Factory Five vs. Lone Star Classics...

[aarvig]

I am looking at putting together a roadster. I have researched both the Factory Five MK4 and the LS427 from Lone Star Classics, however, I am hard pressed to find any threads discussing which may be better and why.
I know folks on this forum may be a bit biased so having said that can anyone tell me which may be a better choice and why?
I am looking for a street build by the way. I want something fun to drive that I can rip around in every day of the summer.
Thanks!

[skullandbones]

Hi aarvig,

Curious comparison. I don't know how much the LS costs but it must be a bit more than FFRs. I didn't notice a price list on the site. Maybe I I missed it. I think you will find a bias. Mine is particular to the chassis of the FFR Mk roadster. I think it is more authentic than most of the offerings and pretty sure it's one of the stiffest chassis in the industry. I'm not an engineer but do have a good eye for well engineered products. I like this chassis because it is form with function in mind. It is a "work of art". From what I have seen, the LS is a "hot rod" frame for lack of a better term. The Hurricanes and ERAs also have square tubulars but they are much beefier in my opinion. If you are looking for comfort though, the LS does have a 4 inch stretch and wider foot boxes and narrower trans tunnel. All that translates to more room and straighter sitting position. I think they also have lowered the seat position by a few inches which is a good thing generally speaking. I have seen one in person but did not sit in it. It looked roomy and you can see the stretch in the middle of the car. The only thing I definitely didn't like was the wonky looking steering column/wheel which is stretched out from the dash about 4 or 5 inches. That's just unnatural looking. If I were building that project, that would have to go away. When I refer to stiffness in the FFR roadster, I also mean in the driving feel. You can tell it's as stiff as it looks in it's handling. It would be good to do a side by side drive or ride along of the two. I think you would be able to tell the difference. Good luck in your search. WEK.

[edwardb]

This being a Factory Five sponsored site, most forum members here have already made their choice and there are very few threads comparing Factory Five to others. You will find some discussions on FFCars.com and many more at sites such as Club Cobra. In the end it's going to be a little bit like debating which is better, Ford or Chevy. Everyone has their personal reasons, but there are no "right" answers. Each are good products. I chose Factory Five several years ago because I liked the product and the value received, and that hasn't changed after two builds. But also because of the size and stability of the company. The replica landscape is full of small companies that while they may have had good products, couldn't survive in the marketplace. You will also find a huge community of Factory Five owners who are a tremendous support. I would never have been successful without it. FWIW, I drove my Mk3 for three seasons and loved how it drove. Couldn't have been happier with it. I gave a ton of rides, including to many other replica owners (including a couple of the so-called premium factory builds) and everyone was impressed with how the car rode, handled, how solid it was, etc. The bottom line for me is the design of the Factory Five is top notch. Execution is key.

Good luck with your decision. Either way, you're in for a great time.

[Gumball]

What kind of responses did you get from everybody over at the Lonestar forums - I'm sure they have a couple of those like this one and the original ffcars.com, right?

Sorry - sarcasm off now.

These web-based resources and the professionalism exhibited by FFR at their facilities were primary reasons I went with their product. A couple of ways to get back-to-back comparisons would be to go to the London Cobra Show in Ohio this June, or, if you don't want to wait that long, I highly recommend making the investment in travel to go visit both facilities. Once you see their products, talk with the employees, and get a feel for the stability of their business through a personal visit, you'll probably be able to make up your mind on who to go with.

Best of luck in your search and keep us posted!!!

[aarvig]

Thanks for the imput guys. For the reasons you all have mentioned I am leaning heavily towards the Factory Five. I'll keep y'all posted!

[snakebit31]

aarvig,
In the early '90's I had a large amount of frequent flyer miles. I made day trips to Lone Star, R U Carcrafters, Unique, Everett-Morrison, and ERA. I ended up building a F5R kit. One of the differences at the time which sold me on the FF kit is the body is not an integral part of the chassis. There were no structural parts mounted to the body with the exception of the trunk, which I believe has since changed. Lone Star and a few others had a bonded cockpit that was attached to the body, then bolted to the square tube chassis. I enjoyed my roadster build and am just finishing my coupe. My next roadster will be a F5R as well.
Rob

[MPTech]

Please take into account that we are biased here, no easy way to get around that.
I've seen a couple Lone Star roadsters at local car shows and at the London Cobra Show. They appear to be good cars, but I cannot get past the proportions. I can't comment on the build quality (I didn't see anything wrong structurally) but the added length in the cockpit and as already pointed out the steering column sticking out, just looks wrong to me.

