Replica

As the old saying goes, a picture's worth a thousand words. In the case of this website: BarrysBuildPage.com, the pictures may be worth even more for they carry the site by providing eye candy that's sure to get every car lover's salivary glands working overtime.

A chronicle, or "diary" as kit car builder Barry Johnson affectionately calls his website, viewers of these pages are privy to a written account, well, actually a visual account of Barry's hand-built works, which are certainly admirable and run the gamut from a Euro Works Countach to a Diablo Roadster.

Just last week, as I was making my down the beautiful South Carolina coast from what was then a sunny Myrtle Beach to a quaint waterfront town called Beaufort, pulling a wobbling transport trailer that I rented from U-Haul to pick up my beloved 1985 Jeep Renegade. Forced to leave "her" behind during a recent move, I was happy with thoughts of being reunited.

After all, it was the perfect time of year for rides in the Jeep. With no top, the fast-changing weather, quickly gearing down from a non-existent winter these past few months to what I hope is a warm, dry spring, was what we Southerners often take for granted, with mild winds off the ocean and and a bright, sunny sky.

If you're a kit car enthusiast living in the U.K., you're likely familiar with D J Sportscars. However, I live in the heartland of the U.S., and only recently discovered their DAX website.

This family-owned kit car company has been around for over 25 years and has become one of the leading manufacturers of component car packages in the United Kingdom. They're the creators of the DAX Rush as well as a seriously beautiful Cobra replica they call the DAX Tojeiro. And based on the high praises the Tojeiro has received from racing greats and even an editor of Kit Car Magazine and Cobra Magazine, the craftsmanship and attention to detail are second to none.

Ever since I was a teenager, I've loved Porsches. In fact, my first girlfriend drove a Porsche 911. I don't know, maybe that's where my sports car infatuation started.

At any rate, I recently discovered a company by the name of Special Edition, Inc. that teamed up with Beck Development back in 1986 to create some of the best looking Porsche replicas that I've ever seen.

These aren't your garden-variety kit cars, though. They're fully-assembled Porsche replicas.