Please Help ID Car Maker.

[recoil]

Hi my friend Peter has purchased a near complete Cobra kit car, but he is having real problems registering it. The car has never been registered, or fully engineered. Previously it must have been inspected by an unknown engineer who gave a hand written list of things needing fixing without any reference to who he was.
The Chassis has been stamped with the following number - 6E9P01RTAV1VM0001. The RTA doesn't know this number, and has told him the car will probably never be able to be registered.
He rang an engineer in Frankston area, and was told he was not really interested in looking at the car, and he would have no hope of registering it without knowing the kit manufacturer.
Can anyone help identify this car kit from either the Chassis no., or the photos i will attach, or give some advice on how to register his car. He believes it may have Toyota Crown front and rear ends with fabricated mid section.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as he is feeling a bit down and feeling buying the car may have been a big mistake.
Thanks, Chris.

[Gav]

Thats a tough one, it could be a home made one or anything.

Surely the fella that sold it to him could shed a little light, or perhaps refund his money.

[Tenrocca]

Looks like a crown chassis - and possibly the scariest looking build quality I have ever seen. Some of the senspension components look like they were hand beaten out of scrap metal - or even cracked (third pic from bottom). I hope he didnt pay much - Might be good for parts, but I wouldn't feel safe driving in it.

[recoil]

The seller says he bought it as it is, and a previous owner had done all the work, so he can provide no other information. I'm pretty sure he wont be getting his money back.

[alkire248]

Holy Smokes! What a disaster!

[Gav]

Ahhh Ebay...

[Beejay]

To be honest I do not think that car belongs on the road.

The car will need a lot of work to be safe.

Ben

[LoBelly]

Basically, your mate is looking at the start of a build not the end.

There are a lot of kits in this condition out there - people started building, it took longer than they anticipated, the rules changed, some of parts they've got wont be allowed any more - the wherewithall is not there to re-do and complete.

His position is now similar to someone just acquiring a kit from a supplier - has some useful parts, some can be made to work - others not.

Probably not what he signed up for.

Frankston Victoria? (only Frankston I know of) Before he gets too despondant call Enkelman's and arrange an appointment to see if the project can be salvaged

http://aenkassoc.enkonet.com/

Good luck

[Mando]

You must be joking, where would you start?

Regards.

[Rob. Smith]

Make it a race car and see if it passes scrutiny ...if it doesn't try and make money on parts.

[Modena]

If your friend wants to do anything more than look at the body (including registering the vehicle), then yes he has made a big mistake. Sorry, but it is what it is.

It's worth a discussion with Enkelman, but when they see the photos or see the car (!) in the flesh, I would be prepared for heart-ache.

[recoil]

Originally Posted by LoBelly

Basically, your mate is looking at the start of a build not the end.

There are a lot of kits in this condition out there - people started building, it took longer than they anticipated, the rules changed, some of parts they've got wont be allowed any more - the wherewithall is not there to re-do and complete.

His position is now similar to someone just acquiring a kit from a supplier - has some useful parts, some can be made to work - others not.

Probably not what he signed up for.

Frankston Victoria? (only Frankston I know of) Before he gets too despondent call Enkelman's and arrange an appointment to see if the project can be salvaged

http://aenkassoc.enkonet.com/

Good luck

Thanks for your advice. Yes Frankston Victoria. I will give him this information at least its a small glimmer of hope. He seems to think the photos make it look worse than it really is. Thanks, again.

[LoBelly]

Originally Posted by Mando

You must be joking, where would you start?

Regards.

Probably with this thread

Owner built on a budget;

No doubt there are some challenges, but on the up side it looks like the purchaser has a good chance of getting some dish on his rear wheels

LB

[Beejay]

Lobelly,

All kits can be modified to add more dish to the rear wheels - most people do not give a crap though!

Ben

[recoil]

Just for me to get it clear, is there no way this chassis was built by one of the kit manufacturers? To me it seems strange it is stamped with a serial number. The body itself must have been, so is there any way to identify who made it.

[LoBelly]

Originally Posted by recoil

Just for me to get it clear, is there no way this chassis was built by one of the kit manufacturers? To me it seems strange it is stamped with a serial number. The body itself must have been, so is there any way to identify who made it.

As Tenrocca says - it looks like a Toyota chassis

A few of them have popped up here over the years. G-Force in Perth was the most popular maker but there were a few others.
Through the CCCV we've had a couple of old G-Force kits come through that were pre-stamped with VINs but not completed.

Not sure how that worked - guessing some sort of lot/range assigned to a builder or similar.

If you search this forum you'll come across other references to Toyota Crown chassis cars as well as pictures that may resemble your mates car.
e.g.
simon clemens Gallery - Club Cobra Photo Gallery

Good luck

LoBelly

[boxhead]

That chassis number looks very much like a number supplied by RTA authorities, most have the state held within the vin(mine are the 7th & 8th characters.
Only kit I remember running the crown chassis (shortened crown) was some early G-Force cars, but the body does not look G-Force to me.
I would be checking more on the vin number you have, as most states do not issue a vin number until the car passes engineering.
And then there is also always the option of club Rego.

