Home-Built Factory Five 818C vs the World’s Best

With over 325 horsepower to the rear wheels in an 1,800 pound car, it’s fast, but is the 818C good?

Factory Five is a modern kit car manufacturer, producing Shelby Cobra and Daytona Coupe replicas, fiberglass ’33 Hot Rods, the bonkers GTM supercar, and a few different iterations of the 818 you see here. The 818 is delivered basically complete, less the drivetrain, which is sourced from a Subaru WRX or STI, and converted to 2-wheel-drive, then plopped behind the seats in a mid-engine configuration. This particular car is the “818C” version with a removable hardtop. Factory Five claims that you can build an 818 for as little as $15,000, but this car costs a few multiples of that figure. If you were going to spend $60,000 building one of these wicked little machines, would it provide more fun, say, than a brand new Porsche Cayman?

For starters, the Cayman is quite a lot heavier than this 818C. Then again, it provides a good bit more comfort, and has your back when you step too far beyond your personal limits. The 818C does not have any kind of ABS, traction control, stability control, or lane-change assist. It doesn’t have blind-spot monitoring, comfort seats, or even anywhere to stow your gear for a weekend trip. There is no trunk of any kind. So why would anyone want one? Well, because it rips.

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With sticky tires and a lightweight chassis, this car has the bare bones to get you around a track quickly, or to rip around on a canyon road, like Matt Farah does in this “One Take” video. The 818 is a sensory overload kind of sports car. It’s loud and rattly and fast, and maybe a little bit dangerous, too. You’re sitting in the driver’s seat of a 325-horsepower powder keg, waiting for it to go off, but for some reason, you’ve got a smile on your face a mile wide. If you don’t get the 818C before you get inside, you probably won’t get it afterward either.

Via [The Smoking Tire]