Dad's '66

I an effort to be a valued Forum member, I am offering my services as a vehicle inspector / test driver for anyone interested in the attached. It will be grueling work, but I feel I am up to it. I drive by this dealer often and have seen this car in the window for some time. If someone needs me to drive it for them, I am willing take the sacrifice and do so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SHELB...QQcmdZViewItem

ghoastrider1

I will of course volinteer also to sit beside you ,to take notes.Cant trust one of those electronic devices.

bweaver999

Is there an easy way to tell if you are looking at a Cobra replica? I see a lot of Cobra's at shows, suspect a few are real but pretty sure most are replicas. They do look like a lot of fun to drive. Glad we don't have that issue with Vette's yet, although most GS are probably replica and some of the 427's did not leave the factory the way they are shown..

aworks

Most Cobra replicas don't look like the real cars. The bodys are never right and most do not have tube frames like the real cars did. Then there always the cheap ones with the four lug wheels from a Mustang. That always look nice.

Tintin

All original Cobras are aluminium. Only 16 original 427 Cobras had side pipes. All S/C Cobras, those with the pipes, are 427 FE engined. All of the rest of the big Cobras had no side pipes and boat anchor 428 station wagon engines. All 427/428 Cobras have a serial number that begins CSX3xxx . They all have 7 digit serial numbers. All 289 Cobras have transverse leaf springs in front. All 289 Cobras are serial numbered CSX2xxx. There were 3 or 4 comp 289 cars. You cannot afford them.

The Coupe that is pictured was built by someone I know at Anthem Motors in the Phoenix area and sold at Russo and Steele last January. A Factory Five kit goes for about 20,000 with all of the parts. This one is really nice, but you can buy these cars fo 40k.. There were only 5 real Daytona coupes and they were built on the 289 chassis. Two of them are here in Scottsdale and I have sat in one of them. You cannot afford these cars.

None of the Cobras you see at shows will be real. There may be some of Shelby's fakes (CSX4xxx , CSX8xxx, CSX7xxx) running around , but real cars are $200K and up and they are only at SAAC events these days. If the car on eBay were real, it is an $8 million piece.

Do not knock on the fender of a Cobra to determine if it is metal, they are so cheaply made that you will dent it and the owner will whack you with a huge repair bill. There is a seam under the fender where it has been rolled, feel for that instead

No Cobra had a 302, 351,392,408,460,514 or any other stroker motor. All were 289, 427 or 428. This is usually the easiest way to tell.

There were only 1000 real Cobras of all four flavours in total, you will see one only very rarely if ever. The new Shelbys are all fakes...

65Corvette

99% of the Cobras you see at shows are replicas and the ones that are not will have a trunk load of documentation on display with the car. I built my Cobra replica in my garage from a Factory 5 kit so I could actually drive it. It does, however, have a 4 inch tube frame like the originals.

Dad's '66

There is a Cobra that I see at some shows and the local drive-in, on occasion, that has a polished aluminum body. Does anyone make the repro aluminum, or is it safe to assume it is real? Will have to check the other items you listed with regard to side pipes, serial numbers, etc.

JohnZ

The Kirkham replicas have aluminum bodies, and Kirkham also supplies Shelby with their (optional) aluminum body for the CSX4000 series kit. It's highly unlikely that you'll ever see a real Cobra at any local event.

squat12

http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/index.html

... I believe they have a source in Poland for the bodies. A former MIG factory, IIRC.

Black60

Nice job with the details, buddy!

I've always had a Jones for those Cobra kit cars. Thought about building one with my daughter. You can build one for $25K as a basic runner or twice that with stroker motor, Halibrands, etc.

Always liked the look of the sidepipes but the noise on a long trip is too much for this old timer.

kenEDMUNDS

The very early ones had 260 cid motors. I work on #23 with it's original 260

bweaver999

Good info, was pretty sure most I have seen were kits but would not doubt there have been a real one or two at a cruise near me. I live less than 10 miles from NYC, there is no shortage of way more money than brains club members around here. Have seen some pretty good stuff there, a batmoblie shows up, the guy that owns the American Graffiti T-Bird has been there, seen a super-bird or two. Last week there must have been 4 Cobra's there. Also several real nice high dollar Mopar's last week.

