Santa came a couple of weeks late this year and drove a Plycar semi instead of a sleigh. BDR #1474 was delivered on Sunday and I managed to get about 100 miles on it over the last few days. Pics and build list below and my initial observations are after.
Pics:
The Gallery / Roadsters / BDR1474 | \\VINTAGE MOTORSPORTS
Build list:
Guardsman Blue / Wimbledon White stripes & roundels
Vintage Motorports 427Xv2 motor with 9.7 compression (pump gas in AZ is 91 octane). Dyno'd at 470/468 at rear wheels
TKO 600 transmission (hurst shifter handle with white ball)
3.64 limited slip differential
Vintage Motorsports custom brushed aluminum turkey pan
Braided nylon engine hoses
Full front 3M clear protection
Rear fender 3M clear protection
Ceramic coated headers (but NOT sidepipes... I want the patina)
"Old style" seats - no BDR logo
Cam lock 4 point seat belts
Heated seats (in AZ???? Yes already useful!)
LED headlights, LED brake lights & turn signals
Vintage Motorsports tow hook
Random observations:
1) Vintage Motorsports was GREAT to work with. I was (am) new to Cobras and Jay took a lot of time answering all of my questions, giving me build updates, and gave me a very fair deal. Jay even talked me OUT of some options that would have increased his profit but we're not necessary for my intended use of the car. I don't think I could have found a dealer further away from Arizona for this build but it was worth it and I would definitely buy from them again. I have no experience with any other dealers/finishers but I can say that VMS seems to take great pride in the workmanship of the items they have control over (engine, options, etc).
2) Engine - pictures did not do it justice! I had probably looked at the pics a few thousand times but when I opened the hood the first time I was taken aback by how amazing the motor looked in person. Very clean install. Of course the options for engine dressing are infinite but I particularly liked the non-coated valve covers with the brushed turkey pan. Aside from looks the business end is great so far. Starts right up, has a powerful sound, and pulls nicely while still being easy to drive around town. I had it on the freeway yesterday was cruising at about 70 mph with 2700 or so RPMs. I pulled ahead of the car next to me and it was effortless even in 5th gear.
3) Steering/suspension - this is the first car I've owned without power steering. Not a huge deal, just different. Will take some getting used to. That said, when at speed the steering seems extremely responsive and tracks dead straight. Does not seem to move with the gullies in the road. In regards to suspension I think it rides like a sports car but again I don't have much to compare it too. My friend who owns a CSX4000 (more on that later) rode with me and said the BDR has a much nicer ride.
4) Fit/finish - I would say overall "good" but I don't have much to compare it too. I did find a few minor issues: the rear plate bracket and light are off center. Not terribly noticeable and most would not catch it. I know though... Which is not good for me ha ha. There is a slight flaw in the paint on the hood scoop at the leading edge - looks like it was masked for the stripes poorly. Again, most would not notice. Also, the scoop itself seems to "dip" on the right side when looking at it from the front - this causes the stripes to look slightly off vs the rest of the car. Interestingly this may be a common BDR problem as I've seen the same issue in pics of other cars on the Internet. I also found that the fit between the drivers door and car body (specifically at the very top of the door) is off a bit and there is some rubbing between the two (went though paint already). It is not visible when the door is closed due to how it overlaps but I need to keep reminding myself that this is a hand built car and not a factory BMW. I am just going to get some Teflon tape to put on the areas that rub to keep it from getting worse. One item that is my fault is that on day one I was careless when taking off the shoulder strap and the metal buckle hit the top of the door and took out a small chip. Needless to say clear door film is already on its way to me. In regards to the paint (and other than the one flaw I found) I think the paint is laid down well. The color is much better in person than most photos of BDR guardsman blue. It is not as "bright blue" as some of the pics on the Internet make it seem.
5) Misc - I am very happy with the car overall but have a few small gripes: turn signal lever is cheap. Knob at the end is painted plastic, the stalk feels like plastic (bends when used) and the self canceling feature only works part of the time. The start button is painted plastic and looks poorly painted at that. The various indicator lights on the dash are very cheap looking. The carpet, while I'm told is better than in past BDRs, feels/looks cheap. I might be spoiled in my BMW daily driver but I've always liked the quality of BMW carpet and it can't be that much more expensive to put nice carpet in a $40k rolling chassis. Finally, the floor mats are a complete joke. Paper thin with no backing material to help keep them in place. Also, these are "factory" mats and don't even fit well in the car! The cutouts are too small to fit around the obstacle at the front of the door. I plan on making a template and taking to an upholstery shop to get proper mats with some sort of backing to keep in place while driving. These issues may seem "ticky-tack" but I did say at the begining "SMALL gripes" ha ha.
6) BDR 1474 vs CSX 49XX - my friend owns a late CSX 4000 car and I took my BDR up to his house so we could compare. My first impression is that the CSX is beautiful. I'm sure part of that is how well my friend treats his cars. I sat in the CSX and noticed right away how much more room there is in the BDR. Not only does the extra 2" of wheelbase help but the BDR steering colum sits higher than the CSX and the seats are a bit thinner so it works out to almost twice the room between your lap and the bottom of the steering wheel. The pedals in the CSX were not as far left as in the BDR foot in however the clutch and brake pedals are too close to wear regular tennis shoes when driving. I told my buddy I'd rather have the pedals in mine further right like his but he said he'd rather have the layout in the BDR since there is more room between the pedals. Go figure. The paint was nicer on the CSX as well and the carpet material seemed nicer. We did take some measurements and backdraft hid the extra 2" of wheelbase really well. 1" is in the doors and the other 1" is somewhere between the headlight bezel and front of the door. Also we found that the rear fender humps are approximately 1" wider than the CSX on each side. The wheels on the CSX don't come out to the edge of the fender either (like on BDR) so we are guessing the rear track width is likely 4"-5" wider on the BDR than CSX. Overall my friend was very complementary of the BDR and thought it was very nice (no offers to trade staight up though...)
Thanks for reading my rant!!!
JM