When we were kids, most of us didn’t have access to any of the number of Power Wheels replicas that now inhabit sheds and Toys’R’Us stores across the nation. Back in our day, if you wanted a driveable replica car, you had to build it yourself, which is what a Portuguese designer decided to do for his son.

Carscoops reports on the work of Ernesto Freitas, who took some 1,600 hours to build his young son a replica Shelby Cobra scale model with a 7 horsepower, 50cc gas engine. Sure, it might not be a big-block V8, but it’s pretty much the coolest toy a kid could as for.

Freitas wanted to give his son the “best motoring experience possible”, but being several years away from driving age yet, the only reasonable solution was to build a three-quarters scale Shelby Cobra replica. Freitas has always been a Shelby Cobra fan, and he did most of the work after work at night, and on the weekends. Talk about fatherly devotion.

The 50cc gas engine gives the young driver some 7 horsepowers to play with, though a bigger engine could probably fit if you’re so inclined. Freitas is willing to build more replicas at the price of about $21,900 each, which is an awful lot to spend a toy car the kid will soon grow out of. A better option might be a full-size Factory Five Coupe, which you could build alongside your son or daughter until they’re of driving age.

But that’s just us. For others, instant gratification of a kid-sized Cobra is the way to go. What car would you build for your kid?