy]

You are right , also in germany, you have lots of cobras for sale, mostly overpriced , lots of them came from the UK. And they are standing a long time until they will be sold... but the cars like CSX or Kirkham are really expensive
$ 150k up ... because , our country is a little bit smaller and the people which are crazy enough to buy such a expensive car are not very many.. most of them will buy a Porsche for this money ... cobras are more expensive in our country ...and the whole restrictions we have make it easier if you buy a Porsche .
And yes the really good ones are sold in one day , because street legal with historic registration cars are very attractive