Build it yourself: Factory Five Racing preparing F9 supercar kit

Why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new supercar when you can build one yourself for a fraction of the cost? 

OK, not quite yet, but this fall at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Factory Five Racing displayed its newest chassis, and now it has shared images of the coachwork designed to fit over underpinnings designed to carry mid-mounted Ford or Chevy LS-series V8 engines, or even a V12.

The chassis was shown at SEMA with a 750-horsepower, 9.5-liter V12 LS developed by Race Cast Engineering of Australia. 

The Massachusetts-based “kit-car” company known for its vintage hot-rods and Shelby Cobra-style vehicles wanted to update its GTM Supercar. That led to the GTF prototype, but the team wasn’t satisfied, so it brought in Phil Frank, designer of the Saleen S7, and thus the new F9 and F9R (R as in racing) versions scheduled to undergo validation testing in the spring and summer of 2020 before being available to customers.

The body is 100 percent carbon-fiber composite, nearly 80 inches wide and only 46 inches high, Fast Five Racing said. The chassis has a 104-inch wheelbase. Customer cars will be delivered clear coated and thus won’t need paint.

Pricing has yet to be announced, but the GTM kit, sans drivetrain, starts at $24,990.

However, you’ll spend more than twice that much if you want one of the new V12 crate engines. They retail for $55,200.