Well, the first thing you need to do is find out about what kind of emissions are required for kit cars or replicas in Oregon.

A good way to find out more about the requirements is to check out some of the clubs in your area or your state. I would recommend that you check out my site (www.CobraTrader.com) and go to the clubs page (http://www.cobratrader.com/clubs.html) and talk to the guys near you. I'm sure there are some fellas up there building Cobra kits. Volunteer to help them. Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty for free. An afternoon spent building a kit will let you know pretty quick if it's the right career choice for you!

Also, while you're cruising around the site, make sure to go to the registration page and see what else you need from your Motor Vehicles department (http://www.cobratrader.com/registration.html).

Next, I would recommend looking into what is involved with building a kit. There are kits and rebodies. Rebodies are easier, and generally less labor intensive (and they also pull in less cash). Kits with chassis and stuff like that there can be quite profitable if you know what to look for. Modern car replicas can be kind of dicey, as more and more companies are getting lawsuit happy.

Tried and true - proven - replicas would be a better choice in my opinion for the guy who wants to get into building replicas. For example, Cobras are always popular. You can get into the car for a fairly low cost, and you should be able to make a living off building the cars - if you're good enough. You should have a good working knowledge of Ford products and suspension setups before you jump in, though.

The Lone Star product isn't a bad choice. However, they're also generally considered an entry level kit. That's not necessarily a bad thing. FFR is also an entry level kit (it's also painfully easy to assemble). If you wanted to start with a Lone Star, you'll probably be able to collect about $8K more than you paid for the kit when you sell...that's going to hold true for most of the low to midrange kits, depending on how you assemble the car. You would definitely want the most popular combo; a SMF, T5 with a solid axle rear. You'd either want to go blue/ white stripes (duh, that's a no-brainer), or red/white stripes.

Another choice that you might want to check out - for around the same price - would be a '32 Ford Highboy kit. Unfortunately, the popular drive combos for the '32 FORD Highboy, is the Chevy LT1 with an automatic tranny, IRS (out of a Corvette), and sometimes even air conditioning. For some reason, the Ford Highboy is worth less money with a Ford engine...go figure. The reason I bring up the Highboy is because they're a staple of the street rod industry, and it's hard to hit a show and not see at least a few Highboys. These cars car insanely expensive, considering they're replicas. The kits for these cars can be just stupidly overpriced. Watch what you're doing, though, and you can put a 32 together for about the price of a midrange Cobra, and you'll probably come close to doubling your investment...You'll pull down a heck of a lot more cash than a simple $8K hit.

So, to summarize: check out local clubs. Find out exactly what it takes to register the car in your state with the minimal amount of smog equipment (I'm sure there's a loophole for kits or replicas...make sure you check out both; in Florida, there's a separate section for replicas and another completely different section for kit cars). Check out a few shows to see what is out there. Check out more than just one company. If I were you, I'd look into Antique and Collectables, Unique, Shell Valley/Midstates, as well as Lone Star. A really great question to ask the companies you call is "how much would you charge me to build a car?" That will at least give you a general idea of how much your car could be worth once it's finished.

There's a ton of questions you need to ask. There's a ton of literature you need to pick up. You need to also get ahold of some assembly manuals and see how involved building a Cobra can be.

I'm always around if you need any more guidance.

Your pal,
Meat.