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I’ve had the privilege of meeting many of you either in person or on the phone and have discovered that building boats, building cars, building airplanes, building models all seem to attract the same type of people… really cool guys and gals like you all!

’33 Hot Rod Model

John and I attended the Factory 5 Cruise-In in Huntington Beach this past weekend and thought you’d find this company pretty interesting. Factory 5 is a company that sells kits to build your own car.

I read about how the company started on their website and was pleasantly surprised to find that they began in much the same way as Glen-L. Two brothers, Mark and Dave, were looking for a kit to build their own car. They found that car kits of the quality they were looking for just weren’t available at a price they could afford.

GTM Super Car

The brothers started Factory 5 Racing in 1995 and have used technology to produce a better car kit at a reasonable price. And, everything is made right here in the US of A.

Their chassis are made on precision jigs from laser cut parts that are welded together. It’s pretty neat the way it works, Factory 5 supplies pretty much everything you need except the motor and running gear. They have five different models and the kits start at $12,990.

Of course, there are a lot of upgrades from the standard base kit as well as lots of extras. Options like Vintage Halibrand replica wheels, stainless steel side exhaust, wind wings and soft top can kick your car up a notch.

GTM Super Car

We spoke to a builder at the Cruise-In who had just completed his GTM in time for the event. The GTM is their super car and was definitely our favorite. He said it took him about 3 years to build and about $75k. He and his wife decided that their two-seater car wasn’t something the whole family could enjoy, so they were selling it to buy a boat!

John and I tried to convince him to build his own boat, but he wasn’t having it. I guess he was done building! Go figure–I know some of you who can’t wait until your boat is complete to start on another one.

MK4 Roadster

Another guy we talked to had a beautiful little MK4 Roadster and he bought the kit and had another guy build it for him. I think it was just under $30k for the kit and labor.

I’m really impressed with their whole production and how their kits are made. They have a lot of sophisticated equipment and robots that assist in manufacturering their kits. As I think about building a boat and building a car I imagine the end product would be equally satisfying in terms of enjoying it.

My favorite color

Creating a boat from scratch from a pile of wood I think involves more of the senses. At least smell–there’s no scent better than freshly sawn wood, in my humble opinion. Their may be more of a connection with wood from a spiritual standpoint. From dust to dust…

Although, there are those of you who thoroughly enjoy building from metal so maybe I’m off base here.

The red-white-blue-man group–hey, it’s California!

At any rate, enjoy the photos and listen to the really short video.

At the Cruise-In they took a minute to remember their members who had passed from this life by starting all the engines at once–a Moment of Thunder. It was so awesome to hear all those cars revving at once! So, I video’d it.

Enjoy!