Good news for the speciality car builders

[jhwalker]

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/sm ... safety-act

Ford needs to certify a modular. Right now GM has the only emissions-certified engine. Putting a Chebbie in a Cobra Replica is a sacrilege.



I still think it is more fun to start with a well-made (assembly line) roller and add the engine and drivetrain. Different strokes.

[xbacksideslider]

So . .. how were all of the cars that are already out there built and sold/certified, plated?

Are they all home built from kits?

I though you could buy turnkey kit cars already.

[jhwalker]

So . .. how were all of the cars that are already out there built and sold/certified, plated?

Are they all home built from kits?

I though you could buy turnkey kit cars already.

Until now -- no.

My SPF came as a roller from South Africa where about 3200 similar cars have been made over the past 20 years. I had the engine, tranny, driveshaft and wiring installed. I used the California SB100 regulations to register my car. Here is a 10 minute video of the plant. The vide is a little old, but still mostly correct. http://www.superformance.com/Factory.aspx
My car #2117 was built in 2005. A group of us SPF owners have an "intense" relationship with the factory, as we think that a couple of components are not correctly designed, so we have a short list of mods that we recommend to new owners right after they buy. The general reaction is "WTF!", but we explain and many fork over another little pile of cash. The factory does not agree with us, and the fact that an SPF with "our" mods kicks the crap out of a stock SPF on a track does not sway them. All good fun. It is the toy world.

All of the replica makers believe that their car is best, or best value, or whatever. There is a bit of pecking-order snobbery going on, and SPF is generally thought to be "third", but not "collectable" like a continuation Shelby CSX is, or like a Kirkham http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/ with its shiny aluminum body. Those two brands can cost 2-3 times an SPF, generally, and they draw a bit too much attention for me. We are ALL replicas, some are just "better" than others. A lot of other replica owners do not like SPF and SPF owners (until they get to know us ) because we are a bit passionate about the cars. Factory Five is sort of the lone wolf that goes its own way. You or someone builds the Factory Five, not a factory. Often starting with a donor Mustang of a specified range of years. There are GREAT Factory Fives and then some that you couldn't pay me to take. And there are thousands of FF kits in various stages of completion in garages across the USA. I started out to do the Factory Five thing, and then remembered how many projects I actually finish -- and said screw that.

The SPF owners seem to drive their cars more than most replica owners drive, and take them to the track a lot (there are exceptions). Our top mileage guy put 150,000 miles on his car with some 30,000 miles being on tracks. My hero... But there is a good group who have over 50,000 miles on their cars. I screwed around modding mine for quite a while, but enjoy it a lot now that I am actually driving it...

I answered all of the questions that were NOT asked...

[xbacksideslider]

Thanks for that explanation.

Do you think it good or bad, on balance, that manufacturers now can sell complete turnkey cars direct?

[jhwalker]

Thanks for that explanation.

Do you think it good or bad, on balance, that manufacturers now can sell complete turnkey cars direct?

It will be good for the manufacturers, according to my friend who owns Superformance. I think there could be some unintended consequences.

I have enjoyed knowing that everyone driving a Cobra replica very likely has some skin in the game. It has not been easy up until now. I am probably far into the "not mechanical" group of owners, but I have wrenched, busted knuckles, bitched and moeaned. I guess I don't look forward to the only requirement being a checkbook. I think that someone who is NOT an enthusiast will be more than a bit disappointed compared to, lets say, a 911 Porsche. These are fairly brutal cars, mine has manual steering and 12" + wide tires. And if Ford does not certify an engine, the whole scheme sucks.

I think the replicas will get better, if only for liability reasons. The "manufacturers" up until now were only making rollers. The addition of the engine, wiring, drivetrain can be done SO many different ways -- some very nicely done and some horribly done -- so the manufacturers were pretty much liability-proof. And the installers have nothing worth suing for. My SPF was delivered to me as a death trap. My Roush 427R as delivered would not create vacuum sufficient to activate the brakes at idle (which I found out with some luck without wrecking) , and when I drove back to the installer while heeling and toeing to keep the revs up and make vacuum, the response was "oh yes, you are right with that engine, it is a race engine". Not going to happened with a turnkey car.

Before SB100 in California, a replica driver was usually driving an illegal car -- most were pretending to be 1960's cars. Then there was a massive crackdown that put a ton of people out of business and some behind bars.