ERA or Superperformance 427 Thoughts and Observations

[Learjockey1]

Guys, I am new to the site and first post. I appreciate the candor and wealth of information. Bottom line up front, I have done the searching, lurking, collecting books and magazines for over 25 years and finally decided to make the move. I am looking at two cars, the 427 ERA and SPF MKIII Cobras with soft top and side curtains. I have not driven an ERA or SPF as I am over here in Germany, so the Audi’s, Porches, Mercs and BMW’s reign. I desire my American V-8 roots and require a car to sustain 90-120 mph cruising with sustained periods of 140-160 and still take me through the Alps and small towns. I am looking for a feeling of polish, essence, and finish that only comes with RD time and engineering passion. Subjects such as pedal arc, pedal pressures, great brakes, control feedback, cowl shake, solidness and smoothness, warmth and pleasantness, of the car are what I consider. Unwanted or excess vibrations will disqualify. A car with fine qualities speaks to a person that horsepower and ft lb numbers cannot. The ERA website excites my technical side and answers many questions; however, waiting till the middle of next year is not my favorite option. Good weather here is limited. The SPF’s sell the dream, but when comparing the frames seem to be lacking in the strength of the X- braced ERA and Jag/Dana rear, however, no one ever seems to complain too much about the SPFs seemingly lighter frame and 8.8 diffs (with the exception of shock brackets and CV shafts) with heavy 429/460’s in them. I am leaning toward a nice used ERA with frames above 600. A 427/428 FE would be nice but a lighter Roush or Motorsport 351-351/427 small block with a 500 or 600 TKO would fine as well. I understand the pros and cons. My question, is it better to wait and pay a bit more for the ERA or just get one of the many reasonable priced readily available SPF’s already powered with a Roush and overdrive 5th gear TKO?
I have been around the cars, planes, boats, and motorcycles my whole life and do all of my own maintenance. I have strong mechanical and machine skills and am a bit of an anal retentive, obsessive/compulsive, perfectionist. Doing my own car is not a problem but finding the time to use the skills is getting harder with the job. Again, I am looking for an essence and feel quality. I am not interested in any other brands or cars, so I would like your observations comparing these two only.

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

[Stentor]

Well, let's wait for patrickt to log on and opine regarding the clear superiority of ERAs.... This should be an interesting one.

[ERA713]

I have driven both and own era 713.a very nice car.

[mrmustang]

I've owned both an SPF and two ERA's, the SPF was a small block and both ERA's were(are) 427 Sideoilers. Depending on what you plan to use the car for (road racer, street cruiser, weekend show car or driver, etc) you could go either way. One vs the other, both have a nice refined ride as both are equipped with IRS, again if you do not plan to race the car, both the jag and Ford based IRS will hold up for many years. Sustained high speeds require horsepower/torque, again you can build a small block to easily attain the HP/torque required, but you may have to up the compression ratio, or perhaps go with a stroker style motor in order to accomplish this while a big block with a 5spd behind it can more than easily accomplish this while being able to run on pump gas. Again, you really cannot go wrong with either the SPF or the ERA. Whether it is worth the wait to have one built exactly to your specs or not is only a question that you can answer. Sounds to me like you have thought this through for quite some time, now take a step back and rethink exactly what you want vs what you need and go from there. I wish you the best with whatever you choose, may it bring your dreams to reality.


Bill S.

[marcocsx3121]

I have no expertise on either the ERA or Superformance, but based on my six years with CSX 3121 ("real" Cobra) I can tell you that sustained speeds much above 100 mph are decidedly unpleasant in these cars. Aside from the total lack of real wind/weather protection, the aerodynamics cause lift at speed, not a good thing. I had hit 135-140 on a couple of occasions, and the front end was getting noticeably lighter at that speed.

I've spent a fair amount of time on the autobahns, and a replica Cobra would not be my first choice for that duty, great American V8 noises or not.

[mr bruce]

Can you even register a Cobra replica in Germany, without playing "tricks" with the title?

[Ken Oikawa]

Quote: "I desire my American V-8 roots and require a car to sustain 90-120 mph cruising with sustained periods of 140-160 and still take me through the Alps and small towns. "

At those speeds, engine and exhaust noise will be extremely loud; could be greater than 90 dB level. This is with a 4 spd top loader without an OD.

Cheers

[Rickd]

I'm not sure about "sustained periods of 140 - 160" - that seems to be a little over the top for the 60's technology and aerodynamics of the cobras. There are normally a few ERA's on the used market and, generally speaking, these are cars that will have extremely low mileage. There are people who buy / build / collect these cars and drive them to car shows only. Others might put on 1,000 miles or less in a year. I once was speaking with a gent who had a 6 year old 289FIA car for sale, with only 500 miles on it - and then he decided to keep the car as a stable mate for a GT40 he was having built. I have seen a few ERA 427's for sale - and that in my opinion would be a very viable direction to go in.

[Chilibit]

After seven years in Deutschland I think you are going to have a very tough time. The friendly people in my village would have me riding the bus and train to the office in short order if I tried to use my SPF there. A Daytona might be better suited to the environment.

