This Factory Five Kit Car with an LS7 Would Scare Us
Now, 2,400 pounds with a 7,000 rpm 505 hp big-block behind the driver should be fun.
One of our favorite things about fancy auctions, and a big reason we spend time browsing through them (surprise, it’s not because we’re rich) is the spectacular pictures. We came across this yellow Factory Five GTM the other day and had a bit of a double take when we saw it was packing an LS7.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, do you know what Factory Five is? If you don’t, then let us explain that this exotically styled kit car shouldn’t make you cringe like most kit cars. Factory Five makes some awesome kits, and they started with some classic American icons: the Cobra and the 32 Roadster. Well, we’ve seen more than a few of those, so we imagine that’s where the company started out. The formula is simple: take a base car, like the Ford Mustang GT, pull the powertrain and suspension, and BAM, you’ve got a Cobra for a fraction of the price. Now, take the same company, make that donor a Corvette crossed with a Porsche 911 transaxle and you have the Factory Five GTM.
The GTM is, according to their brochure, the pinnacle of Factory Five engineering. “The fastest car you will ever build in your garage” according to that brochure. Now, with an LS1 or an LS6, it’d no doubt be fast. But with a 7.0-liter (that’s a 427 in ‘Merican) LS7 from the C6 Corvette Z06 and the fifth-gen Camaro Z/28. We sampled the LS7 in a Camaro, which weighs the same as about 1.5 Factory Five GTMs. The LS7 doesn’t so much as sing to 7,000 rpm, it bellows. The Z/28 is a potent car, made even more so by that motor. This GTM? Hoo boy, better know your way around mid-engine handling before sticking your foot too far into it.
We don’t know what the builder/owner has into this one, but we’re betting that reserve is pretty high. The basic estimate from Factory Five is that it’d take $50,000 to build one of these. This one has all the trimmings, like leather seats and air conditioning, so it’s probably relatively streetable.
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