Cat out of the Kirkham Bag! Daytona Coupe!!

[Mark IV]

David,

You will of course offer ALL the coupe rooflines as options!:

Looks REALLY good.....nice to know that this is available as a choice amoungst the many fine cars out there now.

And I agree, the coil springs with say, a 331 stroker should provide plenty of motive power. What we all seem to forget is that we can have reliable, streetable horsepower figures that Shelby would have KILLED for in 1965! Yeah, an eight stack Fuely unit and a 5 speed trans.....yeah, that's the ticket!

Rick

[carmine]

Hello David: I notice that the roof line does not have more of a tilted down forward look ive seen on some pictures of other coupes, some have your roof line and some have tilted down. why is that. Best Regards Carmine
PS: keep up the excellent work. Hope to own one of you vehicles one day.

[RON N BKFLD]

Jamo,,, I know exactly what you are thinking....Ron

[What'saCobra?]

So do i... i suspect...

"...the only Daytona to date with near perfect lines..."

Absolutely gorgeous in the metal... very techy... very advanced with the hybrid underpinnings... aero and a-half. i tried to look non-plused and control my dialation instinct. Deliberately did not photograph, to resist the temptation to yak. Scout's Honor, y'know.

Not possible to describe my continued good impressions about these two men without gushing. They are simply the current world's best.

[67500]

Why go to all of the trouble of making an extremely acurate replica of the Daytona Coupe in aluminum and then offer it with non-authentic suspension options? IF you are going to all of this trouble and expense then I say go all the way and make it correct, and that means leaf springs. Leave the "updated" suspensions to the plastic bodied replicas.

[Igofastr]

David,

For what it's worth (probably not much), I think 100 LARGE is a big psychological barrier. Sorta like $4.99 seems like a much better deal than $5.01, though in a practical sense, there's not much difference.

Of course, by the time anyone actually finished the car, they'd be into it for significantly more than the cost of the roller anyway. But, some of us may find convincing our significant others of the reasonableness of a 100K purchase much easier than a 125K purchase.

Then again, the market in that atmosphere may be based just as much in exclusivity, as in perceived value. So, I suppose you'll have to make the call, and I've been of no help whatsoever (But, I hope you do choose the lower of the two...selfish reasons that they are).

[David Kirkham]

What'saCobra,

Thank you very much for the compliments...although they are not deserved. We did not make the car in the photo. (We DID make the Jaguar bonnet, however). We tried to keep a lid on this, but that obviously didn't happen so I might as well stop the rumor mill as much as possible.

Though I'd very much like to claim the car as my own creation, I can't. The car was made by McCluskey. That is why it is so beautiful. If you see one of these cars in real life it will make you stop in your tracks. You will have to remember to breathe.

It became available and so we picked it up. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the lines that are all over the car like Spider Man had paid a visit. The lines are actually digitizing lines so we can get an iges of the car. (An iges is a CAD model). We are almost complete with the digitizing. Mike, of course, makes an extremely accurate car as he has restored a good chunk of the original cars.

As for roof lines, etc. we will every so subtly modify the roof line according to Peter Brock's original wishes. Peter and I are good friends. We email constantly and regularly. We have for years. Peter told me how he originally wanted the roof to be slightly higher in the rear for taller drivers.

67500,

That is a good question. I have (what I hope to be) a good answer. We will offer the car both ways. People who want a car like an original can have that--leaf springs and all. People who want the 427 coil-sprung chassis can have that as well. So far, almost all the requests are for coil-sprung chassis cars.

Igofastr,

I think there is a big barrier there as well. Also, as I sit here and add up numbers it may not be possible to sell them at $99,995. As the dollar falls, our prices go up in Poland. I do appreciate your comments!

David

[Igofastr]

Thanks David,

So now, you've raised a whole 'nother question...about the Jag Bonnet...a one off? Future plans? Skunkworks? Humm?

[carmine]

better still, how about XJ13 !

