You can pick up some American classics for cheap, no doubt. Let us start with the cent. Its obverse has featured Lincoln since the 1909 centennial of his birth. From then to 1982 (with the exception of the zinc-coated steel pennies of 1943, when any spare copper was siphoned into electronics for the war-machines of WWII) the composition has been 95% copper (the other 5% has varied). With a penny weighing 2.5 grams and the spot price of copper at US$3.15/lb (at the time of writing, Nov 16 2007), each penny from 1909 to 1982 contains 1.75 cents worth of copper.

Roland G. Murphy's RGM watches are the next step from there (well, the next step is really Faconnable shirts, but they got a shout-out on the Products page). Based in south-eastern Pennslyvania, RGM turns out some masterpieces. The finest ones feature vintage Hamilton movements (which were made in the USA); the watch pictured has an imported movement, and an American-made case.

Cannondale has been making aluminum bikes in Pennslyvania since 1983. In the late 90's, they made the jump to four-stroke dirtbikes and ATVs. They made fewer than 100 of these SM440's (Cannondale was unable to lower the cost of production fast enough—when the bikes became popular Cannondale lost so much money that they were forced to seek bankruptcy protection. The motorsports arm was sold to ATK and the bicycle division was taken over by a private equity firm). Nevertheless, this is a very desirable supermoto bike, and can be made street legal as well. Lots of American companies make choppers, but few, if any, make supermotos. Good on ya, Cannondale!

Imagine stepping what it would feel like to lower yourself into one of Factory Five's Cobras. This is the main idea: take the running gear from a used late-model Mustang and stuff it in Factory Five's Cobra chassis. Now you have the legendary Mustang V8 in a car that weighs 2000 lbs (well over 1000 lbs less than the donor 'stang), and you can hit 60mph in 3.6 sec, the 1/4 in 12.3, and pull 1G on a skidpad. Factor in a body built by a Rhode Island yacht builder, and you've got the tools to build a daydream machine. But it needn't be a dream. One can be yours for as little as 20k, even if you don't melt the pennies.

Click here to get a FREE informational DVD from Factory Five's website. Braaaap!

Maybe this page doesn't look quite right with two cars on it. But what's the next step? A yacht? A Sikorsky? It is better to be in charge of this 505 bhp 7.0 litre V8. Imagine chasinging the horizon in this Corvette Z06. It may cost four times as much as a Factory Five Cobra, and is half as heavy again, but it is DARN QUICK and the motor is just sensational.