Looking to buy my first Cobra 427 S/C in Oz

[CobraAddict]

Originally Posted by Alfa02

Yes Sir, that's what I'm talking about! A US tire Co, remanufactures those tires (I will get the Company name) But you have to Paint/letter the blue streak and Goodyear logo yourself. About 4 hours per tire A friend has two Trans-Am cars, and did all 8-tires in a week's time (40 hours then ?) But those are the correct tire for a FIA, Daytona or SC car Thank you again kind Sir, you always come though for me Glen Cheers Tom.

I found a site that has both the GOOD YEAR Billboards and the Blue Streak tyres for sale but they are not cheap.

https://vintagewheelsus.com/index.ph...index&cPath=32

As for not being legal in Australia I guess I will add that to my list of WTFs that I need to clarify. But they look sooooo good

[CobraAddict]

Originally Posted by Alfa02

Yes Sir, that's what I'm talking about! A US tire Co, remanufactures those tires (I will get the Company name) But you have to Paint/letter the blue streak and Goodyear logo yourself. About 4 hours per tire A friend has two Trans-Am cars, and did all 8-tires in a week's time (40 hours then ?) But those are the correct tire for a FIA, Daytona or SC car Thank you again kind Sir, you always come though for me Glen Cheers Tom.

Tried to post a pic but couldnt figure out how to given you are only able to add its URL address. In anycase look up CSX3042. There is a lovely side on view with its blue streak tyres. Looks very nice indeed however I think they will also be illegal in Australia if the Billboards are !?

[CobraAddict]

I think I am going to end up going good old fashion 'Guardsman Blue' unless I can find a car that was 'Sapphire Blue' which is also supposed to be a period correct colour however I have not found a car in this colour as yet ! I assume it would be a darker more intense blue. Does anyone have a picture of a Sapphire Blue 427?

[CobraAddict]

Does anyone know what Blue colour was used on CSX3356. It was originally Red but repainted during a Mike McCluskey complete restoration in 1981. Its a gorgeous colour and looks like a Royal Blue or perhaps Indigo Blue

[KDubU]

I think CSX3111 is Sapphire Blue.

[CobraAddict]

Conducted a very interesting exercise while stuck indoors over the weekend, thanks to COVID-19 and mid-winter like weather here in Melbourne, which I found very educational in helping me decide on what look I want to aim for.

I found tracking SCX3xxx cars is very easy if you simply focus on Shelby 427 Cobra's sold at auction at places like Sotheby's, RM, Bohnams, Gooding etc. You can find great pics on just about every 427 ever built as they have all gone under the hammer one time or another.
I finally stopped after accruing some 360 photo's covering 45 different cars with 14 original S/C's so now I think I have a reasonable library on which to ponder my dilemma.

Found some very interesting results. For the most part all the S/C's are quite 'pure' in design. I couldn't find a single car with a glove box for example.

Roadsters on the other handd seem to be far more liberal in their makeup with many having the larger rear tyres, sidepipes and driver roll bars as well as their roadster front and rear bumpers. SCX3102 seems to be a std roadster but with an S/C dash. And how popular is red for roadsters...wow!

I did find a couple of outliers...... CSX3272 and CSX3181 where I was not sure whether they were Roadsters dressed up as S/C's or S/C's with Roadster dashes. Neither of them have ash tray's either. Any thoughts on how these came to be that way??

All in all I found it a very interesting couple of hours.

So my conclusion is that I guess if I have a S/C reproduction with a glove box it won't be the end of the world for me. Although it would be nice to find just one original S/C where they did have aglove box. I would feel vindicated in my decision

[CobraAddict]

Originally Posted by KDubU

I think CSX3111 is Sapphire Blue.

Ha Ha I've seen the posts on this car and so far it is.....

guardsman blue
viking blue
40th anniversary color, Intense Blue PPG 5357
Ford Sapphire Blue
1966 T-Bird color-PPG 13075
Laguna blue

In anycase its a lovely colour all be it very similar to Guardsman blue anyway

[Alfa02]

