Cobraman brings up a great point. And I think the price paid for the Eleanor proves that there is a HUGE market for quasi-GT/CS clones out there.
There will always be those who want a car to be numbers-matching, 100% perfectly stock but those people are few and far between and they make up a little tiny portion of the classic car market. Right now I think the real market is in old cars that look wicked but are reasonable priced. Take a look at the success of the new Mustang and the PT Cruiser. People buy them just because they are cool looking cars that look like they are old. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that one of them happens to go fast. I think the people who buy those cars are the real heart of the market. They want a classic Mustang but don’t want to spend the money for a perfectly restored example and they don’t want to spend the money or the time to either have one restored or do it themselves.
If someone would take ’67 and ’68 Mustang coupes, which are the ugly ducklings of the pre-1971 Mustang world, and transform them into killer looking machines they would sell the things faster than they could be built. Think about it, that is what a GT/CS is. It’s just a plain looking coupe that has been transformed with $1,500 worth of fiberglass parts. As I’ve said before, I’ll bet it would even be financially sound to purchase 6-cylinder cars, replace the engine, spindles, axles, brakes, etc. with V8 components and sell them. People wouldn’t care that it was once a 6-cylinder car.
This is a huge untapped market for the right person, but the prices would need to be reasonable. My guess is around $25,000 to $35,000 instead of the $55,000 minimum the Eleanors sell for now. Could they be built for that and still make a profit? I don’t know. One of these days I might crunch the numbers and see.
As long as the cars could not be confused with real California Specials I’d love to see someone build the things. I’d buy one. Personally, I’m getting a little tired of Eleanor so maybe it’s time to give her another facelift. Who knows someone could even work a deal with one of the big automakers (no, not Nissan) to purchase new engines and transmissions for the cars at a reasonable price. I guess history does repeat itself….kind of sounds like a Shelby idea 40 years ago.