For most of us, selling off unwanted car parts is usually to make room for other car parts, or to get some engine or transmission work done – something to improve our ride. But for Scott Lazarus of Uniontown, Ohio, selling a set of headers sparked an encounter that helped him build his dream car.

Scott’s dragster that was the instigator for the MK4 build.

Lazarus was approached at a race with his dragster early in the 2012 racing season, and was asked if he wanted to sell his headers. Not having a replacement set, he simply took the gentleman’s number and said he would contact him when he planned to replace the headers later that year. When his new headers arrived, he called the guy, as promised, and they arranged to meet up.

Although the initial sale was to be for a set of headers, the interest turned to the dragster itself, which Lazarus had stated wasn’t for sale. As with nearly any vehicle that is “not for sale”, there is usually a magical number that would facilitate the vehicle changing hands, and the guy asked Lazarus to text him a price. Lazarus complied, but never heard back and figured the interest was no longer there.

Scott still races this dragster, but we kinda like the Cobra replica a little more.

The next racing season, he received a call and more inquiries about the dragster while he was in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They worked out a price, which cut his race weekend short by a couple of days, and he packed up the car and headed home.

The dragster changed hands, but more than a mere handshake took place that day, as the two became very good friends after this year-long exchange. They’ve become such good friends that Lazarus still races the dragster from time to time. So what started as a quest for a set of headers, turned into a great friendship that, in turn, brought on another great thing for Lazarus: his next project build.

The build that culminated from the potential sale of a set of headers was none other than a Factory Five MK4 Roadster – known to the rest of us as the Cobra replica. This is one car that Lazarus had loved and desired since he was young. After selling his dragster, he made the plans to reach out to Factory Five and ordered the complete non-donor build kit.

When it came time to order the kit, Lazarus says that there was no other choice for him than the Factory Five kit. Their reputation was what initially sold him on their kit, and he ordered it in May of 2013. The kit arrived the next month, and the process of building his own MK4 Roadster in his own garage was set into place.

Lazarus began the build the first week of June, not wasting any time once it was delivered via freight truck. The non-donor kit came complete with a full set of instructions and all the parts necessary to assemble the car.

Already looking like it’s ready to be started up and revved a bit.

The non-donor kit means that no used parts were acquired for the build, so the Ford Racing 427 ci engine was going in brand new, as was the Tremec TKO 600 5-speed transmission, both were acquired from Summit Racing for this project.

The frame was finished off in black, and sported a set of adjustable Koni coilovers and a 3-link rear suspension. To get the 535 horsepower and 545 lb/ft of torque to the ground, a Ford 8.8-inch rearend spinning 3:55 gears put the power to a set of Vintage Halibrand replica wheels and Nitto NT555 Extreme radials.

The wheels are 17×9-inch in the front wrapped in 245/45R17 tires, with massive 315/35R17 rear tires on 17×10.5-inch rear wheels. Bringing all that power to a halt is a set of Mustang GT front and rear disc brakes. This car was built for speed and looks, and it’s got both of them locked in.

To say that the build went quickly was a bit of an understatement, as he registered the completed vehicle with Ohio State inspection that September, making this a four-month build from start to finish. Lazarus says his favorite part of the car is that it’s a mere 1,900 pounds with all that power, making a pretty insane power-to-weight ratio.

This is the look that most will see, and it never gets old from any angle.

Although the vehicle was being driven, Lazarus was still not finished with it because it still had the same red finish that it arrived with, and that was going to change. “Hot rods are never finished,” he admits. In February of this year, he removed the body and shipped it off to Schuster Corvettes in Damascus, Ohio, where it was prepared for a new coat of paint.

The body was blocked and sanded, and finished off with primer for the new Sterling Gray Metallic paint, with a black and burgundy racing stripe added in for a great finished look, with the striping on the underside of the hood and trunk lid. It now sports an official license plate reading “BAD ASP”, which was very fitting since Scott tells us that just one day after he had the car registered and legal, he got his first ticket for going 65 mph in a 40 mph zone. All we can say to that is that he wasn’t using the car to it’s full potential, thankfully.

Scott has built numerous cars, so having that kind of background is definitely beneficial to building a kit car. Many of his builds have won races, like the dragster above, which won its first local track championship with the new owner. One of Scott’s builds, a Super Gas car went to Australia and is now the Austrailian 2013 Super Gas champion.

This MK4 build is a great testament to anyone who has ever considered building their own kit car, and just proves that it can be done in your own garage – and it doesn’t have to take a decade to do it. Check out some more of Scott’s car in the gallery below, and contact Factory Five to get more information on your own build. If you want to see some ideas for your own kit car build, check out our coverage of Factory Five’s yearly car show from Huntington Beach, California.