The 2014 London Cobra Show headlined last Saturday on Main Street in downtown London, Ohio. Think 1950′s Americana small town USA complete with the annual Strawberry Festival, and add in almost 200 custom-built C-car replicas and you have one FUN day. The fact that the event raises almost $100,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation makes this a truly special event.

This year, the month of June has been jam packed with shows and events for Factory Five. This year’s Hot Rod Power Tour was moved back a week, and our Open House was the following day. We also had a car on the west coast with Motor Trend Magazine driving from Seattle, WA to Monterrey, CA. So when it came time to staff the London Cobra Show, Factory Five was fresh out of crew. I didn’t mind flying solo, plus I had Chris Ronni who drove the big rig out to help me at the show. Scott from the Build School joined our band of two, and we spent the entire day talking cars and showing off the new 289 FIA/USRRC Roadster.


I took my daughter Jenny out to the London Cobra Show back in 2001 when she was 2 years old. Now she is 15, about to turn 16, and is getting ready to get her license!


Attendees at the LCS were honored to meet legendary Cobra racer Allen Grant and Coupe designer Pete Brock. Allen found the 289 to be a perfect fit!


One of the most fun parts of my job is that I get to meet exceptional people like Mr. Allen Grant. This year, Allen was a special guest at the event.


Purists know that the Daytona Coupe was built was built on a 289 chassis and won the 1965 FIA World Championship. I brought along my trusty old #5 which is a Gen 1 Factory Five Coupe that has spent almost 10 years at track events and being flogged around the country.


At 9 AM, the cars rolled in en mass to line the Main Street of London, Ohio.




Factory Five Racing Mk4 Owner Jeff Kliener came to London with Matt Dougherty (who I barely recognized!). Matt’s father, Mark Doughtery, worked at Factory Five when Matt was just a little shaver. Mark is The Traveling Builder who has helped countless Factory Five owners with their builds.