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When Shelby Cobra was launched in 1960s, it was considered to be the most expensive and rare cars to have. Though 50 years have gone by, but the curiosity and thrill that we have with Shelby still remains intact. Shelby Daytona Coupe is loosely based on Shelby Cobra as the manufacturers remain the same but the product does only get better and better.

The AC Cobra was an awesome race car.  But it had a weakness at fast flat out circuits.  The problem was a lack of aerodynamics. Enter 23 year old engineer Peter Brock who ripped off the Cobra body and slipped on a new curvy shell.  Instantly the car was 30 miles per hour faster and it took victory from Ferrari at Le Mans.

It’s typically a “man against machine” philosophy when it comes to spec racing but, when it comes to the ladies and the big celebration, I’d rather be driving a Cobra Daytona Coupe Spec Racer any day.  Just look at it and you will know. The idea behind spec racing is that success will be based more on driver skill and car setup instead of engineering skill and finances. Of course, that doesn’t say anything about how much better you are going to look when you cross the finish line in a Cobra Daytona Coupe instead of just about any other vehicle ever built. This will always get you the win with the ladies.

Being a member of the Shelby Daytona Millionaire’s club isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  One very unfortunate owner by the name of Phil Spector is about to see a whole lot of jail time in the coming years and there’s a lot of other stories about a wake of dead bodies and too many speeding tickets that may scare the pants off of you. There’s a real "dark side" to this millionaire’s club but somehow this car still attracts a whole lot of mystique which you can learn more about in the video on Youtube.

The American economy and general style of living is at the onset of what is being called the most sweeping set of shifts and changes since the industrial revolution. Necessity is dictating that all of us rethink our product use and cycles in every category, and seriously come to grips with how we impact our home planet in the process. With the details of financially bridging the major car manufacturers in the States under consideration, I think an already growing trend towards individually built automobiles will exponentially develop into a major consumer alternative.

Lesher Motor Sports of Salinas, California, has been one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of small kit car and replica companies on the cutting edge of this trend - companies who are offering a more affordable version of cars for both racing and daily driving-- cars that can be customized to do a little of both, and with whatever options and features are wanted by each owner.

Since 2004, Lesher Motor Sports have been offering a high-quality kit in the all-popular Cobra/Daytona genre, fittingly dubbed their Daytona Coupe replica. This kit was designed by the well-known California replica maker Upstate Super Replicars, Inc., and Lesher has now purchased the tooling and manufacturing rights to produce the Coupes both in kit form and also as a turnkey replica. The original Daytona Coupe concept car was designed set up for racing; the first set of customers were people who wanted to build a show car that could wow on the track as well.

Customer Builds Mag-Featured Daytona Coupe

Prime example of such a customer is Roland Eddy of San Diego, who built one of Upstate Super Replicar's Coupe kits, and became a one-man advertising campaign for the kit, now made by Lesher. Roland's Daytona Coupe was built with the help of a top car builder, Joe LaPorte, and when finished, it won top awards in almost every major car show in the California area, including Knott's Berry Farm, and was featured in Kit Car Magazine. Joe's car is a race car at heart, and as its show career winds down, he intends to put it on the track to prove that it's not just a pretty face.

When these first Coupes, such as Roland's, got out and about, word got around about what a solid, quality kit this is, how easy to assemble, and, of course, everyone could see how stunningly they finish out. So the Daytona Coupe began to be a favorite of people who, were not die-hard track folk, but could definitely appreciate a high performance daily driver that looks like a raving racer in the classic Cobra-Daytona style.

The Options Go On And On

There are many ways you can have your Lesher Coupe and all of them make sense. First off, there are a lot of build options and features to select from --many from Lesher--and a world of others in aftermarket.

Lesher's inclusive basic Daytona Coupe kit comes at a price of $15,995. The tough frame and rolling chassis, skins made of boat-quality Ester Resin, engine mounts for either small or large-block Ford engines, performance suspension, and all else to assemble a remarkable automobile, are detailed on the www.leshermotorsports.com website.

Lesher Daytona Coupe dealers are also listed on the site, in case one would care to skip the build process and buy one outright.

It was the rarest of the Shelby Cobras that brought this more modern version to life in little old Allentown, Pennsylvania. Something was brewing down in Allentown and waiting for the inevitable to take place because ten years ago, Highland Daytona Racing had already been working on a completely different approach to replica car production. Their philosophy had come down to a hand built, high end Cobra replica that has been created by a man who has both a race car fabrication history and an aviation background.

Whether a Cobra lover or not (and whose not?), you simply have to take a look at the video above. Set to "My Favourite Things," which is a great song performed by a Swedish group called The Cardigans, a wildly versatile band known for its 60s-inspired "Indie pop" and rock songs. In this Factory Five promo video, The Cardigans lead singer, Nina Persson, croons about her favorite things, in a voice that grabs your attention almost as much as the video itself. Of course, if you're a car lover, the song may take a backseat to the video, but both are equally good and when put together, make for a promotion like no other!