Daytona Coupe: Assembly required

I'm writing this blog post the same night after putting up the GT40 post, but it should have come first. I've always loved what Factory Five Racing has done with their replica kits and every time they've released a new one, I've gone down the rabbit hole. The Cobra, while awesome and legendary, is a roadster and so has never been a realistic car I'd ever actually do. When FFR came out with their 33 Hot Rod (which can be coupe or roadster) I was seriously rabbit holeing it! 30's hot rod look, race car chassis! Then the 35 Pickup Truck! Then the 818 mid engine coupe! I actually have the donor car for the 818 (which stands for the cars weight in kilograms, or about 1800lbs!) in my 2002 Subaru WRX. Can you imagine 300hp in an 1800lbs mid engine go kart?! Oh ya, I can! 

The FFR Daytona Coupe has been out for awhile and they released an "R" version with some aero bits and their Mark III chassis, which has extended doors and longer foot box for us tall guys. The Daytona Coupe is also Legendary! With its Coupe body style and long nose and short tail, its beautiful and with a trunk, its better suited to driving it and road tripping it than a Cobra! After putting together the GT40 price sheet, I made one for the Daytona Coupe, because I knew, with its entry price of $22k, its a cheaper option. The final tally is about $65k using the same $10k Coyote or built 302, with a new TKX 5 speed, new solid rear and paint by Hechtspeed and the $10k fluff factor. I'd say its almost as long of a project as the GT40, but reduced by 2-3 years from the 10 year plan. LOL It's resale value (again, not why I'd be building it, but is a minor factor) is not as high as the GT40 clearly but a valuable car no doubt. Sure, it can be done for cheaper finding a donor 87-95 Mustang GT and going with used parts, so $65k should be on the high end of the range. It could probably be done for $45k or so.

With the build style of a Daytona Coupe, I could definitely go more modern wheels and tires and supporting parts. Here's an insanely cool rendering by designer "SDESYN" (Shashank Das) I found on Instagram. Somebody should build this exact car as its just jaw dropping cool!

The modern Rotiform wheels (I think that's what they are?), huge meats out back, front air dam and gull grey with LED headlights is sooooo goooood! Imagine a mildly worked 5.0 Coyote, 6 speed and IRS with some big wilwoods, this would be a show stopper that would be amazing at the track!

Check out the aero diffuser in the rear and the cool chunky LED tail lights. SDESYN just nailed a dream Coupe here! Man! I'm re-convincing myself to go FFR Coupe as I type! LOLOL

Here's a couple more killer Daytona Coupes!

This is the "R" version with aero additions like the big Wang out back, the canards and diffuser up front and vents behind front and rear fenders. Looks fast!

I didn't show a "Gulf" livery in my GT40 post, but you don't see Daytona Coupe's with the livery so its unique in this car. This was for sale a few years ago and was on "Stanceworks" blog. Look at that side profile! This car is gorgeous from any angle!

So dang! I want a Daytona Coupe kit! LOL GT40 or Daytona Coupe? Hard to get that one wrong! As Paul Thon told me as I left his shot the first day I met him after seeing his GT40, "Keep saving your money!!" 

Dream Big!