The Factory Five Cobra beat the Lotus Elise by a 2-to-1 margin in this week’s Showrooms Showdown. I guess that shouldn’t come as a big surprise, given the fact that CarDomain is definitely a built-not-bought kind of crowd. I had a lot of fun reading the comments, too.

Pictured below is my all-time favorite photo of the month on FFCobra.com. Built by Anthony DiOrio of Carmel, New York, it looks absolutely stunning (and dare I say somewhat understated?) in British Racing Green.

Ok, so you have $50k burning a hole in your pocket and you want a pure sports car. One option is to go to your local Lotus dealer and get a very mildly-optioned Elise with the 189 hp Toyota four banger. Or, you can order yourself a Factory Five Cobra kit and go whole hog–with just about any body, paint and drivetrain option you can think of. With $50k to play with you won’t have to mess with any used donor parts, and will even be able to choose between building it yourself or farming it all out. Still, it won’t provide the instant gratification of the Lotus. So it’s built vs. bought, English sophistication vs. American muscle. Which would you choose?

As far as I can tell these guys didn’t post a result in the Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge. Still, their Factory Five GTM Supercar looked absolutely wicked. My understand is that they had only recently gotten the car together, and were still sorting it out. I was also told that it is the only one in existence with the driver placed in the center. More pics after the jump.

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This weekend during "Moochfest 2008," Factory Five finally took the wraps off their new project, previously known by the code name "Larry." Their new ’33 Coupe sports a removable hardtop, independent front suspension, and was designed to accommodate a variety of different motors. Its wheelbase is 22 inches longer than their famous Cobra kit. Factory Five is even claiming that it is stiffer and 100 pounds lighter than their Cobra. More pics at ffcobra.com, and you can see a video here. Larry will be available in January 2009. Meanwhile, I’m still waiting to hear more about the slabside kit.

There was some star power on hand when the World of Wheels show rolled into Indianapolis—Bumblebee from Transformers, the General Lee, and ‘Mater from Cars were all there—but even for gearheads who weren’t start-struck, there was plenty to see. This Shelby Coupe made me want to run over to Factory Five, buy a kit, and get started constructing my own classic racer, and with its evil fighter plane paint scheme, this Firebird looked like it was ready to eat small children. Hey, if they touch any cars, I think they’re fair game! Enjoy the photos!

I told you I have Cobras on the brain so you’re gonna have to bear with me a bit. Check out this mean Factory Five roadster, recently completed by a guy named Sergio, who is a regular at FFCobra.com. This shot is the photo of the month over at FFCobra.com and you can see the thread on the completion of his car here. The car definitely looks cool without the normal windshield, but I think I’d feel like a dork driving around wearing a motorcycle helmet.

For years I’ve been hoping that Factory Five would produce a slabside body for their awesome MK3 Roadster kit, and now it seems that my hopes (and pestering e-mails) have been answered. In addition to the slabside, Factory Five will be producing FIA bodies and a replica of Dick Smith’s famous #198 car (pictured below). I like the 427 body as much as anyone, but really prefer the original body style with the undercar exhaust (just look at this beautiful Kirkham version). Make mine British Racing Green like this one. So I’m starting to save my pennies now. Details at Factory Five.

By Rob

Editor-in-Chief

Factory Five was displaying two hot looking GTMs in their booth. This mid-engined Chevy-powered supercar kit has been out for a year and a half, and they have sold 160 kits to date. We were hoping to see this one at the Grassroots Motorsports UTC Challenge this year, but it wasn’t finished in time–I talked to Factory Five and it will definitely be at the Challenge next year. Here’s my walkaround video of their booth.