The owner of a CSX20xx car bought the clock in the original post. It probably won't be used any time soon as he has started a long term hunt for parts his car is missing.
On top or bottom adjust.
Because no one took pictures of every new Cobra’s instruments when new and passed them along, five decades later owners and restorers go on what patterns can be established.
Problem one, can you find pictures of new car dash boards that you know the chassis number for. A few yes but most no.
Problem two, not every “unrestored” car you find pictures of is significantly as delivered, in this case instrumentation and specifically clocks.
1) For whatever reason many Cobras have had their original clocks replaced.
2) Many cars have either a totally different clock (nothing from AC Cars that is) installed
3) or some other type instrument (example: fuel pressure gauge. I have come across several Cobras with aircraft altimeters installed where the clock use to be and one with a compass.) installed in that location.
4) Many “restored” cars (The first people to buy crashed Cobras for rebuilding as commercial enterprises started in the USA in 1963!) received whatever the shop doing the work could find after numbers 1, 2, and or 3 happened. Also bear in mind that “originality” in Cobras has only been an issue in perceived desirability in the last dozen years or so for most potential buyers. (Originality of small details will not matter if you plan on vintage racing for example. I know of one Cobra and one 427 Cobra that were parted out not long ago to be converted to race cars; i.e. keep the main frame, serial tag as applicable, and outer skin and replace everything else.)
Using filter criteria of (a) factory photo or (b) new car road test photo or (c) unrestored car that when photographed didn’t show evidence of being modified in the area of interest, I have this pattern to date:
SMITHS marked
CSX2019 top adjust (
PR car and first Dragonsnake)
CS 2030 top (factory new car picture collection of first rack and pinion steering chassis and first right hand drive chassis)
CSX2034 top
CSX2047 top
CSX2048 top
CSX2053 top
CSX2055 top
JAEGER marked
COX6126 bottom adjust (sold as incomplete chassis)
This does not prove much of anything for any given car unless there is a suitable photo of the car before shipment to a selling dealer.