Hi Andrew, Tom again. If I may add some info. from the Ol'Days, when these street (427) cars, were just used cars, and many were made into A Production race cars, so roll bars, side pipes race screens, gauges, etc. were added to make them FASTER, and more (SC type) race ready. So as you can see, people were more liberal (No one cared that it wasn't stock anymore) was just a old Cobra Example: In 1972 there was a 427 street Cobra for sale here in the Pacific Northwest Washington (Seattle Wa.) for $7000, well I wanted that car, more then life it self But being 18yo, and making $1.35 an hour that wasn't going to happen So a older friend brought that 427, and we made a A production race car out of it. Anything that didn't make it go FASTER, those item's were, given or thrown away, we're building a race car, Damn it, Weigh & HP the only thing that mattered , not worried about stock piece's, I know the seats went in a MGB, so that's why you may see cars, that have certain piece's where other one don't. A sad ending to that Cobra, I was working turn 5 @Pacific Raceways, the Cobra went off there, backwards, split the fuel tank, it burnt to ground in front of me (Driver was unhurt), I'm not ashamed to say, I cried watching it go up in flames, I and the rest of the crew loved that car. (3am LOUD warm up's at the owner house, quick run up the street, before loading at up, for the race the next day, his neighbor hated him ). Fun times & Great memories. ,Cheers Tom.

[Beejay]

Good to see an interesting thread with a new enthusiastic member!

It looks like you are one of those guys that are super into the detail on Cobras which is great. Here is my 2c for what it is worth.

- Unless you buy a very old original type car you will probably need to make some sacrifices on originality to be legal and / or practical.

- If I was you I would bide my time and look at finding a second hand Robnel or a Kirkham and personalising it to the colour or layout you want. Deciding on the right base car is much more important than worrying about if it has a glovebox.

- You will find out a ton of information about different options if you go to some club meetings to talk when everyone can be out and about again.

- Remember that you can make these cars look like anything you want if you have the time and money.

Hope this helps, good luck with your search.

Ben

[t walgamuth]

That car looks cool!

[KDubU]

Originally Posted by CobraAddict

Ha Ha I've seen the posts on this car and so far it is.....

guardsman blue
viking blue
40th anniversary color, Intense Blue PPG 5357
Ford Sapphire Blue
1966 T-Bird color-PPG 13075
Laguna blue

In anycase its a lovely colour all be it very similar to Guardsman blue anyway

I can assure you it is not Viking Blue as that was the colour of mine. It’s not Guardman either. I believe it is Sapphire blue which is a 66 T-Bird colour. I could be wrong but that is what I have listed when I was trying to decide on blue.

[CobraAddict]

Originally Posted by Beejay

Good to see an interesting thread with a new enthusiastic member!

It looks like you are one of those guys that are super into the detail on Cobras which is great. Here is my 2c for what it is worth.

- Unless you buy a very old original type car you will probably need to make some sacrifices on originality to be legal and / or practical.

- If I was you I would bide my time and look at finding a second hand Robnel or a Kirkham and personalising it to the colour or layout you want. Deciding on the right base car is much more important than worrying about if it has a glovebox.

- You will find out a ton of information about different options if you go to some club meetings to talk when everyone can be out and about again.

- Remember that you can make these cars look like anything you want if you have the time and money.

Hope this helps, good luck with your search.

Ben

Whereas I am leaning towards the Superformance I would certainly entertain a Kirkham however they are in a quantum leap price bracket. If I went there I would have to start looking at Shelby American continuation cars or perhaps the Superformance continuation series. Better resale value.

I have spoken to a couple of the Kirkham boys now and I don’t think we will be seeing many Kirkham’s coming up in the near future.
Robnell is not on the top of my list simply because I am looking to be as authentic as possible and Robnell has gone off on a tangent in several areas.
I could watch out for a good one and I guess make it more authentic. We shall have to wait and see what comes up. They used to be in Bayswater, are they still around I can't find anything on the net!?

[CobraAddict]

Originally Posted by Alfa02

Hi Andrew, Tom again. If I may add some info. from the Ol'Days, when these street (427) cars, were just used cars, and many were made into A Production race cars, so roll bars, side pipes race screens, gauges, etc. were added to make them FASTER, and more (SC type) race ready. So as you can see, people were more liberal (No one cared that it wasn't stock anymore) was just a old Cobra Example: In 1972 there was a 427 street Cobra for sale here in the Pacific Northwest Washington (Seattle Wa.) for $7000, well I wanted that car, more then life it self But being 18yo, and making $1.35 an hour that wasn't going to happen So a older friend brought that 427, and we made a A production race car out of it. Anything that didn't make it go FASTER, those item's were, given or thrown away, we're building a race car, Damn it, Weigh & HP the only thing that mattered , not worried about stock piece's, I know the seats went in a MGB, so that's why you may see cars, that have certain piece's where other one don't. A sad ending to that Cobra, I was working turn 5 @Pacific Raceways, the Cobra went off there, backwards, split the fuel tank, it burnt to ground in front of me (Driver was unhurt), I'm not ashamed to say, I cried watching it go up in flames, I and the rest of the crew loved that car. (3am LOUD warm up's at the owner house, quick run up the street, before loading at up, for the race the next day, his neighbor hated him ). Fun times & Great memories. ,Cheers Tom.