But I would first be having it thoroughly inspected by a workshop you know and trust, as driving it may well be taking your life (and other road users) in the hands of the gods.

Good luck with it, and hope it does not cost too much to make safe.

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by recoil

Just for me to get it clear, is there no way this chassis was built by one of the kit manufacturers? To me it seems strange it is stamped with a serial number. The body itself must have been, so is there any way to identify who made it.

My Cobra replica carries a Ford VIN plate in the usual position in the dashboard...is titled as a 1966 Ford 2T. The state of Texas seems perfectly happy with things as they are.

If I want to register/title it in the location where my vacation home is located, the local sheriff wants to see two different locations where the VIN can be inspected....one on the driver's side frame rail and the other on the dashboard is OK.

I am going to take my "stamp" set and stamp the Ford VIN from the dash plate onto the driver's side frame rail....but it still doesn't mean Ford made the car.

Anyone with a set of stamps can put a "serial number" on a frame...

Hope this turns out well for your friend....if he can't register it as a street car, how about using it as a racer?

Cheers!

Doug

[David Hodgson]

There were many Cobra kits of varying qualities back in the 80's and into the 90's run by guy's thinking they could make it big by becoming Cobra kit suppliers, but did not survive and only built a hand full of bodies or incomplete kits. This led to more brands than most people realise. This was in the day when using modified proprietry chassis was common, ie 356's on cut Bettle chassis, Pervis Eureka's on Beetles, Corvette replica on HQ ute chassis, and cobra's on Crown chassis. This is the way the kit car industry developed. We still build with coprimise by adapting best we can, proprietry suspension components because the cost to engineer and approve these bits is prohibitive to most.
This kit looks bad because it an amalgamation of new and old structures and what appears to be backyard welding and finish quality. And what also looks like another 20 years of road patina. Doesn't mean it's a death trap but certainly may struggle to meet today's more stringent requirements. Whether a lot of TLC is worth it, is up to someone like Enkleman's to advise. WA seems more leanient in the registration of this type of aproach.

This IS a Crown chassis, and is not modified in the traditional way. It was not common to add the steel framing in the engine bay with steel footboxes. Having said that, as i said previously there were many aspiring suppliers, and I have not seen them all, though I have seen many. The way the chassis has been modified is not the way G-Force did it. It was common, however, for the builder to modify one themselves.

There are differences with all kit suppliers bodies that can help identify them, however it is difficult from those photo's alone. You could buy a body only from most any supplier, but some the ones I recall to be either associated with Crown's or more obscure kit's that didn't make it so there were spare bodies available were; starting with the obvious, G-Force, Autostyling, GT Fibreglass, then Silhouette, Boomerang, Lucas, and Irrisistable Replica. Guy's could have also picked up a body only from WE Sports cars (Wooley & Evans) or Classic Glass. These were all mostly based in WA or SA.

I haven't got enough to tell you what it is, but can tell you it's not a G-Force or RMC. Reasons for this, front indicators are not on raised body mouldings, engine bay opening has different edge profile, and larger more bulbous front wheel flare. Some of these features also lead me to believe it is not WE or Classic Glass either. I have only seen one Irrisistable and Silhouette, a hand full of Autostyling's, and have not seen a Boomerang, Lucas or GT Fibreglass in the flesh, however have seen pic's. From all this i'm thinking an Autostyling or Boomerang fits the closest for the guard flare size and no indicator body mounts. Also the edge around the cockpit opening on most are rolled or radiused. G-Force has a larger radius, around 25-30 mm, RMC and I 'm sure WE and Classic have a smaller radius, around 15-20mm. Another identifier can be the head light mounting surface, some use a bezel from a Mini, which is a larger outer radius than MG which is more common/correct. This car seems to have MGB on its right and Mini on left.

Some areas you could look at are;

Inner door skin moulded profile,
This one is Lucas




Cockpit rolled edge size
Again Lucas like G-Force size;




Front flare size and shape
2 Autostylings;




front of door opening shape at return toward dash




Raised indicator mount (courtesy Lobelly)
RMC, G-Force and most newer kits




General Pic's;

Boomerangs - also looks simmilar to the Irrisistable
-note no raised indicator mount





Like Lobelly says, have a trawl through the Australian club web sites for pic's or Aussie ownwers pic's on this site. best way is click on the camera icon under their user name in a post. There are plenty of build shots from many angles.
There are many clues which help ID the body, but it helps to have a few around you to play comparies.

Good luck

[jcraigau]

Unfortunately the previous owner may have stamped the number on to give prospective buyers the hope that process had been followed on the way to registration.