Carl! Give me credit on the photo! You look marvelous, I must say!

I'm 99.9% sure that's a Superformance Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. It's definitely not one of the 6 original cars. Interesting history on these new replicars. Superformance is the only company licensed by Shelby to make these and use the name as is underlined above. A man named Lance Stander bought Superformance from Hi-Tech (the company in South Africa that actually makes the rolling chasis). Superformance is the distribution company.

Superformance's headquarters is about 20 minutes from my home and I visited them last Saturday. I got the bug for one of the coupes when I saw an original Cobra Daytona at the H.B. Concours. This was a very interesting car, because it was built on one of the original chasis and was made by Carol Shelby exactly like one of the orignal six. The guy who was showing it has a letter signed by Shelby dated in 2004 that certified it was an original chasis.

I didn't drive one, but I did sit in the Coupe they are putting together for Carol Shelby himself (pssst...don't tell Shelby I did this!). Anyway, they are putting in an automatic transmission with paddle shifters for him. The workmanship on these cars is better than anything I've ever seen in a replicar before. Simply beautiful. The coupe will top out over 200mph.

The chasis without engine or tranny is priced at $69K. With installation of a Roush engine and 6 speed tranny the out the door price is around $95-$100K.

For what the car does in comparison to similiar cars, that sounded pretty reasonable. However, I'm probably going to pass. The more I thought about it, I just can't see these getting more valuable or even keeping most of their value (one was just on Ebay for $70K and didn't even get a bid), and the first time someone said something about "kit car" around it, I know I would kick myself. Opinions?

So, sorry for the length of this, but thought some of you might be interested.

Oh, at the H.B. Concours a very nice guy engaged some of us in conversation about our Z's. He went on to say he had one of the anniversary Gold/Black cars and he still missed it to this day. It was his favorite car and the best sports car he had ever owned...then, he went back to his gorgeous black Ferraii 308 he had entered in the show!!! True story!

Bob

If this helps ID the car, here is the engine. It is the Roush engine that bobc mentioned.

In the scrapbook the guy had there were shots of about eight of the cars together at some event in California. Again, I think he said there 12 made?

BTW, I mentioned the 240 Z connection of Pete Brock, and the guy pointed to a 63 Corvette coupe down the line and said Brock had designed the split window in Bill Mitchells studio.

The chasis without engine or tranny is priced at $69K. With installation of a Roush engine and 6 speed tranny the out the door price is around $95-$100K.

For what the car does in comparison to similiar cars, that sounded pretty reasonable. However, I'm probably going to pass. The more I thought about it, I just can't see these getting more valuable or even keeping most of their value (one was just on Ebay for $70K and didn't even get a bid), and the first time someone said something about "kit car" around it, I know I would kick myself. Opinions?

Bob

Except that if anyone stated it was a kit car they would be wrong. Replicar would be more correct. The chassis are individually made at a production facility (no need for a "donor"), unique VINs are assigned (it, at least here in NC, is titled as "Superformance" for a make/model designation), then shipped to the US. Similar to the Noble, Ultima, etc which also are not kit cars.

Steve

JUST BEAUTIFUL!!!! That's all i can say!

Except that if anyone stated it was a kit car they would be wrong.

From the Wiki article I referenced earlier:

SPF cars are sold as "turn-key kit-cars" in the United States to bypass complex emissions and safety regulations.

No question, these are not your old fiberglass body on a Volkswagen chassis kit car. They are extremely high quality reproductions. I've seen several of them up close. Attached is a shot of one I took last year at the Mitty.

Wiki is not always accurate, Mike....

From their website:

"No used parts are fitted to the car. From the ground up most components are designed specifically for the Superformance vehicle. This consistent approach to manufacturing and attention to detail results in proven world-class performance with fit and finish second to none.

We offer a complete TKM (Turn Key Minus) component vehicle we are Not a Kit, this affords the customer amazing resale value, continuity of build and consistency in Build."

http://superformance.com/FAQs.aspx

For some this may be splitting hairs, but it's different in vehicle registration/DMV (at least here in NC) and definitely makes a difference with the owners. I can still see the withering look I got when I asked a local SPF Coupe owner if it was titled in NC as a kit car...yikes!

It sounds to me that they don't like the negative connotation of the word "kit" while taking full advantage of using the technicality to get past US regulations since they sell it without an engine or transmission. I recall seeing a radar jammer that could only be sold legally in "kit" form: you had to snap two pieces together to get it to work.

Here's another source (not a Wiki) that coincides with what I just said:

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/16/superformance-rebuilds-the-original-gt40-to-spec/:

Superformance, the producers of the best Cobra and Cobra Daytona Coupes replicas in the business, builds something a little more than a "kit car". All of its products are complete factory manufactured rollers minus an engine and transmission. This allows the company to bust a fat right around complex emissions and safety regulations by classifying their products as kit cars, though obviously they're so much more.

In any case I think the Superformance cars are fabulous.

You guys are right. Lance was clear about the "kit car" conotation. They are pretty sensitive about it.

I still want one, but I don't see this as an investment, just one heck of a lot of unadulterated fun!!! I'm just not sure it's worth that much, when I've got two Z's and other toys in the garage to play with! Sure wouldn't mind driving around in one though. They do have a/c!

Bob

Hi

I was at the Carlisle Import/Kit Car show a couple of weeks ago and there was a guy there with a Cobra Daytona Coupe kit on a 240Z

It was parked next to a very high-dollar Factory Five Daytona Coupe. The Factory Five did look more like the original but I was blown away by how great the Z looked.

Does anyone know who made these kits or where I can get one or even better-a finished car like this? Anything ?

Thanks for any information you can give me.

All this talk about the Shelby. I want to know where I can get a newspaper box hood scoop for the other car!!!!