My personal choice of FFR was based on value, appearance, build support, quality, design, and availability of replacement/upgrade parts.
I don't regret my decision one bit. :D

Take a look at Lone Star's Forum: Lonestar Classics Forums (http://www.lonestarclassics.com/lscbb3/index.php?sid=a72a3fe44a9adb0f44842c21f0fe4ab4)

And the other FFCars Forum: FFCars.com (http://www.ffcars.com/) LOT MORE traffic here! A LOT MORE.
If you haven't visited this site, you are really going to like it.

Here's some other posts that may help too:
Lose Star vs FFR posts: search (http://www.ffcars.com/forums/gtsearch.php?cx=partner-pub-7865546952023728%3Akmaosy-6g5u&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&q=lonestar&sa=Search&siteurl=www.ffcars.com%2Fforums%2Fsearch.php%3Fsea rchid%3D6647370&ref=www.ffcars.com%2F&ss=2102j714050j8)

I'm not trying to bash this site, but it's turned more into an 818 forum than Roadsters / Coupes. I read this site, but USE the other site.

[Gumball]

Wow - there actually is a forum for those guys... huh, who woulda thunk it?

[Bob Cowan]

I have an older MII car. When I was shopping, I was lucky enough to attend the Kit Car Nationals at Carlisle. I got to talk to all of the reps, and put my hands on all of the cars. All in one day.

All of the reps I talked to said, "Our car is better than Factory Five because......." And then spent a lot of time telling me all the "bad" things about the FFR.

I talked with the rep from FFR. And he said, "Our car is better because..... " Never once mentioned any other car. Only talked about their car.

I talked with the FFR rep for a good 30-45 minutes. I asked all kinds of uneducated questions. He carefully and graciously answered every one of them. Then he said, "I didn't introduce myself. I'm Dave Smith".

I ordered my car the next week.

[jakester888]

I had a picture of a Lonestar 427 posted in my cubicle (I'm an engineer) way back in 1991/92. Then along came Factory Five with the Mustang donor concept in 1995 with that advert in Kit Kar magazine. Since then, I've attended the Mott Build School in 2005, visited the warehouse in Wareham, MA in 2010 and met Dave Smith. I finally collected enough scratch together and bought a kit in 2011. I'm now at go cart stage and ready for the body.

I am obviously biased.

Factory Five impressions after calling them a few times and ordering the kit and meeting the folks:
- They love what they do.
- They are generally happy to help but it is a business too.
- They do the right things right.
- Bang for the buck and fun to build.

[mikeinatlanta]

I chose FFR because it was best suited to my build plan of ridiculous power, extreme performance, and aero mods. If I wanted purely originality I would go Kirkham. If I wanted easy and most car for the money I would go Superformance. Most refined would be an ERA. I can't think of a build plan that would include Lonestar.

[mcwho]

I looked at some of the other kits. I worked with a guy who had a Street Beasts kit, I remember thinking he was insane to take on a project like that. well that was back in 2003, fast forward to a factory five ad I saw in a car mag back in 2008 and i bought the complete kit in 2009.

Some of the ideas that Lone Star has, most notably the 7 day build project, I also like the Viper Green car that they have on heir web pages. I plunked down a deposit in Feb 2009, delovery in July 2010, also the Mot build school in July 2010, and hopefully will be in go cart by this summer.

I am completely happy with my choice!

[trichardson]

I looked at Lonestar before ordering the FFR coupe. I didn't see anything wrong with the cars though I didn't know much then. The owner was a nice guy and I met several customers who were all proud of their cars. One of them had racked up some serious mileage. I was particularly interested in the 7 day home build program but when I called about it they let me know it had been canceled. Their traveling mechanic was not traveling anymore. There was an option to build in Dallas but that didn't interest me. I've never looked back. I love the support on the FFR forums.

