Factory Five Racing began in 1995 and Kit Car magazine was there at the very start. Former KC editor Steve Temple, wrote that first article, "Horse Trader," letting folks know about a small company with a cool new idea, namely, of using late-model Mustang parts to build a budget Cobra replica that, thanks in part, to the more modern running gear, didn't give up much on the performance front.

Ferrari fans probably remember the forgettable movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off better than cinema fans. That's because the scene stealer was a stolen '59 California Spyder that, among other misadventures, crashed through a plate-glass window. A little-known fact is that the stunt stand-in was a replica called the Modena. The company that manufactured this vehicle changed hands a few times, only to suffer an untimely demise due to poor management. Nothing was ever faulty about the car itself, so Bill Eikner and Louis Linxwiler Jr. of Precision Design, with the help of Mark Goyette, the Modena's original designer and builder, have introduced an updated version called the GT250 California. And man are we glad, because this is one fabulous shape. Lines like these will always be in demand as long as there are folks who appreciate such graceful and classy styling. Note, however, that Precision's body and trim are not exact copies of any single model year of the authentic item. Instead the company has merged the best elements that appeared on several versions from 1959 to 1963. Still, Precision preserved the precise tone and feel of the original, right down to the stippled, black dash, the Connolly biscuit-colored leather seats and the Beverly Hills bank carpet in the footwells.

Competing at last year’s Northeast Replicar Challenge against a bevy of new or relatively young Cobras, Daytonas, Lotus-types, and GT40s was a 30-year-old kit from another era—a Kelmark. Looking and acting as young as its counterparts, this Ferrari-esque racer made all the competition sit up and take notice at last year’s NERC in Louden, New Hampshire.

To make up for missing out on KIT CAR's first ever Performance Day in 2007, Superformance fielded three cars for testing at the 2008 event: an SPF Coupe, an SPFGT Mk II, and an Mk III roadster. The two hardtops are Superformance company cars.

Have you heard this one? A man comes up to a Cobra at a car show and asks the owner who's standing by, "Is that a Mazda Miata?"

Just because the replica Cobra market was already well-established when Dave and Mark Smith entered it in 1995 didn't necessarily mean it couldn't be better.

One of the best ways to prove whether a replica is road-ready or race-worthy is in the driver's or the racer's seat. Mongoose Motorsports, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio has been building 1963 Grand Sport coupe and roadster replicas for the last four years. In 2007, MM also introduced a replica of the 1986 Corvette GTP.

Dave and Mark Smith weren't the first guys to get bored going fast in a straight line. In fact, the first quarter-mile tracks weren't straight at all; they were round or oval. Though midgets and "Big Cars" (sprint cars for the time) prevailed, there were legions of racecars fashioned from old Ford bodies. An important distinction about these cars is that they weren't necessarily Ford-powered...or sat on a Ford frame.

Race Car Replicas, a candy story for performance-minded car enthusiasts based in Clinton Township just north of Detroit, Michigan, debuted their new Superlite Coupe at the recent Run 'N' Gun event at Gateway International Raceway just outside St. Louis, Missouri.

Certain racecars transcend time. They're world-beaters during their reign, and they evoke an emotional response from many an automotive racing enthusiast. What the cars look like, how they performed at famous racing venues around the globe, what teams drove them to victory, the personalities behind those racing teams, and fond memories from our collective pasts-all of these things contribute to the lofty reputation these inanimate four-wheeled mechanical conveyances attain in our hearts and minds, and in the auto racing history tomes. The Ford GT40 and the Shelby American Type 65 Daytona Cobra coupe are prime examples of racecars that will always be etched in the hearts and souls of American gearheads. We dream to one day build and own a re-creation of one of these racing icons (if not both).

They're prolific about the landscape and easy to spot. Backdraft Racing roadsters, manufactured in South Africa and distributed worldwide, now number greater than 800 vehicles. With a 92-inch wheelbase offering a bit more legroom and cockpit comfort, the roadsters are two inches longer than the original AC Bristol and Shelby Cobras. BDRs sport a low and menacing stance, having rear fender haunches that appear disproportionately large, giving the car a pouncing, serpent-like (small wonder) posture.

From 1966 through 1969, they were world-beaters. The 427ci big-block Ford V-8-powered GT40 Mk IIs finished First, Second, and Third overall at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans in Rheims, France. With dramatically different bodies, but still powered by Ford 427ci big-blocks, the Mk IV GT40 came in First and Fourth overall for the 1967 Le Mans. In 1968 and 1969, the same GT40 Mk I, with a small-block Ford 289ci V-8, captured First Place overall. By 1969, GT40 Mk Is claimed First and Third overall, though the GT40 no longer had Ford's financial backing, which meant it wouldn't be developed any further. Other race car manufacturers like Porsche had the latest high-technology race cars that effectively put the Ford GT40 into the rearview mirror of racing obsolescence and automotive racing history tomes.

