i have been looking at cobras all my life,,time to pull the trigger,, any advice on which is the way to go,,am requesting honest advice . ffr seems to be the big name for first timers but hurricanes seem like a reasonable kit..togh to tell from internet and brochures.bill f
FFR has one of the best marketing departments ever. I looked very hard at their cars before deciding on another. Most folks who build them are intrigued by their low initial cost. (I was.) But you then have a choice of spending upwards of $30k to go with all new parts & paint like you would do with a Hurricane or go with a donor and put a host of 100k mile parts in your new build to keep the cost in the mid $20k range. The other issue is that their bodies are just shaped a little weird and not very well finished from the factory. When you see one next to another Cobra, the differences stand out like a sore thumb. After that you can spot one a mile away.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think that FFR is inherently bad. In fact, they've got a great chassis. It's just that they're not very true to the originals in their design, although they advertise quite the opposite while somehow keeping a straight face.
I'm on my second build now and I've learned a lot in the past few years. That's why I now have a Hurricane.
You REALLY need to see a few FFR's before making up your mind.
What Tom Said!
The only thing I could add is that Hurricane has FFR beat for customer service hands down IMO. We have been waiting more than 6 months for an aluminum panel from FFR for my brothers car w/o a word yet on when we can expect it. It would be holding up finishing the car but another local FFR owner gave us his panel. We will give him the backordered one if it ever arrives!
Larry
During my research I met with half a dozen or so guys that built FFR cars. The majority started out as donor projects, and ultimately ended up with 90% new parts. The majority also had significant rework do to on the various body panels to prepare for paint. I wanted 100% new quality parts, and minimal body work, which are two of the many reasons I'm going to go with Hurricane.
BTW, Hurricane also offers a painted body option for only $4500. Most of the FFR guys that hired out the paint/body ended up spending in the $6000-$7000 range due to the amount of body rework that was required. $4500 to have the body delivered with paint is an unbelievable value.