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

...
As for roof lines, etc. we will every so subtly modify the roof line according to Peter Brock's original wishes. Peter and I are good friends. We email constantly and regularly. We have for years. Peter told me how he originally wanted the roof to be slightly higher in the rear for taller drivers.
...
David

I think 2287, the first coupe, turned out to be the fastest car. Is Peter asking you to make the roof line more like 2287? He also wanted a different style spoiler on the coupe, but there was not enough time to fabricate it. Maybe you could get him to explain what he wanted for the spoiler and offer that as a option too? Well maybe that just would not look authentic...

Since you have a McCluskey car, then I guess you don't know which coupe (or coupes) it was modeled after.

[David Kirkham]

Igofastr,

We are now in production on the Jag aluminum bonnets. We have 2 of them here in the shop right now.

Carmine,

I agree, the XJ13 is a beautiful car. Maybe some day.

1ntCobra,

I will ask Peter about the spoiler. As a McCluskey car, I am sure it has the best of all of the cars! Peter told me he wanted to raise the roof slightly in the rear for more head room and to help keep the rear of the car down at speed.

David

[Jamo]

Told ya nobody noticed the lines...

[CNGreen]

Originally Posted by CNGreen

This is the most exciting development...
I'm assuming this is the prototype that is to be digitized for production? I wonder which coupe it is based on?
...

Jamo, Yep, noticed the lines, didn't explicitly mention them but figured they were there for the digi, hence the question...

Sorry, I don't mean to be persnickety, but those were the first thing I noticed.

Gawd that car is gorgeous!

[1ntCobra]

At some point I heard that McCluskey intentionally made a single deviation from the originals to make it easy for an expert to tell his cars from an original. Are you copying the deviation?

Another question comes to mind. How did a partially complete McCluskey car get into your hands... I assume Mike does not normally deliver them that way.

[xlr8or]

David,
Are you forcasting this to be a limited or small number of cars or hoping to take it to a broader audience?

['65 Cobra]

pretty car but 100k is way to much for me for kit with no motor or tranny!? good luck to you.

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by CNGreen

Jamo, Yep, noticed the lines, didn't explicitly mention them but figured they were there for the digi, hence the question...

Sorry, I don't mean to be persnickety, but those were the first thing I noticed.

Gawd that car is gorgeous!

Yup...noticed you were on track as to what it was. A digital splash.

After them Pollocks make 'em, they just sign their names.

[David Kirkham]

1ntCobra,

There are extremely subtle differences between Mike's car and an original car. Those differences I prefer not to publish for obvious reasons.

xlr8or,

I imagine we will make extremely few of them. They will probably end up being quite exclusive. All I know is I am keeping #001 for myself. I am not letting #1 go this time. Thomas will probably want #002 (or he may arm wrestle me for #1). 6 current customers are only waiting for us to accept their deposit. They don't even care about the final price. Our guys in Europe and Mexico want them. I imagine we will only make 10/year. I am quite sure with a few phone calls the first year's production will be sold out--maybe even the following year's. But, I must emphasize, we haven't even added up the final costs yet.

'65 Cobra,

I understand your point. Some people buy art to hang on their wall...some guys buy art to put in their garage--and drive. You would be amazed at how much money is out there in the world.

Jamo,

Jamo and Ron Richards have known for some time. Thanks for keeping a lid on it! Obviously, I couldn't do it very well.

CNGreen,

I agree; it is one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Certainly on my top 10 list. I wasn't kidding--when you see the car in real life, it literally takes your breath away. They are stunningly beautiful. Mike does incredibly beautiful work. I have been fortunate to know him all these years. Mike knew this was going to happen sooner or later--at least he is still talking to me!

David

[TBirdNutt]

So....when can I come down and take some more pictures of this piece of art?!

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by TBirdNutt

So....when can I come down and take some more pictures of this piece of art?!

Don't you want to wait until the first Kirkham version comes over from Poland?