Anyone who's a fan of KIT CAR magazine probably knows what the Run 'N' Gun is all about. For the uninformed, it's speed and time-capturing the fastest speed and lap time on Gateway International's Raceway, in Madison, Illinois. Achieving the lowest elapsed time in the SCCA sanctioned autocross. Going straightest and swiftest on the track's 1/4-mile dragstrip and getting the lowest e.t.

Knott's A.H.A. Show is a rite of spring for kit car/replica fans across the land. Some manufacturers travel from as far away as the East Coast to be a part of the festivities. From KIT CAR's perspective, it's the second outdoor event of the new show season. Our enthusiasm shifts into overdrive when we get our first peek of what the various manufacturers are exhibiting, in addition to the new replicars that are premiered at the Knott's show.

The weekend of April 25th through the 27th saw Porsche replica Speedster and Spyders gather for food, fun, fellowship, and tours along the California central coast in and around Morro Bay. This is an annual gathering of the Porsche replica folks who visit each other regularly on the Internet forum site found at SpeedsterOwners.com (SOC).

Successful professional racecar drivers aren't simply born to the role of winning. Yes, they no doubt possess the right physical attributes. Things like keen vision, excellent endurance, a strong heart, animal-like instincts, and rapid-fire reflexes-the best all have these traits. But, having the required skills and concentration on a racetrack for the duration of a race and somehow crossing the finish line first, that comes from years of learning and practice.

Have an event, get-together, happening, cruise, car show, or other automotive event that relates to the Kit and Replicar world? Then tell uswhen it is so we can all join in the fun! E-mail all the information (event name, dates, location, description, and contact info) to kitcar@sourceinterlink.com, and we'll run it in the next available issue.

The Deep South Cobra Club (DSCC) knows how to throw a party. For the past six years they've held the Reptile Roundup, a multi-day event that appeals to reptiles of the four-wheeled, high-horsepower variety and their enthusiastic owners throughout the Sunshine State. KIT CAR received a gracious invitation to witness and partake in all the Cobra rallying, cruising, racing, and fun that came from the DSCC. As many of y'all know, KC's editor was born in Miami, Florida. A visit to the Sunshine State would be a homecoming of sorts.

The stage was set for some scintillating sports car viewing. We'd received word several days previous from one of KIT CAR's crack advertising sales gurus, Brenda Frias, that a gathering of Ford GTs and GT40s, along with other enthusiast autos, both real and replica, would be descending upon the Ford-Premier Automotive Group-Mazda Campus in Irvine, California. From 7 to 9 a.m. every Saturday, Ford and Mazda host a free car show called Cars & Coffee. This particular Saturday, August 4, 2007, would be a special one indeed. The Ford GT National Rally II would be stopping by for coffee and a bit of showing-off before proceeding to El Toro Marine Base for a Saleen School of Speed autocross later in the day.

Realizing you'd be coming in after dark, your kinfolk would have the porch lights ablaze. The welcome beacon would revive memories of past extended family reunions. No matter how long you've been away, you're always welcome home. That's how it is with most families, and it's how Unique Motorcars, the oldest Cobra replica manufacturer on the planet, conducts business. Jean Weaver and her two sons, Maurice and Alan, founded Unique Motorcars in 1977. For the last 14 years Unique has opened its doors in Gadsden, Alabama, to the extended Weaver family and to its numerous Unique 427SC, 289FIA, and growing '36 Ford cabriolet customer base.

Speedway Motors is a huge mail-order auto parts company located in Lincoln, Nebraska. Their founder, Bill Smith, is famous in sprint car circles as the sponsor of famed circle-trackers like Jan Opperman and Doug Wolfgang. He has been involved in all phases of motor sports, including sprints, Indy cars, Pikes Peak hillclimbers, dragsters, and hot rods. Speedway's huge 520,000-square-foot headquarters sits on 42 acres near downtown Lincoln, and the lucrative business is still run by Smith, his wife Joyce, and sons Jason, Carson, Craig, and Clay.

Have an event, get-together, happening, cruise, car show, or other automotive activity that relates to the kit and replicar world? Then tell us when it is so we can all join in the fun! E-mail all the information (event name, dates, location, description, and contact info) to kitcar@primedia.com, and we'll run it in the next available issue.

As an exciting prequel to the London Cobra Show, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, hosted the second annual two-day driving school. The event was so popular in 2006 that Cobra, Daytona Coupe, and GT40 replica owners came back for more racing fun in '07. In '06, KIT CAR flew out to Ohio for the second day of track time in the hopes of getting a bunch of cool action photography. Mother Nature made us pay for cutting class on the first day of the driving school. It rained the entire time. The only photos we could take on day two were of restless racers in the garages and their well-built creations; we played the waiting game, but were denied.

It's quite possible kit car enthusiasts are wrenching away somewhere every minute of the day in the U.S. But creativity does rest. That's when we dream up cool things to do with our cars to make them unique. But there's always someone who has to put together a few more parts before calling it quits for the day or night while the rest of us are dreaming of more horsepower or chrome. Somebody's just getting started on a project at the same time someone else is performing the finishing touches.

If this year's event is any indication, the quaint Central California town of Paso Robles will soon be known for more than producing spectacular wines. It may become the annual meeting place for replicar enthusiasts who fancy Porsche Speedsters, Spyders, and other air-cooled German cars.

