Building a kit car has always been a dream of mine.  Since I was old enough to drive I've always had some sort of project vehicle or "fixer-upper", but I've never taken on a project of this magnitude before. 

I've heard horror stories about kit cars in the past.  Incomplete kits, or kits that never arrive even after a large deposit is paid.  Kits that are nearly impossible to build.  About a year and a half ago, I found Factory Five Racing on the internet.  Factory Five Racing (FFR) manufactures a kit for a replica of a 1965 AC Cobra 427 S/C, perhaps the most awesome street car of all time.  I did some research on them and requested their information packet and video.  I even visited a couple of local guys that were building Factory Five cars at the time.

The FFR concept is to utilize an authentic 4" round tube frame with aluminum sub panels and mate it to modern running gear.  The kit is set up to use a late model ('87-'93) Ford Mustang donor car.  From the donor car, the kit uses the engine, transmission, rear end, A-arms, control arms, steering rack, driveshaft (shortened), wiring harness, pedal box, gas tank, radiator, and brakes.  This all bolts into the FFR chassis with little or no fabrication!!  What you get in the end is an authentic looking Cobra replica that has incredible performance, with the reliability of a more modern fuel injected car.

Being an engineer, the whole FFR concept really made a lot of sense to me.   I visited the factory in Wareham, MA back in March of 2000 to meet the owners and engineers.  The whole idea of building a car was what got me interested in kit cars, not necessarily because of a love for Cobras.  However, since then, I've become irreversibly "BITTEN" by the snake.  Now, it's the thought of owning and driving a Cobra that inspires me.

Well, I've been itching to do this for over a year. On May 19, 2000 I finally made that phone call to FFR and said "I'd like to place an order....." What a great feeling!