Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy1997
The Black & Tan is listed as being 1' longer & wider @ the rear as quoted, is this one of the Special stretch versions or does he have wrong numbers, kinda looks longer?
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My understanding is that the wheelbase is 4 inches longer (94 rather than 90 for the originals and most replicas). Where this shows up is in the passenger compartment. I have also been told it is 4 inches wider as well. I haven't personally measured them, so I can not personally vouch for that. I do know that the windshields are idential among replicas and the originals. Since the wheel base, most of the frame, suspension and body contours are the same as the Classic Roadster, I'd check Don Scott of CR II on the width issue. I think the photos on ebay are graphically distorted in black/tan posting.
According to the info posted by a couple of knowledgeable people in this thread (one former employee of Excalibur who stated he had built the JAC 427's and Tom Hekkers who has spent years researching these cars and owns 003), there was only one stretched one, silver. Looking at both ads, the dimensions, primary Lincoln-Mercury Division association and production numbers (both total and 1996) are speculative. The VIN numbers begin around 001 (1993) and apparently end at 177 (1997) with the exception of a one off, 200, built about 2000 with a Ford 4.6 cobra motor and IRS. Apparently this car still exists somewhere in Wisconsin or a surrounding state. It is reported, but not verified with any documentation, that the VIN's were not consecutive but were mostly sequential (i. e. xx5 was built before xx8, but xx6 or xx7 may or may not exist). There is a '93 in Germany reported to have a VIN of 000193. So even the apparent patterns we see in the verifiable cars could be subject to exceptions, especially at the outset. This makes determining the actual production number an educated guess. The questimates of the most knowledgeable are between 135 and 150. Verifiable reports I have are about 60 cars with VIN's, with about 20 more reports without VIN's, some of which might be duplicates of cars reported with VIN's. At best 80 cars are known, at least to me. Both of the cars now on ebay were previously unreported, at least as far as I knew. As far as L-M association, these cars were sold by Ford dealerships, independent dealerships and even at least one general retail chain. There could well have been some L-M dealerships who signed up, but I'm no way convinced there was any special tie in with L-M.
If anyone knows of an easy way to search registered cars for possible JAC 427 VIN's, send it along. Does anyone know if the other Excalibur models built during '93-'97 shared VIN sequence with the JAC 427's? It seems possible that the apparent gaps in our VIN sequence might be due to Excalibur sequencing in the other models as they were built concurrently with the cobras.
Difference subject: Earnie, I've got some great photos of 033 when you owned and raced it. Got a lot of details about it from reading your posts as well. What I don't have is contact with the current owner. Could you either buy it back (again) or convince them to contact me? In the mean time, if you'll send me your email address by PM, I'll send you a copy of everything I've got on 033 and these cars in general. I'd welcome your review and corrections or suggestions.
Mike