Originally Posted by
Aikidoka
Here’s one… "Factory Five Racing". They produce arguably the most successful kit car(s) in history, mainly their version of the original Shelby AC Cobra. I was going to build one and visited them a few years ago at one of their Owners’ gatherings. Some AMAZING cars. Kit now cost about $12k I think plus donor car, a finished car anywhere from $19-30k (overkill). Carroll Shelby went nuts over this company, claiming it was copyright infringement and all that...he lost in court. The real gist of this is that the FFR car is a MUCH all-around better car than Shelby built in every way except of course if you are Carroll Shelby. Did FFR copy the Shelby?...sort of and no. They took the raw body style and then re-designed EVERYTHING from the ground up. Originally Shelby simply took a stock AC car and stuck a big engine in it...FFR actually finished the job in making that “style” of car truly roadworthy and of course made it unbeleivably affordable to own a true supercar. Shelby still makes an "original" but its horribly over-priced and arguably not as good as the FFR in many key areas...go figure eh? Moral of this story is…$19k for zero to 60 in 3.6-3.8 seconds & 1.00g roadholding?“ If you ask FFR owners…its DABOMB!!
did you buy one?
My dad purchased a competetors "kit" a few years back. He's got about 20 grand invested in his cobra replica. He loves it. It's got a 351 cleveland in it and will absolutely walk away from anyting in town other than the most radical cars (porsche turbo, corvette z06, etc.).
How does this relate to bikes? Well I guess it's all about enjoyment. Is it a "real" cobra? No, but he probably gets the same amount of enjoyment for significantly less money, and most people who ask him about it don't have a clue it's not the real thing until he tells them. Like his Cobra, the Motobecane isn't the "real" french bike from way back, but if it is enjoyable, and performes well (perhaps better) - who cares. Not me, and I'd consider myself a bit of a brand name snob.