All Porsches evolved from the 356, an elemental sports car that Ferry Porsche envisioned during World War II and introduced a few years later in 1948. Spanning some 17 years, the many variants of the 356 enjoyed a long production run, eclipsed only by the various iterations of the still manufactured Porsche 911.

Kit Car's first ever Performance Day was so successful that we'll be staging another Performance event in 2008. Before we do, we need to give the results for all the cars tested on that inaugural day. In this very issue of the magazine, we provide feature articles on the remaining two cars that were put through their paces.

The moment Dean Hornbacher unloaded his Midstates Cobra from the trailer we knew something was unusual. For one thing, the 427 badges on the front fenders above the cooling vents were Corvette 427 logos. Our second clue was the license plate: "COBRAT 1." To confirm our suspicions, we immediately opened the hood, with Dean's permission that is. Aha! The Cobra had a Chevy 427ci powerplant. To some, that's taboo. But, not everyone's a Ford fan. The kit car hobby is filled with individuals who desire to build some self-expression into their cars.

#1075 Reborn
My fascination with the GT40 goes all the way back to my childhood. As a young boy hanging around the family body shop, Walnut Park Auto Body in Crestwood, Missouri, I would ask lots of questions. "What's that?" "What kind of car is that," and so on. The one time that sticks out in my mind is when I saw a Ford Motorcraft parts box. It was wrapped up in the blue package with a GT40 smeared as if it was moving at Mach speed. I asked my Dad what kind of car it was. He responded that it was a GT40. That's where my love for the car began. A few years later I saw a real GT40 at the Indy 500 museum. All the hair on my body stood on end.

Since many of KIT CAR's readers have built or are constructing Factory Five roadsters, we knew our clients would love to learn how well the cars do in controlled testing. We asked Factory Five Racing to bring two of its cars for testing at KIT CAR's inaugural Performance Day. Once we received the RSVP from Factory Five's marketing guru, Mark Weber, we emailed him KIT CAR Performance Day Tech Sheets. In typical meticulous FFR fashion, Mark filled out and e-mailed back the two Tech Sheets to KC with rapid dispatch. The Sheets revealed that FFR would be bringing an LS7-powered, candy apple red-hued GTM and a Ford GT Silver painted Mk3 roadster.

For an automotive enthusiast, going to car shows can be hazardous to your bank account. The danger is, if you see something you simply have to have, you may end up trailering it or driving it home.

Though KIT CAR Performance Day is but a distant memory from last year, the fun we had and the times the participating kit car manufacturers posted will long be remembered. We'll be finished documenting how the replicas did in this issue of KC and the next. Soon, we'll be running a new batch of auspicious replicars in the 2nd Annual KIT CAR Performance Day, and we'll bring you those results.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde depicted a mild-mannered scientist's transformation to madman after experimenting on himself by taking a mind-altering drug he'd concocted in his laboratory. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the novel, which was published in 1886 and became a commercially successful motion picture in 1970.

Should you wish to feel like a celebrity and get your photo taken multiple times while zooming down the road, build a Westfield XI. If you prefer being inconspicuous, this sports car is not for you.

We agree with Cyndi Lauper: girls just want to have fun. For some girls, an excellent way to have fun is to own a kit car, or to race around on a motorcycle. Mind you, there are also many women who couldn't care less about having a cool motorcycle or kit car. There are quite a few men who are point-A-to-point-B transportation types, as well.

The Aldino K/O kit is the culmination of over 20 years of design experience by Joe Palumbo, a pioneer in the kit car industry. Aldino has been an institution within the replica arena for over 20 years and is going strong today.

At the Speedsters, Spyders, and German Cars event, we met many German air-cooled car owners. In the case of all the replicars, every machine we saw appeared well-crafted and constructed with great attention to detail. Four 356 Speedster re-creations especially captured KIT CAR's fancy, not necessarily because they were superior to the rest of the bathtub-inclined show field-but rather because their owners all desired to sneak out of the event early to go on a well-planned, 100-mile cruise of Paso Robles, California.

Any automotive industry guru will tell you that the SEMA Show is a spectacle. SEMA, which stands for the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association, has served and facilitated the growth of automotive aftermarket companies since 1963. Held annually in Las Vegas in November, the SEMA Show is open to all its members. When we car magazine scribes attend/cover the SEMA Show, we're supposed to wear our magazine's uniform. In my case, it's an official KIT CAR shirt, black slacks, and black shoes (with preferably matching socks so I don't look like a car geek). Realizing I'd be doing miles of walking of the Convention Center floor and surrounding parking lots, I snuck off to Footlocker weeks before the spectacle and purchased some comfortable black tennis shoes.