[DeTomaso] Cobra Kit Recommendation and Mustang for Sale

[Garth Rodericks]

If your friend want's a well engineered car to drive, buy a Superformance!  The ERA and 
Contemporary are both high quality kits, and arguably the most accurate replicas 
available, but they also faithfully reproduce the same engineering/design flaws of the 
original - not than any of that can't be worked out.
 
As for the Shelby kit, it's not a "Shelby" any more than having the man's signature on my 
Mustang Glove Box makes it a Shelby GT-350. Yeah, you get a "Shelby" serial number 
and the old fart's signature on the dashboard; and maybe bragging rights that it's a 
"Shelby" replica of a Cobra. And FWIW, it's a licensed name; Shelby is being paid for the 
use of his name. He's not building these cars or kits.  But, you get to pay a handsome 
premium for that name, the "CSX" serial number, and his sloppy signature.  The "Shelby" 
Cobra kit (continuation cars? Hahahaha) is just another kit, that happens to cost a 
lot more!  As a matter of fact, the aluminum alloy bodies come from Kirkham - I don't know 
about the fiberglass bodies or the chassis though. So, save some money and buy a car 
from Kirkham or Superformance - the quality will be equal to or better than anything you'd 
get from "Shelby."
 
The Kirkham is an excellent high quality replica - like getting a modern Shelby replica 
without the "Shelby" premium price tag. I'd definitely talk to the Kirkham brothers to see 
what kind of package they can put together.
 
And an assembled and slightly used Superformance that can be had for $40-45 is a 
bargain. Find one you like, then spend a little time and money to freshen it up. I'm sure 
you won't be disappointed.
 
And one more consideration...  I had the opportunity to run around LVMS in Vegas a few 
years back at the Shelby Convention in a beautiful Contemporary Cobra with a 427 and a 
289 FIA replica by Unique Motorcars with a nicely built 302. The 427 had amazing torque 
and acceleration. It was an absolute monster when coming out of a turn and going down 
the straight. But then you had to stand on the brakes at every corner to slow the thing 
down enough to go safely through the turn.  The 289 FIA didn't have the acceleration of the 
427, but was a much better balanced car that carried a lot more speed through the turns. 
At the end of the day, the 289 FIA was my favorite if I were to build/buy a Cobra replica. 
So look at and drive as many examples as possible!