American Handcrafted Auto Show - Handcrafted Performance

While most of the Cobra replicas at the show were Factory Five they weren't the only player at the AHC show. West Coast Performance of Simi Valley, California was on hand with their handsome rendition of the 427 SC.

Shell Valley is the maker of this authentic looking 1967 427 Cobra. The hobby isn't like ten years ago when teething problems abounded. Now all of the makers offer top quality Cobra replicas.

Of course the Ford GT 40 is one of everybody's favorites. The owner has done a beautiful job on this car, which is decked out in Le Mans Gulf Oil war paint. Excellent Ford GT 40 replicas are offered by Superformance, ERA or Era Replica Automobiles, CAV Auto Futura and others.

Now you can make a complete 1929 Model A roadster1932 Ford Deuce with an excellent kit offered by Shell Valley. Chris Leigh did a great job on this car, which looked like it didn't have an original Ford part on it.

We were on the hunt for something different next and we began to notice the wide variety of finish choices artistic themes. When we bumped into this all metal finish Kirkham Cobra with the built on hardtop we were interested. The highly polished aluminum body is the result of a joint effort by West Coast Performance and Kirkham.

This Factory Five Cobra was done by J Miller Customs. It's painted to resemble a jet fighter and is complete with faux bullet holes leaking hydraulic fluid. The car certainly fulfilled our thought to find something a little different. It looks like everybody is beginning to saddle up for the cruise to Huntington Beach. We want to get there ahead of the pack so we can see everybody filing in.

Out at Huntington Beach Pier the arrival begins. A few of the first cars had to ask where to go for the event. Once the cars began to group up it was plain to see where the action was going to be. We'd be willing to bet that the cops heard us coming from several miles away.

In this photo one of the first arrivals cleans up his car in preparation for show. The enormous parking lot wasn't empty for long.

Here the cars continue to line up in front of the Mustang & Fords magazine banner. The event was sponsored by Mustang & Fords, Mustang Monthly, Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords and also 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords.

We thought we had seen everything back at the Knott's show ground, but we can't understand how we missed seeing this beautiful Cobra.

This overview should give you an idea of the size of this gathering. Although the sky was overcast at noon the clouds burned off for a sunny afternoon. We certainly hope the show organizers will continue to have the fun drive between the two really great venues