For the third year in a row, the Western States Cobra Bash (WSCB) was a blast. Sticking to the original theme, this year's gathering consisted of owners and their Cobras, Daytona Coupes, and GT40s arriving in Reno-Sparks, Nevada, from all over the U.S.A., with visitors inside and outside the U.S. There were some nice originals and many replicas on hand. Our three-day plan started with arrivals and a welcoming, a track day on Friday, the drive through Tahoe and Squaw Valley on Saturday morning, and culminated with a public car show in the afternoon. We could not have been more pleased with the excitement and enthusiasm of all the participants and attendees. At the core of the WSCB is the idea of getting together, just relaxing, and having some good old fun. For some, it's the anticipation, planning, and traveling in caravans of Cobras from different U.S. regional clubs. For others, it's all about preparing the cars and being finished in time for the WSCB as a great season-opener and launch of the summer. The gods were upon us, because the weather for our third year topped the previous two years.

Have an event, get-together, happening, cruise, car show, or other automotive activity that relates to the kit and replicar world? Then tell us when it is so we can all join in the fun! E-mail all the information (event name, dates, location, description, and contact info) to kitcar@primedia.com, and we'll run it in the next available issue.

Skill and luck made the 7th Annual London Cobra Show the most successful ever. The multi-day spectacle was the largest in its illustrious history. More than double the money was raised toward research to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. A total of 280 cars took over the towns of Columbus and London during the weekend festivities, making it the largest kit car show in the country.

Have an event, get-together, happening, cruise, car show, or other automotive activity that relates to the kit and replicar world? Then tell us when it is so we can all join in the fun! E-mail all the information (event name, dates, location, description, and contact info) to kitcar@primedia.com, and we'll run it in the next available issue.

American kit and specialty cars are just now getting the attention they deserve by the classic car community. They were honored a few years back when the prestigious Monterey Historic Races featured home-brewed American racing cars in their annual track event. This year the esteemed Amelia Island Concours had a special class called Fiberglass Sports Cars 1951-1960 just for classic 'glass.

If you're going to test kit cars, you should hire KIT CAR's co-workers to organize the event. Never before have we had to attend so many meetings. We were beginning to think that maybe the KIT CAR Performance Day wasn't worth all the effort it entailed to pull it off. We planned and strategized, going over and over the same list of to-dos once KIT CAR Publisher Tim Foss came up with the idea. Led by KIT CAR's Associate Publisher, Angela Schoof, who doubled as the Performance Day director of festivities, several colleagues visited the El Toro Marine Base in El Toro, California, where we'd be testing those replicar manufacturers against the clock, gravity, skill, luck, and the whims of Mother Nature. Another colleague, Nick Licata, met with AMCI, the venue's overseers for new car testing. Another co-worker, Yasmin Fajatin, made sure we'd have a cool logo, event T-shirts emblazoned with said logo, and participant Performance Day license plates complete with the iconic KIT CAR Performance Day 2007 image. She also orchestrated renting tables, chairs, EZ-Ups, and a visit from a Carl's Jr. catering truck at lunchtime.

There weren't thousands of kit cars on display at the 22nd Annual Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals. If you added the participants' replicas and all the manufacturers' show vehicles, you'd be into three digits. By also adding all the import cars on hand, you may get into the low 1,000s.

KIT CAR couldn't resist attending Texas Cobra Club's 8th Annual Spring Meet. The Texas club is comprised of participants from the Houston, Dallas, and Austin Cobra Clubs, as well as members from the surrounding areas. James Yale, the young man who built two beautiful Factory Five Racing cars, a roadster and a coupe, belongs to both the HCC and the TCC. Readers will remember his Type 65 from the March '07 cover. He began contacting me earlier this year and talking up the TCC Spring Meet '07 ad infinitum. James was on a mission to get some coverage of the Spring Meet in the pages of this magazine. When I heard about all the fun activities that take place in Round Rock, a town just north of Austin, I decided to head to the big state of Texas.

April 2007
Spring Carlisle
Apr. 18-22, Carlisle, Pa
The Collector Car Swap Meet and Corral is held at the Carlisle Fairgrounds.Thousands of cars and vendors will be selling new and used automotive parts.Call 717-243-7855 for more info, or visit www.carsatcarlisle.com.

No stranger to strong promotion, Barrett-Jackson calls its auctions "The World's Greatest Collector Car Events." In the company's press kit for the Scottsdale, Arizona-based show, that phrase has a TM after it; we guess they've trademarked the tagline. Is that legal? If you asked 100 different automotive enthusiasts what the best collector car event is, you'd get a bunch of different answers. This is America, after all. We're all entitled to our opinions. We're not shy about stating them, either. It's also the land of capitalism. Perhaps anything's available for a price.

When you're made an offer you can't refuse, say yes. David Smith, co-owner of Factory Five Racing, recently phoned and invited KIT CAR to drive FFR vehicles at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix, Arizona. The company needed to perform high-speed stability testing on its GTM Mulsanne supercar. They would also be selecting racing tires for the FFR Challenge Cobra spec racer. Spencer Sharp, a professional race car driver and former Bondurant instructor, was hired to do all the Challenge Cobra tire testing. The lead engineer for FFR on the GTM project, Jim Schenck, would be orchestrating the supercar's high-speed stability testing.

Donning attire that looks better suited for a voyage in the space shuttle, speed merchants gathered at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Their mission: do the gravity dance with consummate skill. They competed against the clock in replicars built for greasy speed on the road course, autocross, and dragstrip. The Run 'N' Gun has been the racing event for kit cars since 1985. Started so manufacturers could test kits by racing them, the Gun is now for hobbyists bent on seeing how swiftly their racing skills and the cars they've constructed will allow them to go.