Factory Five is best known for their Shelby Cobra replicas, but the company offers a few other kit cars, some of which are of their own design. This 818S is one of these designs and is an incredible performance bargain, that is if you don’t mind putting one together yourself. Or, you could buy this completed 2014 for less than what you will spend purchasing the kit, the parts donor, and all the other needed parts to finish it. It’s being offered here on eBay with a current bid of $5,100 and a BIN of $15,000.

The 818 is offered in 3 forms: a coupe, a street roadster, and an all-out track roadster. The name references the car’s curb weight, 818 kg or about 1800 pounds. Factory Five engineered the car to use 2002 to 2007 Subaru Impreza/WRX parts. Depending on your performance goals, you can use the base Impreza 2.5-liter boxer 4, or you can fit the turbocharged STi engine for some serious performance. Given the low weight, even a base engine is bound to provide an exhilarating experience.

According to Factory Five, when they developed the 818, their goal was to build a modern take on their Cobra kit. The price point was nearly the same and makes use of as many donor parts as possible. All the major interior components can be pulled right from your donor Impreza, but if you wanted to go a more custom route, that’s possible. There’s really not much too the interior though. This one appears to have custom seats, but it is otherwise Subaru.

We aren’t told what year of Impreza this engine was out of, so power could range from 160 to 175 horsepower. While not insane power levels, it’s plenty for something this light. The seller states that it’s covered 63k miles, but there’s no word on whether that’s the total mileage for the engine or just how many miles it’s covered since being installed in this 818. Either way, it should have lots of life left in it. Power is sent to the rear wheels via the Subaru’s 5-speed manual. Its mid-engine layout should provide excellent handling, and this era of Subaru is known to be quite robust.

There’s a waitlist to order a new 818 right now, so this might be the quickest and easiest way to get into an 818S. Reviews from when they debuted over a decade ago praised the car’s near-supercar performance on a shoestring budget. As with any kit car, quality is going to be limited by the builder’s budget and vision. This one looks to be nicely done, although we might consider changing the seats out for some Recaros or even stock Impreza seats, but for this price point there’s not much to complain about. So, would you hit the street in this Factory Five?