Kirkham for sale

[MOTORHEAD]

Just a "heads-up" if you're looking for a Kirkham, I just listed mine on
"cobra country.com" Its the red w/o stripes.
If you would like more info, you can call or e-mail me;

srqradtkes@msn.com.

941-730-2020

Thanks,
Ted Radtke

[jhv48]

What’s the story behind the reconstructed title? Was it designated a total due to an accident and then rebuilt?

[1985 CCX]

Ditto

Originally Posted by jhv48

What’s the story behind the reconstructed title? Was it designated a total due to an accident and then rebuilt?

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

Ditto

Just take a look through his member gallery.

[MOTORHEAD]

JHV48 & CCX1985CSX
It was totaled due to an engine fire when new (478mi)
A local dealer found it in the insurance yard, bought it and brought it to Sarasota, and I found it there in 2001. Long restoration due to many factors, but had it drivable in 2014.so I have owned it for 20 years !
Ted

[MOTORHEAD]

I have many more pictures of the rebuild process in a condensed website which is inactive
at the moment, but will be back up before the weekend.
Ted

[eschaider]

And that website is ...

[MOTORHEAD]

Ed;
My personal IT person is my daughter in NO,LA, I'm waiting for a return call. She is my interface to WIX where site is located. I'll post as soon as it's
back up and working. You can see what it looks like now by visiting "Cobra Country.com"

Ted

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by MOTORHEAD

Just a "heads-up" if you're looking for a Kirkham, I just listed mine on
"cobra country.com" Its the red w/o stripes.
If you would like more info, you can call or e-mail me;

srqradtkes@msn.com.

941-730-2020

Thanks,
Ted Radtke

Nice car. Some photos show wheels with gold centres, others show silver / grey centres - what colour are they currently?

Link to listing: https://www.cobracountry.com/cars-fo...-cobra-radtke/

[twobjshelbys]

Too bad about the salvage title. Of all the cars on the planet the Cobra is probably the easiest to return from the dead (and I'm talking about a crash, not a fire). After all, how many of the originals were crashed on Saturday and back on the track the next Saturday? Frame and suspension easy to fix, aluminum pounded out and reformed and the whole thing looks new.

[MOTORHEAD]

cycleguy:
They are goldish currently, the pic you posted was the "shaded" side, so they look grayish.
The next pic in the listing was the "Sunny" side, so they look "goldish"
When I first got the car the wheels were the stock gray. About 3 yrs ago, I changed to the gold.

[MOTORHEAD]

Tony;
No pounded out aluminum here, all new panels from Kirkham !

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

Too bad about the salvage title.

I agree on that. I looked at the listing on CC and it is an absolute steal at $155k -- I just have to believe there was some sort of way to cleanse that title. I bet MM could have figured out a way, he knows more about that stuff than anyone I know.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I bet MM could have figured out a way, he knows more about that stuff than anyone I know.

You would have lost that bet, as I do not know any way to excise a "cursed" title. While the car is absolutely beautiful now, the salvage title, and know history (original fire and light frame/suspension damage due to a spin by the OP) will cause a hard 25-35% hit to the cars value. This one will truly need a needle in a haystack type of buyer, maybe a dealer in search of a toy, one that will throw a dealer tag on it....I personally thought about taking a run at it, but the OP would most certainly not be happy with my offer based on the above.

Bill S.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

You would have lost that bet, as I do not know any way to excise a "cursed" title.

What you really need to say is " as I do not know any legal way to excise a "cursed" title."

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by MOTORHEAD

Tony;
No pounded out aluminum here, all new panels from Kirkham !

So a fire caused irreparable damage to the body that you had to replace some/all? And later some to the frame? That puts a little different spin on it. Maybe it would help there if you posted more details of the damage and what restoration was done to mitigate. Lots of cars are totaled these days because of the labor to repair. Almost any minor collision on a Ford GT is totaled - labor and parts availability make repairs sometimes impossible. But in the hands of an artist can be completely mitigated and documentation can help preserve some of the value. Aluminum is surprisingly friendly to someone that knows what they are doing (vis. the video of David Kirkham repairing a damanged fender).

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

What you really need to say is " as I do not know any legal way to excise a "cursed" title."

I personally do not know of any way, legal or illegal to change the history of a currently "rebuilt titled" vehicle.

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

So a fire caused irreparable damage to the body that you had to replace some/all? And later some to the frame? That puts a little different spin on it. Maybe it would help there if you posted more details of the damage and what restoration was done to mitigate. Lots of cars are totaled these days because of the labor to repair. Almost any minor collision on a Ford GT is totaled - labor and parts availability make repairs sometimes impossible. But in the hands of an artist can be completely mitigated and documentation can help preserve some of the value. Aluminum is surprisingly friendly to someone that knows what they are doing (vis. the video of David Kirkham repairing a damanged fender).