[Rickd]

If you check out the www.cobracountry.com web site - there is a new ERA 427 for sale (800 miles on the car), 427 side oiler, ERA custom rear with outboard brakes, aluminum hood, etc. Chassis # 760 - they don't get any better as far as 427 cobras go. I would think that a Daytona Coupe would be - more aerodynamic and better suited to "sustained" higher speeds, and Superformance builds a very nice version.

[*13*]

Originally Posted by Learjockey1

Subjects such as pedal arc, pedal pressures, great brakes, control feedback, cowl shake, solidness and smoothness, warmth and pleasantness, of the car are what I consider. Unwanted or excess vibrations will disqualify. A car with fine qualities speaks to a person that horsepower and ft lb numbers cannot.

Doesn't sound like a Cobra to me.

[Ken Oikawa]

Quote:
"Subjects such as pedal arc, pedal pressures, great brakes, control feedback, cowl shake, solidness and smoothness, warmth and pleasantness, of the car are what I consider. Unwanted or excess vibrations will disqualify. A car with fine qualities speaks to a person that horsepower and ft lb numbers cannot."

Originally Posted by *13*

Doesn't sound like a Cobra to me.

Agree...

Cheers

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Learjockey1

My question, is it better to wait and pay a bit more for the ERA or just get one of the many reasonable priced readily available SPF’s already powered with a Roush and overdrive 5th gear TKO?

As much as I love ERAs, you have to remember that not all ERAs are built by the guys there in New Britain. An ERA built by someone else may be as good, but it will never be "better," and it might not be "as good" either (if I had built ERA732 it would not be nearly as nice as it is now). Just keep that in mind. If you're seriously going to track your car hard, then you might appreciate the additional strength of the ERA frame and their outboard braked rear. You have to run the car pretty hard to notice the difference. I'm going to put all that aside though and point out a few words in your question: "or just get one of the many reasonable priced readily available SPF’s...." Remember that a lot of the "Cobra experience" is getting what makes you happy. From your question alone, I would say that if you "just settled for an easily available SPF," you would not be happy. I think you've already made up your mind, you just need "reinforcement."

[Maricopa]

Doesn't sound like a Cobra to me.

Me neither....Get an M5.

[LMH]

Just buy Bills (mrmustang) ERA and ship it over. No waiting and you get a great car.
Larry

[NHVANA]

The SPF runs a Dana rear and all cars are factory built so you know what your'e getting; no quality issues there.
I have driven BB/SB SPF's, set up correctly there are no handling issues with either set up. The BB with TKO 600/.82 for spirted street driving should "float your boat". Buy now and enjoy!
The SPF Daytona (or is that the Shelby Daytona Coupe) is a completly different beast, an open road GT superstar, I suggest you get both.

[Learjockey1]

I appreciate the insights as to my speed requirements as there is still a nice unrestricted area south of Stuttgart heading towards the Bodensee. I was once breaking in my Ducati 1098 and had to keep it under 5000 rpm and that was at 120 mph. A silver Mercedes pulled up and wanted to race. However, as the German guys know, you need to have 6th sense as to when to and not to. Responsible driving is paramount. I am stationed here and live on base so the registration and noise would not be problem. I have an 83 German spec 635 and every time I go out I end up racing some kid in an Audi TT, Mini Cooper S or 3 Series who remembers when the 635’s and 911’s ruled the left lane. I do not let them down. 3.5 liters of Dr. Bosch injected un-catalyzed six cylinders is still 3.5 liters and is actually a fairly good sized engine over here, however, 7.5 Liters would mix with the others, i.e., Lambos, Ferraris, AMG’s, and GT3’s and get me back into the V-8’s. Again, thanks for the insights and the humor. Is there anybody with an ERA in the Jacksonville, North Florida area or Charlotte NC area? I will be in the area for some Christmas leave in about a month.

[TButtrick]

Originally Posted by Learjockey1

I desire my American V-8 roots and require a car to sustain 90-120 mph cruising with sustained periods of 140-160 and still take me through the Alps and small towns. I am looking for a feeling of polish, essence, and finish that only comes with RD time and engineering passion. Subjects such as pedal arc, pedal pressures, great brakes, control feedback, cowl shake, solidness and smoothness, warmth and pleasantness, of the car are what I consider. Unwanted or excess vibrations will disqualify.

I just don't think you'd be happy with ANY replica with those requirements. Sustained 90-120Mph speeds can be brutal in these cars. I'd look seriously to a ZR1 to fulfill the requirements.

[Jamo]

I know you're talking about SPFs or ERAs, but you might want to chat with Gerry Hawkridge at Hawk Cars, who finishes up Kirkhams and their own chassis for use in Europe.

For such speeds (which I agree with others...tough in these things), and barring any thoughts of a Daytona Coupe, you might want to think about a LeMans top equipped Cobra, and think about a rear-exhaust setup.

[428street]

I'm going to be up-front that I will be very biased here.

I've been around, drove in and seen almost all "the other" Cobra replica's out there and don't get me wrong they are all nice and fit someone's budget, dream and desire.

In my research and in dealing with ERA for the last 3-4 years you will not get an as close to original looking car with 21st century engineering out of any other car manufacturer.

Their thought process was to take the outer shell of the original car and keep it very close to the original and then re-engineer most if not all the short comings of the original car.

The built quality is that of a Rolex watch, 911, or any other high end, high quality machine, device, toy, etc.

I could not be happier with the car, the company, the experience and the smile I get everytime I drive that car.