Hello and welcome to my build thread!

This first post is going to be backstory heavy, since I don't really have anything to post yet, as I'm still going through inventory.

My 818 journey started way back in 2018 when my friend and coworker decided he was going to build an airplane. It sounded like it was going to be a fun, if massive and massively expensive undertaking. I was recently divorced and looking for projects to occupy my time, so I started thinking "maybe I should build a car." Factory Five was the only kit manufacturer I knew of (and the friend had seriously considered a Type 65 before settling on an airplane), having heard about them from a gentleman in the New England Subaru club that had built a Cobra. Given the context, you might imagine I'm a Subaru guy. I go on the Factory Five website and browse the models and come across the 818 (C, specifically, because I'm a redhead and even thinking about an S for too long will give me a sunburn). I was intrigued.

Around the same time, also due to the recent divorce, I started going out with my friends weekly. I met another guy in the extended friend circle who was quite into cars. I talked with him about the 818 kit and Factory Five, and it turns out he knew another gentleman who had built several (I believe a GTM and two 818s). I don't entirely know how this next bit happened, because I wasn't directly in the conversation, but the next thing I know, I am being offered a ride in a McLaren 570S from southern NH to Factory Five to get a tour and also see many other expensive cars that people arrived in. After checking the car out in person, I was sold.

What do you do after deciding on a project and doing literally nothing about it except decide? You make a bet with your friend who is building an airplane. Winner gets a ride in the other person's vehicle. Very high stakes, as we would never normally give the other a drive/flight. As soon as the bet was made, and still with me having done literally nothing except decide and make a bet, he is convinced I've already won.

A lot of things changed in 2019. You need a donor and a garage to work in, right? I had a townhouse at the time with a one car garage. Technically more than enough to build the car in, but is it really enough? I started watching craigslist and FB market for beat up WRXs. I had decided I'd really like a 2006 as it seemed like the best donor option. I found one relatively quickly. It was technically drivable, but in its current configuration it was definitely not legal (straight pipe turbo back), despite the windshield sticker proclaiming "Enthusiasts | Not Criminals." The car sat on the cheapest eBay coilovers, with all the pinch welds flattened, many damaged body panels and bottom covers, and rust. It seemed like a pretty good donor, since it still worked mechanically, and most of the parts I'd need would still at least be usable. I did plan for an engine rebuild, too. The seller included all the stock parts in the trunk, including a full suspension, the OEM exhaust and an upgraded cat back exhaust, plus the stock steering wheel. I planned to use it as a project car, get it inspectable and respectable, since I just had a base Mazda 3 at the time and I missed my old 2009 WRX. The car, as you can imagine, had a film from vaping on all the glass.

A few months later, I sold my townhouse and started looking for a house with a better garage to buy. I moved in with my Mom temporarily, which is really not very fun in your late 30's. After another six months or so, I found a house that had a beautiful 29x27 garage under a similarly large greatroom. The biggest annoyance was a relatively low ceiling (actually, throughout the whole house). I could stand up and put my arms up and touch the ceiling, but not so under the doors, and they only opened to about 6'6". Regardless, I made the huge mistake, and bought the place. I made sure to keep a small bundle of dollars from the sale of the townhouse to be able to purchase a kit when I was ready. Buying the house wasn't actually a huge mistake, but like any home, it needed things, sometimes things that weren't planned for. A cracked water line in the well? Not a problem! The well is 600' deep? Well, that's a bigger deal! When you're pulling up a well pump from 600' down, most of the money has already been spent just pulling it up, so you might as well replace it. By now we are into 2020, and nothing notable at all happened in 2020, I don't think. I never ended up working on the donor as a project after moving out of the townhouse. I had put in some time to try to get it running with the stock steering wheel, but the electricals for the clockspring were destroyed, and when I hooked up the battery the horn just blared. So it was towed, parked, and sat. That winter, I grew tired of getting stuck in the driveway in my Mazda and walked into a Subaru dealership on the same day their Series.White WRX allocation was arriving, and I'm a sucker for a plain gloss white with gold wheels (bronze was close enough). This, of course, did not motivate me more to work on the donor.

Mid 2020, I started a new job. The fridge broke on my birthday weekend, and I discovered this when I went to have some of the leftover ice cream with a slice of cake. That was fun! I spent most of 2020 and the first half of 2021 at work, as the new job was at a small startup and there was a lot to do, and not a lot to do in the outside world. In early 2021, my sister called and asked if she, my brother-in-law, and their two young children could move in while they build a house. They were living in VA at the time, and it was going to help them out a lot in their quest to build a new home back up here in NH. The schedule put them moving up in summer 2022. A few weeks later, my sister called and asked if they could move in later in 2021, as the housing market was doing well and they wanted to sell sooner rather than later. A few weeks later, my sister called and asked if they could move in more like summer 2021, as their realtor thought that timing would be better for selling. A few weeks later, my sister called and asked if they could move in in spring, as they were told they should list soon. A few weeks later, my sister called and asked if they could move in a few weeks later. It was certainly a new dynamic for me, having not been around toddlers full time before. They were talking with a builder and thought it would be 12-18 months before they could move into the house. Having people in the house that go to bed shortly after you get home from work is not conducive to working on a car in the garage, so I shelved the 818 plan for a bit.

I spent 2022 planning improvements on the house. My sister was covering many house expenses, so I was using that to fund improvements. Window ACs replaced by mini splits, replacing the front yard retaining wall that had an outward lean to it. I was considering paving the driveway, too, but I balked at the price tag. Having been a year since they moved in, I started looking at places to go to get away. I am not a parent, but I was dealing with things a parent deals with. I love my niece and nephew, but I needed a break. I took a look at the Mott schedule for Factory Five build schools, and I saw that the 818 class was coming up and there were slots available. I signed up and planned the trip. I decided to drive out and back, which turned out to be a fun time. My plan was to take the class, and if I still wanted to build an 818, I'd stop at Factory Five on the way home to put down a deposit. I flip through the outdated catalog I had from 2018 before the class and priced up what my kit would cost with the options I wanted. I figured the pricing would be out of date. As I'm waiting for class to start Friday morning...
Note: 818 production spots for 2022 are sold out. We are not taking more orders at this time, however, we have a wait list if you'd like to sign-up. Email us at [email protected] to be added to a wait list.
To be continued... (character limit)