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Originally Posted by 55312
Not to be too picky here but this part of the SAAC diatribe has me confused.
The only difference between original Cobras and CSX4000 and CSX7000 cars is the time frame in which they were built (1). However, all three factors separate Shelby’s current cars from all the rest of the Cobra replicas, AC MK IVs, COB/COX continuation cars, etc. So, to our way of thinking, the current crop of Cobras are genuine but are not original.
In 1965 I worked for a Ford dealership 18 miles from Sharon, CT. I worked on a small block COB Cobra that was right hand side drive. That car was ORIGINAL ! At the time, it belonged to the nephew of the Dealership's owner. A few years ago I traced it through the SAAC registry and it's still around but has been converted to left hand drive and the last I knew, it's back in CA. My understanding was the COB designation was used for exported Cobra's and this one had been exported to the UK and ended up back in the US, in San Diego, where the owner's nephew bought it. The real irony was it was traded by the nephew for a Porsche 914 Targa (VW) !! He was tired of worrying about denting the Aluminum body.............
Tim
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Tim, a lot of what you mention is correct. With respect to Cobras built and sold by AC Cars that were not part of the Shelby contract, the COB designation indicated right hand drive, i.e. a car for the UK (hence the B, for Britain) while the COX VIN indicated left hand drive, for Europe or Canada (hence the X, for eXport out of Britain). The COB car you recall, 6047, has been back in Europe for the past few years.
One aspect of what was published in the 2008 SAAC registry that many people fail to consider is that SAAC was smack in the middle of a legal battle with Carroll Shelby when the registry was being written. Given the delicacy of the proceedings, great care was taken not to antagonize Shelby or his attorneys, and certain liberties were taken with respect to what might otherwise have been seen as calling a spade a spade. At the time, it was PC to call it a shovel instead. Otherwise, one might have pointed out that out was AC Cars, Ltd. that created the AEX, BEX, COX, COB, and CSX chassis numbers (among others), which were simply a series of alterations in specification to the original AC Ace designated by A, B, and C to highlight the changes. The original Cobras were the result of a joint effort by both AC Cars and Shelby American, but neither would have produced the same car absent the willingness of the other to cooperate in their production. Hence, the later "Cobras" built exclusively by Shelby used VINs to which Shelby had dubious legitimate claim and were never approved by AC Cars nor its successor entity, AK. Read up on the legal battle between Shelby and Brian Angliss of AK, and note that Angliss built a number of cars using a CSX 3xxx VIN, using the theory, "if Shelby can appropriate what was AC's, AC can do the same to what was Shelby's."
The bottom line is that the newer Cobras, whether built by Shelby in the U.S. or AK in the U.K., lack the cooperative Anglo-American production model used in the construction of the 60's versions, and are therefore fundamentally different even if their specifications are similar.