The pictures that I have seen of the car pre-rebuild show a lot a fire that had to have caused additional "birdcage" damage to the car. The only pictures of the car under repair that I have seen to date show outer body repair and no detail of additional repairs to the inner birdcage substructure. The current pictures show an absolutely beautiful car, minus the once equally as beautiful multi weber carb assembly that previous adorned the engine compartment.

When I still had my bodyshop in PA, I sold several 5.0L converted Miatas with PA rebuilt titles in to Florida without an issue that I ever heard of. From what I can remember, Florida took the PA rebuilt title, then affixed a permanent decal to the car stating it was a previous salvage vehicle and issued a rebuilt title of their own. In one case, the car needed to go through a "rebuilt title inspection", passed without an issue....Perhaps this is the case with this car, without knowing all of the details, and what occurred during the attempted title transfer, it would be difficult to ascertain with a measure of certainty.

Bill S.

[MOTORHEAD]

Gentlemen :
there was never any frame/chassis damage, nor suspension damage, aside from 2 malformed rubber bushings in the left upper "A" frame., and some burned paint.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a small website dedicated to the repairs done on this car.
It is inactive at present, but should be back up before the weekend.
It is currently Titled and registered in Louisiana, and can be in certain other states.
MM; your last paragraph is similar to what I did, only in a different state.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by MOTORHEAD

Gentlemen :
there was never any frame/chassis damage, nor suspension damage, aside from 2 malformed rubber bushings in the left upper "A" frame., and some burned paint.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a small website dedicated to the repairs done on this car.
It is inactive at present, but should be back up before the weekend.
It is currently Titled and registered in Louisiana, and can be in certain other states.
MM; your last paragraph is similar to what I did, only in a different state.

I beg to differ based on your post, and pictures you posted 06-01-2013, 03:27 PM
Went for a spin......

Originally Posted by MOTORHEAD

I've got the car on the lift, giving it a through inspection.
Unfortunately I did not come out unscathed ! Left rear lower A arm is bent, still have to check other side and fronts.
Anybody got one of these in their pocket?

David Kirkham made a post about other places to look for additional damage, if anyone would know, he would.

Still wondering why you state that you cannot title in Florida in your ad on Cobra Country "This Cobra currently has a Louisiana “reconstructed” title and registration and cannot be titled & registered here in the state of Florida" That statement begs the question "why"?

Finally, with the pictures you have posted of the pre-rebuild stage of the car, there most certainly was enough heat to deform the lighter gauge upper birdcage. Are you saying that none of it was damaged by the intense heat of the electrical fire? My own experience as a bodyshop owner makes me think otherwise, sorry.

Bill S.

PS: Again, I'd probably be a cash buyer with a clean title, but nowhere near 6 figures for a previously salvage car, especially when I can get a clean title, csx6000 (granted, fiberglass) for less than your ask, on the very same site as your car is listed.

[moore_rb]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

What you really need to say is " as I do not know any legal way to excise a "cursed" title."

Originally Posted by mrmustang

I personally do not know of any way, legal or illegal to change the history of a currently "rebuilt titled" vehicle.

Bill S.

Agree - Once a car is wearing a VIN number that is matched to the VIN number printed on a bonded paper title document, that VIN plate may not be legally tampered with, altered, or removed.

Of course, many states have documented procedures for rectifying a car's VIN and title condition; if the car's original VIN plate should somehow happen to "fall off" the car and become lost while barreling down the highway (Hey, it could happen ). these states will issue a brand new VIN number (which they will affix to the car) and will also issue a new title, which matches the car's new VIN.

and since the car is a "custom built component replica" the new title will carry a SPCON (special construction) designation.

But in this case, That's just too much hassle... I don't necessarily agree that the restored brand on this car's title is going to result in any more than maybe a 10% hit on the resale value... It's still an aluminum bodied Kirkham, after all.

A free (and worth every penny) suggestion: consider submitting it to Bringatrailer, including pics from the fire and the post-fire restoration, and ask for a 125k reserve. (which is easily a 20-30k premium to what one could conceivably build an equivalent Kirkham today)

You might get lucky and they might run the listing. Kirkhams' usually do very well on BAT.

BAT isn't what it used to be (a place for people to list automotive auctions that TRULY "needed a trailer" )

Today, BAT is the haven of heavy 6 figure Porsches, Ferraris, Corvettes, restomod Broncos, and the occasional Cobra replica

I'm reminded of the FF Mark II that brought almost 70k(!) a few months back. That car must have had some kind of MAGIC brand on its title