[Trevor Legate]

'Morning gents

I guess as an (ex) owner of a 7-litre AC 'Cobra' MkIII I should be banging on about about how wunnerful the 427 was/is but I still prefer the 'smaller' engine. Sorry, it's the way of the world in the UK. Do you know how many 427s there are in the UK? Neither do I, but it's not a lot - at one time I think there were two. So I find myself on the wrong continent to do the ultimate 427 book, much as I would enjoy every minute of the task. Having owned one of the blighters I guess I ought to do the book.

To be totally honest, young Wally did hit the nail on the head with his "where's the market" comment. As I believe I have mentioned in the past, my latest book cost north of $120,000 to get to the shoppes and that aint peanuts in my world. Once you further refine the market, you sell fewer books, the production costs remain the same (in fact they increase since smaller print runs cost more) so the price has to increase since the profits margins on any book are so small as to be almost invisible. I've often been asked to produce a book about the FIA cars but how many copies do you honestly think that might sell (far fewer than you think...!!)

Be that as it may, if anyone out there has that kind of money to spare and would like to finance me for the best part of a year - or more - to tour the USA photographing 427s and collect the necessary information, including paying for photo reproduction rights, maybe lending me their spare room, hiring a car, feeding me, paying for gas and all my associated but necessary luxuries, then I'll happily accept the challenge!! And to get the ball rolling, I have a photo of the very first 427 in action at the Silverstone circuit, being tested by Chris Amon - the first time the car turned a wheel....

Writing specialist books is expensive. I was talking with a well-known author who recently got involved in a motorcycle book - he managed to get an advance but ended up spending almost six times that amount just to shoot the photographs, never mind write the thing! He also did another book that involved travelling around the USA and Europe and the advance payment never arrived.....mind you, I've never had an advance of any kind (trying for the sympathy vote here)

I'm sure I can do the job that MkIV dreams of - I can use words like 'Usurp' as in "the 427 usurped the 289 in the production schedule" and "the 427 was, in turn, usurped by the GT40". Pure gold. I'm still trying to include the yates-ism of a 'yeasty stream of conciousness' as that aint Ingerlish like wot I know it. Bloody gibberish actually. I can include Shibboleth since I used to play one before the strings broke....

So that's decided then - we'll have a ClubCobra whip-round and gather up a minimum of $200,000+ and I'll take up the challenge. Job done.