Factory Five Racing GTM

Factory Five, if you've ever heard of them, is a company that has been doing AC Cobra replicas for over a decade. A few years ago, they decided to make their own super car. And it's priced relatively cheap when you know the figures.

First of all, Factory Five doesn't make the car. What they do is send you the body panels and the frame. You need to seek out a 1990 - 1998 Porsche 911 GT3 Rear-Wheel drive Trans-axle, a Corvette Z06 engine, and haul it to your garage where hopefully, you have all the tools to build your very own super car.

The whole package costs about $20,000 and you need to find the engine and the trans-axle yourself. So, after you buy everything you need, you'll be about $30,000-$40,000 out of pocket. That depends on whether you go after standard 911 parts or GT3, and whether you go after a standard Corvette engine or a Z06. Of course, people have spent a little more than that on a few of their very own hand-built GTM's, but it's still a bargain compared to what people pay for the competition!

Once you built the car, it looks sort of like this. Ah, you probably didn't expect it to look this good, didn't you? Well, it doesn't. After you put the thing together, you might want to get it painted, which will cost quite a bit. After you paint it, it'll look that good. And how does it drive?

Well, let's talk about some figures. Depending on whether you buy a Z06 or a standard Corvette 5.7 engine, you'll be pumping out anywhere from 350 to 515 horsepower. That 515 hp figure sure looks like a super car figure. 0-60 in 3 seconds flat, 1/4 mile in 11 seconds at 132 mph! Let's look at the cars that beats: Ferrari Enzo, Porsche Carrera GT, Saleen Twin S7 Turbo, Ford GT, and Lamborghini Mucielago! Where else are you going to get that much for so little?

OK, here's a tip for you speed freak, who can't afford any of those mega-expensive, ultra-performance super cars: get the GTM! It's really a no-brainer! The GTM looks good, drives like an Enzo, and it even pulls a 1.05 lateral G on street DOT tires! It's a perfect track car, and a street high performance car for anyone. In fact, the Ferrari Enzo is the only car mentioned above that can match the GTM!

Here's another tip, but this time to anyone who has any of these expensive super cars listed above: before racing with a GTM owner, either around a circuit, or on straight line, make sure you find out what's under the car. Make sure you don't race anything with Z06 engine, and a Porsche GT3 transmission. And if you are, ask your opponent if he is planning on beating you, and if he or she can drive. If he answers "yes" to those questions, and he's got the full enchilada, the 515 horsepower, GT3 powered GTM, you better start praying his or her car doesn't start, or pretend that a bee stung you on the eye just before the race.