Thanks for the great comments. Yeah I can imagine now after looking at some 360 pics that what you say makes sense. These were certainly not million dollar cars in their day rather very average built hoon cars bordering on our kit cars of today with very little quality in them. So they would have certainly been bastardised in their day. Nowadays those bastardised cars have become classics and any early mods they had are now considered 'original' and no one dare strip one back to its basic factory release format.
Still was interesting how S/C's have not shown this trend. They are all very true to the 'supposed' standard. I guess they were all basically track cars and so no fancy trim was considered a benefit hence no S/Cs with roadster bumpers or ashtrays or chrome pipes

[letsboogie351]

https://www.facebook.com/kenmercobra/

"They used to be in Bayswater, are they still around I can't find anything on the net!?"

You will find the new home of Robnell here
Doug

[Beejay]

Originally Posted by CobraAddict

Thanks for the great comments. Yeah I can imagine now after looking at some 360 pics that what you say makes sense. These were certainly not million dollar cars in their day rather very average built hoon cars bordering on our kit cars of today with very little quality in them. So they would have certainly been bastardised in their day. Nowadays those bastardised cars have become classics and any early mods they had are now considered 'original' and no one dare strip one back to its basic factory release format.
Still was interesting how S/C's have not shown this trend. They are all very true to the 'supposed' standard. I guess they were all basically track cars and so no fancy trim was considered a benefit hence no S/Cs with roadster bumpers or ashtrays or chrome pipes

I am assuming that your comment above referred to the kit cars of old. The kits available these days are very well engineered and are light years ahead of the originals. Having said that I am sure all of us would have a 60's car if we could afford it!

The Superformance is a great car too and may be your best bet.

Cheers,
Ben

[STUART_T]

Yes agree Superformance great car I just bought one

https://youtu.be/9oXLafRUszs

Cheers
Stuart

[CobraAddict]

Originally Posted by Beejay

I am assuming that your comment above referred to the kit cars of old. The kits available these days are very well engineered and are light years ahead of the originals. Having said that I am sure all of us would have a 60's car if we could afford it!

The Superformance is a great car too and may be your best bet.

Cheers,
Ben

Yes indeed I was referring to the originals. Cars of today are a whole different ball game. I have been perusing a Kirkham manual (more like a book with 301 pages) with a detailed pictorial chronology of the building of one of those amazing things. My god the engineering involved is outstanding
Not to forget our own Absolute Pace here in Oz.
One would have to ask as they still Cobra's or a next gen Cobra decendent !


At this stage I'm still looking at Superformance as it ticks almost all of my boxes taking into account what I am looking, bang for your buck and that I am in Oz! But boy does that Kirkham look good....... It adds boxes to my list that I didnt know I wanted.

[Dominik]

Depending on the registration and licensing issues, would you consider building your own from authentic components, like chassis, body and parts?

That's what I do here in South Africa.

390 stroked to 427, 4-speed Toploader, Salisbury differential, knock-off wheels

The original frame accepts the MGB steering rack, which you can get in LHD or RHD.

[CobraAddict]

Originally Posted by STUART_T

Yes agree Superformance great car I just bought one

https://youtu.be/9oXLafRUszs

Cheers
Stuart

Thats looks fantastic. Are you in Oz. I'll PM you !!

[CobraAddict]

Originally Posted by Dominik

Depending on the registration and licensing issues, would you consider building your own from authentic components, like chassis, body and parts?

That's what I do here in South Africa.

390 stroked to 427, 4-speed Toploader, Salisbury differential, knock-off wheels

The original frame accepts the MGB steering rack, which you can get in LHD or RHD.

I am certainly open to all options. As much as I would love to do that (and no doubt save money), and I have the ability, however unfortunately not the space or gear to be mounting motors and transmissions into chasis.

What bodies do you use. I guess Superformance given they are made locally to you ! At this stage I am also trying to avoid a stroker and get a BB 427 however that is also open to suggestion.