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Story by Peter Brock • Photo by Ed Higginbotham
The now classic Shelby Cobra roadster is the most replicated car in history. Copies of Ol’ Shel’s Snakes are now being duplicated in all corners of the world …
Most of the thousands of kit-Cobras used to stem from body-molds created around Mr Kunz's real 427 SC- the bulgy fender big-block variant, way back in the '60s. They are probably on the umpteenth iteration of copies. A very careful look will spot those cars, since Kuntz' car was crashed in competition, so the left and right sides are not perfectly aligned due to the repairs. The body molds reproduce the damage. Found this when an anal CA engineer dropped plumb-bobs from his suspended kit-body to the frame, and found the left-side body twist.
A friend had late model AC (not sure if the original engine would have been AC or Bristol) that had a 260 Ford installed. He had thought that it was a prototype, but the history is hazy and apparently there were some cars converted by AC themselves in addition to the chassis sent to Shelby for completion and I suppose those couldn't be called Cobras.
He said that the transverse leaf spring front suspension on the early cars could be a bit of a handful on the track.
Guess I should have bought another friend's early Cobra race car for $30K (back in the 80s) when I had the chance, going by values now!
Very well articulated, Peter. I have one of each of the affordable Cobras - a kit (in progress) and a reproduction. My answer when asked if it's "real" is YES, but it's not an original. That's presuming the inquisitor doesn't think it's a Corvette.. I often then explain that there's a relative lot of copies around but there were only a few hundred originals and that the originals are unobtainium for me.. I have to admit that I love to drive the replica and enjoy the conversation that often ensues.. BUT I am really enjoying building the kit.. hope to have it drivable this fall.. I'm also not sure that Carroll's "cease and desist" approach worked well for his legacy..
If a REALLY talented artist, using REALLY great, modern, high-tech materials painted a great version of the Mona Lisa, would it be the REAL Mona Lisa?
No amount of craftsmanship, foolery or wishing it were so will make a current modern kit car a REAL Cobra- even if Ol Shel hisself said so!
Carrera said:
No amount of craftsmanship, foolery or wishing it were so will make a current modern kit car a REAL Cobra- even if Ol Shel hisself said so!
Sorry, It would be a REAL new Cobra, just not an original Cobra ;)
as explained in the article a Cobra was an AC chassis with a Ford engine, a parts bin car put together by a bunch of guys.
The Mona Lisa is an original unique work of one human being.
In the late 1980s, I interviewed Chic and Chris Vandagriff, father/son owners of Hollywood Sports Cars.
At the time, they owned an original 427 Cobra and also what they felt at the time was the most accurate reproduction (Autocraft, I believe, but that was a long time ago...)
Chris, the son, opined that for street cred and the driving experience, the modern reproduction was every bit as thrilling as the original.
The one advantage it had? He could park it on the street without fear of losing half a million dollars (at the time) to an inattentive L.A. driver.
If^H^HWhen we win the lottery, I'd love to have a modern replica as well as an original. But for my tastes, the replica would come from Pur Sang. Now, whether they would be French blue or Italian red is another question entirely.
As a 10 year old, I was for the first time belted in to my uncle's AC Bristol Aceca, and driven up to 115 mph (I watched the speedometer like a hawk). That along with the fact that my Dad restored 2 cars when I was a child, meant that I truly got the car bug.
The one I would go for if in the market would be an Aurora Cobra, since they were well built in a factory, and meet the criteria for collector plates in my province.
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