[Avalanche325]

If you are interested in a 7 day build, you aren't really interested in building a car. There is nothing wrong with that, BTW. But why not just do a turn key at that point?

I went with Factory Five after having a good look at frames of several manufacturers. I was not quite on board with the FFR body. Then the MKIV came out and they nailed it! The company is solid and growing, so there is comfort there that they will be around. The forum, now forums, were also a big boost in confidence.

One thing is that Factory Five has developed enough of a name that non Cobra people will occasionally ask "Is that a Factory Five?".

I don't know much about LoneStar, so I can't help much there.

[pcww]

Ditto to Bob Cowan. I went to Carlisle last year and was able to visit several vendors. In my amateur opinion the FFR cars were the best. By that I mean they were the most solidly designed and the sales guys were the most professional. I did get a chance to visit with Mark Doughterty who was manning the London car show booth so was "neutral". I also have about fifteen years of buying Kitcar Mag and others . So as you can see I basically have no vestige of any validity in my opinions. I also went to London and looked at all of the cars . After all of that I bought a complete kit from FFR. Went to build school a month later. I can say that for me this is the correct decision. The FFR folks have been very helpful. There are a few things that will leave you scratching your head, like how come I had to grind down the Wilwood clutch pedal so that it would function. but by and large the kit and support have been great.
The kit car industry is replete with failures and big plans. FFR has been around and are seasoned. The forums are beyond helpful. Well sometime distracting. I spend ten minutes doing something and three hours checking to see if I did it correctly. Good luck.
Henry

[stevo7896]

As a new guy here myself ,many of the reasons listed above is what swayed me to F5. After talking to most of the kit suppliers out there and getting a feel for the right questions to ask .it was a easy decision to make . The main thing that stands out is the frame assembly.The way the doors are hung on the frame and not on the fiberglass .Also the body not being a structural part just a shell was a huge plus. Assuming longer lifespan without stress cracks. Basically short of an all aluminum car this seems to be the safest option out there.One last thing that helped my decision was company size and involvement plus great aftermarket vendor selection .While never a guarantee. It more reassuring that a company might be around if I need parts in the future. Good luck on your build. Stephen

[aks801]

First replica shop I ever visited was Lone Star, back in the 90's. The guy was very open to showing me around. I mentioned that I was also considering an FFR, and he then said "if you ever visit there, don't ever come back here". I still don't know what he meant by that. He then went on to provide let's just say "inaccuracies" about the FFR cars, like how the donor Mustang seats will look ridiculous sticking way out the top.
I never went back there: no hard feelings, it all just rubbed me the wrong way. Will be ordering a FFR roadster here before too long.

[Mesa Mike]

I think the Lone Star is the ugliest reproduction Cobra on the road. IMO

[NICK C]

When I started getting serious about Cobra replicas in late 80's, I came across a company called Fiber Fab that got my interest going with the possibilty of actually being able to build my dream car. They were based out of Florida with a satellite office in Minneapolis, where I happened to be visiting my in laws. I innocently called to see about visiting their showroom, and was grilled about why I wanted to visit. I simply said I was interested in their kits and would like to see what they had while I was in Minney. They said they would call me back shortly but never did and I could not reach them again. I subsequently found out they were being investigated by the Florida Attorney Generals office for sales violations and so forth. So with that behind me I visited other manufactures like Shell Valley, Midstates and Lone Star. Rich Anderson at Shell Valley and Midstates was very helpful and I thought to be a good honest person, and after letting me and my wife take a small block Cobra Replica for a good spin in the Nebraska country side it solidified my need to get one of these cars. I sold my 2000 SS Camaro shortly after that and started the quest for the " CAR ". I visited Lonestar in the early 2000's and by that time I was more knowledgable about the different kits and was happy to visit but soon disinchanted with my tour guide as he belittled other companies especially FFR. I researched more and simply believed that FFR had the right stuff for me and after all their videos and buying all 4 build manuals I bought my MKIV and feel I have the best car for my taste, budget and needs. Realize that this process took 30 plus years to get to and worth it all. By the way, I agree with Mesa Mike. Nick C