Most inexpensive piecemealed cobra kit - help

[Ezra]

Hi Guys,

Can you tell me what company to look at for the most inexpensive 427 Cobra body shell?

I will start with the body shell......by the time i have preped and painted it, the till with have refreshed and can cover the $ of the chassis.


Thank You

[Ronbo]

Actually, you should build your chassis first. The body is the last thing.

Give a better run-down of what you ultimately want to build. (donor/non donor for one thing, engine, ect.)

Also budget range would help. BTW now's a good time to buy used cars as the market is flooded.

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

All Cobras start with a dream. If the dream lasts long enough and is strong enough, you will one day own and drive a Cobra. Sometimes these dreams may go on for several years before you can undertake a project. Just do your homework before spending money unwisely, study all the Cobras that you may want to own and ask many questions. If you are patient, the project you ultimately undertake will reward you with the car you want. Good luck.

[wtm442]

There are a lot of manufacturers. This may help.

List of Manufacturers

[CHANMADD]

Also bear in mind that very few Cobra kits that are sold actually ever reach completion. Purchasing a completed car is good advice.

[Tim Brewer]

I hate to disagree with you, Chanmadd, but I don't think you could be anymore WRONG about your statement about kits not being compleated. Where did you come up with that info??

[ROBERT GWALTNEY]

Call Sonny at antiques and collectible autos ( 716 8253990 ) they have a plan to purchase the chassis then body later. prices are good and you can purchase alot of extras as you need, or shop around and I,m enjoying the heck out of building my own.

Robert

[VINCENT RUDI]

I agree with Rob G i purchased my kit from Sonny at ac autos and he was the only one that i called that worked that deal with me. He started me out with what i could aford at the time witch was the frame package , that would have to be your first . Its very convenient if you don' t have all the cash and all the room for all the parts, your not going to put the body on the fame right away so think of all the room you would need thats like a whole two car garage. Give Sonny a call and he will hook you up, give him my name and he will tell you my storey i didn't have two nickels to rub together and two years later thans to AC Autos i have a completed cobra Ilove it.

[Ezra]

Originally Posted by VINCENT RUDI

i didn't have two nickels to rub together and two years later thans to AC Autos i have a completed cobra Ilove it.

Vincent, can you tell me how youve spent to build your Cobra from sonny over the 2 years?

Did you use a mustang donor?

Thank You

[Woodz428]

Originally Posted by Tim Brewer

I hate to disagree with you, Chanmadd, but I don't think you could be anymore WRONG about your statement about kits not being compleated. Where did you come up with that info??

I don't know whether it applies to Cobras, but that is pretty true for kit cars in general. I think the last statistic I saw was somewhere between 25-30% are actually completed. This is for ALL kit cars, not Cobras. For a few years I advertised that I would buy unfinished kit cars, I looked at probably 20 in the area( within 100 miles). The biggest problem I encountered was that the owners wanted me to pay all their kit costs PLUS top $$ for their less than stellar workmanship. Most hadn't been worked on in 10 years( averaged). I have noticed in the Cobra ads, that are unfinished, that they seem to be more complete than the kits I looked at. Some of those kits were pretty gruesome even in their best light.

[Excaliber]

Woodz, that would be an interesting statistic and no doubt one the 'kit car' manufacturers would rather sweep under the rug! I have a gut feeling that a larger percentage of Cobras are completed than other kits for a couple of reasons. Whereas the majority of 'hot rods' are show the majority of Cobra owners are about 'go'. Cobra owners tend to be serious about driving their car, and driving it hard. I suspect that translates into a case where they are also more 'driven' to complete the car they started.

But as for 'value', yup, it's hard to beat a used Cobra replica on the market today. Prices are at an all time low and will continue to fall in my opinion. Cheaper replicas have made the car more widely available to a larger percentage of the population. In that respect the Cobra has lost much of the 'exclusivity' it enjoyed in the past. In turn the number of unfinished kits (Cobras) will also go up as the builders begin to realize they can BUY a finished product, in many cases, for the same or even less dollars than they could build their own car for.

Here in Hawaii a few years ago we could NOT legally register our replica Cobras, PERIOD! There were a handful (5 perhaps) that DID own a Cobra (myself included) and through various methods we 'managed' to figure out how to get them registered. As a result the owners of that time frame were very serious about the car, the history, Carrol Shelby, etc. We got together and became politically active and actually got a law passed allowing the legalization of the Cobra and several other 'kit car's' were included. End result: There are many many more Cobras on Island than ever before, alas, the exclusivity has dropped like a rock! All it takes now is a 'check' and a 'whim' to own such a car. The passion is just not the same with many new owners who simply want a 'cool' car. Sometimes I feel like we shot ourselves in the foot getting the law passed...

[Paul Sharpe]

If you're serious about building a Cobra then don't just look at the costs, look at the quality. If you put money and effort into building a chassis and then throw a cheap body on it then the overall effect will be lousy. I researched for months before starting mine and although it hasn't been a cheap exercise the finished product looks and feels good. The options are almost endless, but for me most of the enjoyment has come from the building, and knowing the finished car from the ground up.

[McD00]

Go with a better quality car. If you start with a piece of sh!t you will end up with a peice of Sh!t. You know what I always say.."You can't polish a turd" maybe just cover the smell up a bit.

It's just about time to start drinkin for the weekend!

Man did I screw up trading my car for a new roof.

McVette