Question about dash plaques on old AC Cobra

[7 Litre Steve]

I'm looking at a couple of plaques on the dash of a glass body 65 Cobra that may be historical or not. I don't want to replace anything without checking with people more knowledgeable first. Any ideas where to start my search or any info that may help me would be great.

One plaque says "Specially made for (name removed for post), Beverly Hills Ca. 90211" on it.

The other says "SCCA National Champion 1965-68-69-70-71-73" on it.

If anyone else in the SFBA that has plaques on their car like these, I'd sure like to talk with them.

TIA, 7LS

[Clayboy]

A photo of the dash would be a helpful start. It would save 1000 words.
Bob

[7 Litre Steve]

I hope this helps. 7LS

[winnipaw]

I believe the dash belongs to an early Cobra Autoworks car built in the late eightees in Southern Cal. I cant be absolutely sure by the pictures but it look like the same layout as my dash. They were available as complete cars or kits. The dash plaque looks like an owner addon to me. Nice little cobra's with stout chassis design. Are you purchasing this car?

[HealeyRick]

The SCCA plaque was on all Triumph Spitfire 1500s and GT6s. Go here and look at the first listing: Triumph Spitfire/GT6 Decal and Badge Placement

[7 Litre Steve]

Basically, it's like a barn find. I own it but I've found that it's not wise to do anything to change the car if it was of some historic value, I'll take my time and research it first.

It has some issues that I'd like to fix if I can find out where to get the correct parts. I figured it had to be an older kit car but I have no clue which kit manufacturer it's from. I was hoping the plaques might help as a clue, guess not.

It also has steel rims with spinners and aluminum caps that I find kind of odd. I wanted to chuck them since they are so rusty and get some nice 65 427reproductions for the period of car but I didn't want to do it if they were something special. Pics attached.

Thanks everyone for the help.

7LS

[Rick Parker]

The "Spoke" inserts were available in the late 80's and were used with aluminum "Appliance" (?) brand wheels to give the appearance of a cast aluminum wheel with center lock.

I might add that the steering column is that of a Ford Mustang II from 74-78.

[7 Litre Steve]

Cool! I sounds like I will be able to do whatever I want on this car to dress it up and bring it back from neglect. Just gotta have enough cash.

7LS

[winnipaw]

If your car has dropped floors, you can check for numbers under the hood on the right frame rail. The numbers are stamped on the top of the rail. Should start with CAW. Check it out and let us know.

[7 Litre Steve]

Hmm, it's interesting that you bring this up. I believe the floor is dropped and I have a VIN# on the pink slip but can't locate it on the frame. Are there any other places that I can look for it?

7LS

[winnipaw]

My Cobra Auto Works was built in 1990. The only other identifiers were the letters of the first owners name hand printed on the backside of the dashboard which is difficult to see without a light and mirror. Look carefully on the top of that framerail. Mine was hard to find at first. Also if you have two little hood stops that protrude from the firewall and a centrally located hood lock. Are your door handle releases mounted mid door? Someone mentioned that one of the rear bumpers or overiders was initialed by one of the assemblers although I could not find it on mine. Check my album for other similarities with yours. Mine was a project as well.

[7 Litre Steve]

Originally Posted by winnipaw

If your car has dropped floors, you can check for numbers under the hood on the right frame rail. The numbers are stamped on the top of the rail. Should start with CAW. Check it out and let us know.

I've been looking for that darn VIN# but I haven't seen it yet, I'll be looking for it until I find it too. Also, the VIN on my pink slip looks like a normal VIN you'd see in a Ford, nothing starting with CAW. There appear to be a few subtle differences between your beautiful car and what I'm looking at here. Mine must be the "caveman" version of yours but I hope to whip it into shape.

7LS

[Donunder]

Steve, not to be pedantic, but you'd think that if the "ownership" plaque on your dash was a factory or dealer add-on, they'd have gone to the trouble of getting the spelling correct.

The name of the owner suggests that English was not his first language, hence the error. A fun owner add-on for sure. Cool, but of no historical interest to anyone but Wolf himself.

[MOTORHEAD]

What's up with the "eyeball" shift knob ?? Kinda creepy !!
Gotta wonder what those wheels would look like cleaned up, polished rims, painted center covers, and KO's installed. It would be simple to change the color of the centers, just pull them of and shoot them. You could change color on a weekly basis !
You have the name and location of the original owner on the one plaque, I would search the internet for more info on him, who knows, you might strike gold !
Good luck, looks like a fun project.

[7 Litre Steve]

Originally Posted by Donunder

Steve, not to be pedantic, but you'd think that if the "ownership" plaque on your dash was a factory or dealer add-on, they'd have gone to the trouble of getting the spelling correct.

The name of the owner suggests that English was not his first language, hence the error. A fun owner add-on for sure. Cool, but of no historical interest to anyone but Wolf himself.

LOL, good catch. To be honest, I never saw the misspelled word. One more thing to scratch off my list and another step closer to getting to work on it. Now if I could just find that VIN#. It had to come from somewhere on this car.

7LS

[7 Litre Steve]

Originally Posted by MOTORHEAD

What's up with the "eyeball" shift knob ?? Kinda creepy !!
Gotta wonder what those wheels would look like cleaned up, polished rims, painted center covers, and KO's installed. It would be simple to change the color of the centers, just pull them of and shoot them. You could change color on a weekly basis !
You have the name and location of the original owner on the one plaque, I would search the internet for more info on him, who knows, you might strike gold !
Good luck, looks like a fun project.

Actually, it's a white shifter knob with a Cobra insignia in it. It's kind of rusty so I have no plans to keep it that way. I have extra black Ford shifter knobs here so I'll probably put one on it later (if it'll fit).

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with those rims, the chrome is shot on them. For right now, they'll stay on the car so it's movable. I may play with them later on one of my other cars. I always wanted to see what a 7 Litre Galaxie would look like with fat tires on it.

A general search for his name in that area turns up nothing. I'm thinking it's a dead end at the moment. I will keep searching though, it's still a curiosity to me.

7LS