Trailer Queen... NOT

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The car pictured above is a 1965 289 Cobra seen at the Sonoma Infineon Historic races in June 2010. It is raced several times a year at various tracks and will be a Laguna Seca in August. More pics coming....

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Another closeup ....

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Closeup of 289 Cobra at Laguna Seca/Monterey Historics

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"289"

[jperickson2001]

I like how NOTHING is polished or shiny. Cobra enthusiasts have gone from wrench-turning garage guys to flashy pampered buff and shine guys, and in all but 45 years. The roots are So-Cal hot rod, not trailer queen 100% cars. I have lots of respect and love for dents and scratches, proof of use. Drive them or sell them!

[PDUB]

Nice!

Keep the pics coming. I plan to do a survivor-look build when I do my 289... a USRRC car. No polish, no shine, no trailer queen!

[601HP]

Originally Posted by jperickson2001

I like how NOTHING is polished or shiny. Cobra enthusiasts have gone from wrench-turning garage guys to flashy pampered buff and shine guys, and in all but 45 years. The roots are So-Cal hot rod, not trailer queen 100% cars. I have lots of respect and love for dents and scratches, proof of use. Drive them or sell them!

So true, but that's what a lot of the owners seem to prefer. I went in that direction until last year. Since then I've removed a lot of shiny stuff. The only bling under my hood now is 3 aluminum pulleys and the two S&H air cleaner covers. Most everything is either cast-aluminum in appearance or matte black. I replaced the braided stainless hoses with black fabric covered hose. Previously I had used braided stainless fuel lines connected to a chromed fuel log and polished AN fittings. I replaced those with a new fuel log, powder coated it a near-cadmium color, and used rubber gas line with spring clamps.

The inner fender panels in the engine bay were polished aluminum. Now they're Scotchbrited. The aluminum radiator was polished. It's now black. The trunk was all polished aluminum until a month ago. Now its entirely Scotchbrited.

Recently I snatched out the roll bar, de-chromed it and had it powder coated matte black.

I've media-blasted the stainless knock-offs and Scotchbrited the Trigo wheels. It took me about two months to finally attack the wheels with the Scotchbrite. After I did the first one I thought "What have I done"? But when they were all finished and mounted with the no-bling knock-offs, the new look was exactly what I had anticipated.

Two weeks ago I removed the plastic AC emblem from the steering wheel. Now I'm looking at the 6 screws that hold it to the hub, and a large nut that holds it to the shaft.

Two months ago I replaced the polished aluminum 'Street' fuel tank which originally came with the car. Nick Acton built a full comp tank for me. I Scotchbrited it before installation.

The Goodyear Billboards are nicely peppering the rear fender just behind the door.

The car now has a more vintage appearance. And when I park next to a group of Cobras, mine differs from them by more than just color.

"Waxers" may cringe reading this, but .......

David

[flipscobra]

Mine is no trailer queen, I put more miles on mine in a week than most put on thiers in a year. I love showing it off. When I stop for gas people are always asking if they can take a picture, then they ask that dreaded question is it real,thats what I hate

[anchor2]

To each their own but Hallelujah! I could not agree more that these cars a meant to be driven. It’s not just the Cobra world that has the polishers. I purchased a 13 year old Porsche a few years back with 29K miles and with $5k in suspension work. It was advertised as never been in the rain and never been on the track (with $5K worth of suspension work??) Well I fixed both those things in the first 3 weeks.

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Picture taken at Laguna Seca during Historics in 2008.... replica vs. 289. I just love driving my car into the pits.