G'day all.
After checking out the pics of the Cobra being auctioned, I had the suspicion it might have been the same kit as a vehicle I'd taken some pics of whilst racing at Oran Park in 2007.
I had a look at the Natsoft results for that particular days racing, I discovered that the car pictured below is a "GJM Taipan" Cobra replica. The rear quarter looks very similar (somewhat bulbous), along with the left hand mounted fuel filler location, side vents and heavily padded interior.
Perhaps the mystery car is a GJM?
I'd also scoured the net with very little info on "GJM" being available. Here's the most interesting information I could find on the manufacturer.
"In Geoffrey McHattan v Australian Specialised Vehicle Systems Pty Ltd and Anor ("ASVS"), ASVS wanted to use the name “Taipan” in relation to a specific armoured vehicle it had developed in response to a tender by the Australian Defence Forces. McHattan had a trade mark “GJM Taipan” registered in respect of motor vehicles. McHattan had an objection to ASVS using the Taipan name in relation to goods which were included in his trade mark. He applied to the Court for an injunction against ASVS to restrain it from using the name “Taipan” until the matter was resolved. ASVS lodged an application seeking to exclude certain goods from McHattan’s trade mark. The Court considered the effect, on both parties, of the success and failure of an application by McHattan to obtain an interim injunction against ASVS. An interim injunction was granted which prevented ASVS’s use of the mark “Taipan” in relation to the tender until the issue of infringement of McHattan’s trade mark was resolved. The Court considered that notwithstanding McHattan’s case being considered “weak” no detriment would be suffered by ASVS as the name of the vehicle was not likely to be significant in the tender process. As a result ASVS incurred substantial legal costs, inconvenience and possible damage as a result of not conducting a proper search of the trade mark register before committing resources to a product name. "
Hopefully Brett "Shelby400" may be able to shed some more light on the situation?
The pics below are certainly not the best I'd ever taken at the track, however they may still help in identifying the mystery Cobra nonetheless.
Cheers.
Stephen.