GTM gets you into orbit of supercars

THINK about building your own supercar. Such as Greg Mauzy's 2006 Factory Five GTM Coupe.

Factory Five GT Coupe

GLOBAL colding, world poverty, the Arab Spring, peak oil, economic collapse, third-world debt, overpopulation, washing cars and building your own car. Yes, when you want the answers to life's biggest issues you come to the motoring section.

The go-to person on car cleaning is the detailer to the stars, Sydney's Chris Heffron. Chris is to cars what Darren Lehmann is to Australian cricket. Rule one is don't use soap. "Soap strips off wax and you have got to have a lot of wax. It creates a barrier between what life throws at your car and the paint," Chris says. "Use a product like Wash & Wax."

Rule two is use high-quality products such as Meguiar's or Mothers. "Mothers is good value. Meguiar's is what professionals use." On the other hand, Chris uses just a damp chamois for the windows. "If they are really dirty I use some vinegar and water." Rule three is for wheels. "Use only non-acid wheel cleaners and don't use spray tyre gel. You'll spend more time cleaning it off the rest of the car than using one you paint on." Finally "nothing matches machine polishing but if you don't have the machine, have the patience".

After that deep discussion let's move even deeper and think about building your own supercar. This thought came to me while looking at Greg Mauzy's 2006 Factory Five GTM Coupe that Barrett-Jackson is selling today in Scottsdale.

Greg owns an oil and gas business and a collection of 90 cars. Most are Corvettes, which makes sense since the Factory Five GTM uses the Corvette running gear and engine. But unlike a Corvette, it is a car you build yourself. In 1995, Dave and Mark Smith decided there was a market for replica supercars. They started with a Shelby Cobra replica. The idea was simple. They sold you the kit for about $11,000, you also bought an old Mustang for about $9000 and used the engine and parts to go into the kit and, hey presto, you got a hot car for $20,000 and about 2000 hours of work.

The company has sold thousands of kits including, for a short period, the GT. The Smiths originally planned for the car to use a 5.7-litre, 258kW V8. This was no bad thing. For about $40,000 you got 0 to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds. Of course, there is always someone who wants something a little extra and out popped the next generation GTM with a 7.0-litre, 370kW V8. Car and Driver tested the GTM in 2007 and reported "amigos, (it) is quicker than a Porsche Carrera GT, a Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano, and, yes, a (Corvette) Z06". The 7.0-litre version cost about $65,000 to build then.

Good Factory Five GTMs have been selling at auction for between $45,000 and $90,000, with private sales for exceptional examples at about $140,000.

Russo & Steele are also selling a GTM today. Unfortunately, this yellow 2008 model comes with a tragic history. The original owner was told he had cancer a year after buying the kit. Using only new parts he began a race to complete the car but had to commission a professional builder to complete it. He died before it was finished. This is basically a new car built to better than supercar standards. Expect to pay well north of $100,000.

If you don't want to build a frightening car yourself or can't be at Scottsdale, Melbourne PR and caraholic Andrew Butcher will sell you his Mustang Mach 1 Cobra Jet Ram Air for about $80,000 on carsales.com.au. Sources say the ex-News Corp spinner is focusing his efforts on his new racing career in a very un-muscle BMW. At least it's not a hybrid.

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