I assume a real one has a mechanical fan? I don't want to go touching a guys car, but a quick way to see would be nice. Most I have seen have electric fans, suspect that was not original.

AmericanPie

There are some real nice replicas out there for sale, like this Kirkham:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...0356365&rd=1,1

The seller says it's the dream car he's wanted since high school and now that he has one, he realizes that over the years he's changed and it's no longer the car he truly desires. Maybe 650 HP in a 2500 lb. car is too much when you get up in years. I just hope that doesn't happen to me, before I'm able to afford one.

Oh: Here's another one to drool over:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...2153857&rd=1,1

Tintin

Every original Cobra was painted, a polshed car is a Kirkham almost for sure. I had neglected the 260 cars, that is the 4th engine size. EVERY real Cobra has a plate like this with a CSXxxxx serial number as I described above. On the coupes it is in the doorjamb on the others either on the firewall or the dashboard..there are fake plates, but the CSX number will be on the registration too...this is 2601, they were hand stamped so they are of dubious quality. Notice that it is CSX then the USA then the number. Most guys who are faking haven't seen a real one to know to do this.
I guess they have now.... This one is in the Coupe that Bondurant drove at Nuremburg to win the world championship in 65. The car is about $8million worth

bweaver999

Have not seen a coupe yet. On the roadster, are both the firewall and dash easily viewed from outside?

Tintin

You betcha, open the hood and it is on the firewall.. it is in the middle of the dash on the 427 roadsters...

Of the 5 coupes, 2 are here, 1 is in Switzerland and the others are in Cal and NY... I have only seen them here and at the Monterey Historic races.. you will never ever see one on the road although Phil Spector had one he used in LA....

Don't knock the replicas, they are really fun to drive and blindingly fast, like leave an 07 Z06 in the dust fast. Really. Tintin was asked to drive a replica for a magazine road test in May and the Factory Five car like the one above did 0-60 in 3.2 seconds with a completely stock 4.6 Mustang engine. With bigger engines and a good driver these things can get into the 2's.. not bad for a street car

Here is a picture of Tintin in a superformance car from their website, this one had a 427 FE and could keep up with the traffic..



These cars are expensive as well, like $105K for the one I have at the track becase of the $35K in the engine. A kirkham is a $100K car as well.

They are fun and dangerous, what could be better?

427-390

Scott,

I saw a Cobra as you describe along with others at the vintage races over the 4th of July races at Pacific Raceways. The local Shelby club took some laps around the track before the races started. It appeared that most, if not all of the Cobras were some sort of replica. All were very nice to look at, and probably even nicer to drive. BTW, sorry I missed your B-Day party. I missed hooking up with Dan at the vintage races too.

Dad's '66

Looks like the one I was referring to is a Kirkham replica. Always kind of figured it was a replica, but was not sure. With Microsoft down the street, there is no shortage of people with way too much money, and you occasionally see some high dollar stuff driving around.

00fxd

I was at a local show and shine last summer when to my surprise was faded paint wide hip Cobra. Green, I think. I immediately had to investigate. Turns out to be real, local and very valuable. 428 engine? Don't know as much about them as you guys but apparently it has it own web site to track its existence by vin. Quite a thing to have living my part of the world.

JohnZ

The replicas are lots of fun (if you build the right one), and bring a whole new meaning to the word "impractical" . I've built an E.R.A. and two Uniques (the only ones other than the Shelby and the Kirkham with the correct rear body shape), powered all three with 358 Windsors with Yates heads and Top-Loaders with Jag rear ends. Drove the last Unique I built from Michigan to Talladega and back, the day after the tires touched the ground for the first time (to the Unique Cobrafest event).