Above: Customer Bob Capps and his son built a beautiful Mk4 Roadster, and scored multiple show wins in 2014. Bob was one of a huge number of amazing customer stories logged in 2014.
As the hours and minutes wind down on 2014, I can look back and honestly say that it has been the best of years for us at Factory Five! I’m excited about 2015 and can’t wait to tell you about our plans for the upcoming year… Still, on the eve of the New Year, it’s a good time to put our tools down for a moment and look back over the highlights of the past year. I’m proud of the crew here, and grateful to have had another year at the helm of the best car company on the planet. Here are only a few highlights from 2014.
Dave Smith
President
Year Starts with Record Snowfall and Ends with Record Production!
The winter of 2014 will be remembered for brutal cold and record snowfall. Factory Five customers put the extra garage time to good use, building more Factory Five chassis kits than any year in our history!
The new Factory Five 818 raked in a ton of awards in 2014 starting off with “The New York Times” Top 10 List.
Market High Factory Fives at 2014 Barrett Jackson
The year kicked off with market high prices for Factory Fives at the annual Barrett Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ. This Factory Five Mk3 Roadster sold for $66,000 and was one of five Factory Fives that went across the block. Click here for 2014 auction results.
Five Women, Five Days, One Factory Five!
In May, PowerNation’s TV show “Detroit Muscle” profiled five extraordinary women building one awesome 427-powered Mk4 Roadster in only five days! Check out tons of photos and videos here.
New Model! 289 Version Launches
On the 50th anniversary of the original 289 Cobra, we launched our newest model: the Factory Five 289 USRRC Replica. The car debuted at the Factory Five Summer Open House in June. The car would go on to headline the SEMA Show with our partner Sherwin Williams, and was featured in “Car Builder” magazine.
A Day in the Life at Factory Five
Pro photographer Christian Rowell captures a tour of Factory Five on any given day when more happens than we can describe. Click here to view tons of images of the cars and people at Factory Five.
Factory Fives Make History at Re-Opened Thompson Speedway!
Factory Five customer John Kabacinski puts his GTM on the podium in the Super Unlimited class at the re-opened Thompson Speedway! Click here for full coverage, and don’t miss the jaw-dropping in-car video.
818 Wins at NOPI Nationals!
Factory Five customer Tom Wallace won 1st Place in the Street Car Division at the 2014 NOPI Nationals in Florida with his newly built Factory Five 818.
1,000 Miles in a Factory Five with Epic Drives!
We gave Arthur St. Antoine the keys to Dave Smith’s 5.0L Coyote-powered Mk4 for a 1,000 mile fantasy road trip from Tacoma, WA to Monterey, CA. This episode of “Epic Drives” truly lives up to its name!
Factory Fives Take Over Main Street, Huntington Beach!
The annual Factory Five Huntington Beach Cruise-In has become a huge tradition where Main Street, Huntington Beach becomes a Factory Five customer car show with music, awards, and thousands of spectators. This year’s show was a BLAST! Click here to read the full event recap.
Street Rodder Gold for a Classic Factory Five
Factory Five customer Ed Seagroatt won “Best in Show” at our Summer Open House, and scored a feature article in “Street Rodder” Magazine with his very period-correct Factory Five ’33 Hot Rod. Click here to read more.
Popular with Mechanics in 2014!
Factory Five customer Jay S.’ Mk3 Roadster has stayed at the top of the “Top 10 Cars of All Time: Readers’ Choice” polls this year in “Popular Mechanics” magazine. Not only did Jay’s Mk3 Roadster make the top 10, it also was the number one car by the percentage of votes. Click here to see more photos of Jay’s Mk3.
Grassroots Motorsports Magazine 818 Build
The boys at GRM wrap-up their Factory Five 818 build series of ten articles. The series documents the building, testing, and ownership of the new Factory Five 818. The last article pits the 818 against a track-prepped Porsche Boxster. Click here to read more.
Innovation on Display! Factory Five 818 at The White House
It’s been a year of big news for the new Factory Five 818. From stealing the spotlight at The White House’s “Maker Faire” to winning first place at the NOPI Nationals, running 56 seconds at Lime Rock, and drawing blood against the fastest cars on the planet at the Ultimate Track Car Challenge, the Factory Five 818 continues to accelerate. This year’s SEMA Show debuted an electric-powered 818, and online, there are over 120 customer builds!
2014 Open House Report
The 2014 Factory Five Open House was a blast, and despite threatening weather, thousands of people attended. Check out our full event recap and photo gallery here.
2014 Hot Rod Power Tour
Six Factory Fives drove the 2,000 mile Hot Rod Power Tour this year. Check out all of the photos and videos.
Paul Arnold Wins 2014 Challenge Series Nationals
Factory Five Challenge Series driver Paul Arnold fends off close competition from John George, Paul Kaiser, and others to win his first Challenge Series title at Road Atlanta this past September. This was the 14th year of the Factory Five Challenge Series. Watch the race video here.
Factory Five Rocks SEMA 2014
The 2014 SEMA Show was a huge success with more than 10 Factory Fives on display throughout the world’s greatest car show. Customer Erik Hansen showed off his battery-electric 818e, and customer Erik Treves brought his 289 USRRC car to the Factory Five display. Ford Racing showed off an EcoBoost 6-powered Hot Rod, and Sherwin Williams debuted the new Factory Five 289 with official Sherwin Williams-Factory Five colors. SixStar showed off their race 818 in the AEM booth. We’ve posted a bunch of photos and videos. Click here for more.
All-New Sherwin Williams-Factory Five Paint Line
SEMA 2014 was the venue at which the official Sherwin Williams-Factory Five paint line was unveiled. The new 289 USRRC Roadster displayed three of the new colors. Here with Dave Smith, Adam Chafe – Sherwin Williams, and Allen Grant – 1965 FIA World Champion Driver. Click here to see the full line of paints.
Factory Five Wins Best Ford in a Ford
Huge honors for Factory Five customer Kris Colvin and his orange ’33 Hot Rod! Kris won “Best Ford in a Ford” at the NSRA Northeast Street Rod Nationals. More pictures here.
Ford’s EcoBoost Six Powers Factory Five ’33!
Ford Racing debuted their crate motor EcoBoost 6 at SEMA and PRI in the engine bay of a stunning cherry red and metallic grey Factory Five ’33 Hot Rod.
All the 2014 Factory Five News is on the Forum
There is no way to cover all of the events that happened in Factory Five nation this year. But there is one place you can go to get the latest news about the Factory Five community, www.thefactoryfiveforum.com. The forum has over 14,500 members, more than 16,000 threads, over 120 online customer builds, and 2015 will be its five year anniversary.