Factory Five Hits the Books

Posted on March 29, 2012 by in What's New

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.

Latest Factory Five News

He Sold His Dream Car to Take Care of His Family. Now, He’s Building a Mk5 with Them!

October 30, 2026

Some stories come full circle, and Jason K.’s is a great example. Jason bought his first Factory Five Mk1 Roadster, kit #1413, in May 1998 at just 24 years old. He spent a year building it and loved it so much that he even included it in his will for his two sons. He never planned to sell it, but life had other plans. Over the five years he owned it, Jason made plenty of memories, including attending Run & Gun at St. Louis International Speedway in 1998 or 1999. He was still building his car when he met Dave Smith,… Read More »

Read More
Top