american builders

how many manufacturers (not importers) in america and who are they ?

Good question. ERA comes to mind, There is also American GT (see threads from last week), but they appear to still be in the prototype stage. There was also the gentleman from Kansas who initially disputed the American GT moniker, but I'm not sure if he plans to offer anything anytime soon. Finally, there is Sabre, which I believe is now defunct, although I thought someone bought Sabre's molds and tooling.

Regards,
Mark

[ May 16, 2002: Message edited by: Mark Worthington ]

Saber is still in business in Florida.
John Donnely is the proprietor and offers
the MK III roadster that was discussed
in an earlier thread.

John sold the molds for the Saber MK I
hardtop to John Hester, who is about to launch his company (yet to be re-named?).
John plans to offer both space frame and
the monocoque as we've seen on the Forum.

American GT (Kansas) I believe (don't quote
me) was involved with Saber at one time selling turnkey cars. But I have no idea of their current status.

So in conclusion...not much USA built to offer at the moment. Let's hope this changes.

MikeD

There is a new company in the development stages out of Iowa, USA. They are lining up suppliers at this tme (windshields, etc). It will be a small, "hands on" company with VERY true-to-the-original details. The start-up is by a gentleman who as researched Gt-40 and manufacturers for several years now, and his dream is to build cars for himself and others. I have been working with the company since Feb. of this year on details of a car, possibly the first production vehicle. I will keep everyone informed as this project evolves. Chip in Atlanta

Nobody's mentioned Holman Moody.

At $ 600,000 a copy, they are not considered
a replica builder. They are a museum.

MikeDD

And that white car, the only one they've built, well it is still for sale here in NC. They bring it down to Charolette with some tubs every now and again, but it is still theirs. I've heard different stories on the price, 250k-600k, but regardless I think they like it a little too much and it will stay with them.

ron

John Donnelley's company GT3 Corporation - is on the brink of full production of his Mk III roadster. Cool car if you like convertible roadsters! John has history with Jaguar, Brabham Racing, Cobras and at least one original design that an example of is sitting in his shop.

John Hester's company GT Supercars - has a phenominal deal on his monocoque prototype. (See GT Supercars Monocoque thread under chassis for pics and more info. Also, I understand John will be putting updates on the Forum within hours.)

Holman Automotive - You are right Ron, it is not a replica. His cars are considered as originals by all of the vintage racing associations and are basically part for part interchangable with original Mk IIs (Big block, T44 and Tennant monocoque tub.)

Dan White, mentionded by Chip, also on the verge of production. Dan is an A&P (airframe and powerplant)licensed mechanic- skills that will no doubt lend themselves well to building a car.

ERA in the northeast has been around the longest. Nice product, top dollar, long waits.

American GT - never built the cars, rather OEMed them from Sabre which was John Donnelley's MkI name. They did OEM a lot of specialty stuff that carried the American GT logo for inclusion in the 351/G50 powered cars. Transaxles were beefed up by Patrick Racing. I understand that Chris Bramhall still has two of these cars.

[ July 15, 2002: Message edited by: Lynn Larsen ]

There has been some talk that the Kirkhams in Utah may decide to do a GT40 at some point. It may depend on how much interest is shown them.
The quality of their 427 Cobra cars speaks for itself. If they decide to do a GT40 it will be, I suspect, as good as their Cobras. If they decide to do it.

Vincent and all,

It is Gordon Levy's and my intention to go into FULL manufacturing of our Roaring Forties in the United States under the direction of Gordon in Pheonix, Ax..

This will also be done in Europe although the manufacturing in Europe will follow the US in time frame.

Gordon has proved to be an excellent ambassidor for our products and leads a highly skilled team of dedicated staff.

All parts including chassis and body will be manufactured in the States and I hope this will eliviate the worries of our future owners there. The specifications will not change and all parts available today from Australia will be completely interchangeable with the cars built in Pheonix. Quality control , which is one of my biggest bug bearers, will be still under my control but I have the greatest of confidence in Gordon's team.

Gordon and myself have been working hard and long on this new dirrection and both Gordon and myself hope that some of my staff in Australia will spend time in Pheonix working with Gordon's team.

I have a long term commitment to my cars and the setting up of a manufacturing plant in Pheonix is to me a natural thing to do. I look forward to my increased visits to the US and I am very excited with this joint venture.

Best wishes,

Robert

I have learned from a reliable source that the Kirkhams are indeed working on a GT40 project. They are busy getting a GT40 MkIV car produced and the quality that they are striving for sounds to be equal to their Cobra car, AT LEAST.

[ July 26, 2002: Message edited by: Lynn Larsen ]

I've got their address in Provo - want me to go snoop around a little?

Steve, sure! I am sure the forum would love to hear from the horses mouth what they are up to if it involves GT40s in any way.

OK, I drove by Kirkham Motorsports earlier today just to see where they were and if there were any dead giveaways like a GT40 parked outside. Nothing to report - I'll have to go Cobra shopping and have them give me a tour...

I'm going to guess at this point that they'd be more likely to do a Daytona Coupe than a GT40, since the Daytona Coupe is more or less a Cobra, while the GT40 is a completely different beast...

Steve, I will have to go with my source on this one. He is in a position to know what is going on. He didn't waffle at all: it wasn't like he said "I think they are..." or "someone said they are...". He just said they are building a Mk IV.

We'll see what develops....

Hmmm... One of the distinguishing features of the Kirkhams' Cobra is its aluminum body. And the MkIV has interesting aluminum honeycomb structural material... I have a guess (and it's only that) about who your source might be, and if it is who I think it is, it would be a very reliable source indeed. I'm still going to see if I can arrange to visit the place, and check with my sources as well, who might be in a position to know...

MkIVs would be an interesting niche, and the Kirkhams are probably in the best position to pull it off with a good level of authenticity. They won't be cheap though!

Ford spent 12 million 1966-67 Dollars on the J Car MK-IV program. To make an accurate MK-IV replica would be a huge undertaking. In addition you would have to IMHO sell at least 25 of them at a very big price to make economic sense. In these times I'm not sure this could be done. It is not a secret that for some time many including the Kirkham's have considered building a MK-IV replica. The current market for all of this stuff is a lot weaker than many think.
Best

[ July 29, 2002: Message edited by: MK -IV J6 ]

I see nothing wrong with a quality space frame replica of the MK IV replica...but I wonder what the market would be for an MK IV even if the price was comparable to an MK I?

The styling of the MK IV is not well known, and IMHO that severely limits it's potential.
I'm kinda surprised since I always saw the
Kirkhams as astute businesmen. You would have
thought they'd go after the MK I/II first.

MikeDD