Factory Five Hits the Books

Coming this July, in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the C-car, is D. Brian Smith’s new book How to Build Cobra Kit Cars. Smith is the former editor of Kit Car Magazine, and in March 2012, he completed the assembly of a Factory Five Mk4, which serves as the subject for his how-to book.

Brian built this Factory Five Mk4 with his dad.

Brian built this Mk4 with his dad.
Published by CarTech Books, this SA Design Project Series book features 18 chapters and 510 color photos. Trim size is 8-1/2 x 11 inches and it’s 176 pages in length. Most importantly, it provides step-by-step procedural instruction for assembling an entire Factory Five Cobra replica.

Brian’s car will be at the 2012 Huntington Beach Cruise-In if you want to check it out and the book will be available in July.

The new Mk4 looks great from behind and the body style is extremely period correct.

Powering the car is Ford's 351W/427 stroker.

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