SPF Rollover

[VintageUpgrades]

I thought I would share this in case no one had seen it yet. This was from a few months ago. One of our customers has an incident with a concrete roadway divider at 80mph. He hit the wall, spun around, rolled twice, and skidded to rest on the roll bars. He ended up with a few scrapes and bruises, and is now driving his new SPF. More photos in our gallery.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by VintageUpgrades

...and skidded to rest on the roll bars.

Dual roll bars... you never know when you'll need 'em.

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Dual roll bars... you never know when you'll need 'em.

If you're fortunate and lucky enough to hit a smooth road surface and not impact some other foreign object in the process of rolling.

Glad to hear the guy walked away OK Mitch.

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Dual roll bars... you never know when you'll need 'em.

Yeah, I suppose ugly has its value. j/k

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

Yeah, I suppose ugly has its value. j/k

[VintageUpgrades]

Oddly enough, he didn't want the double on this car, but that is how it came. He new silver car came with a single, to which we added the pasenger unit.

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

Yeah, I suppose ugly has its value. j/k

Thank god beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find a blind gal to marry me.

[McDoo]

I'm not sure what your message is here but looking at the damage to the car and my experiance with SPF construction this car did not hit a concrete wall at 80 mph. It looks like it might have hit at something like 35 mph judging from the damage. Fliping twice ?? I don't think so since there is no side damage noted on the picture. If what you described happened the car would be a pile of junk and you would not be able to tell what it was......These cars do not take blunt force impact well at ALL. If you are trying to sell double roll bars as safer why not just say so....as they are kinda sorta at low speeds.

McDoo

[VintageUpgrades]

My message is "Hey guys. Here is a car that rolled and the guy is OK. Here is a photo of that car." The End. As far a the incident, I am going off of the police report, eyewitnesses, and the owner. I wasn't there, but I do own what is left of the car. The front crumple zone seems to work.

[McDoo]

Originally Posted by VintageUpgrades

The front crumple zone seems to work.

I am not aware of the front crumple zone that you speak of and I have owned a SPF for more that 8 years. The frame is a very ridged square tube frame but I know of no provisions in the frame that would allow it to crumple in some controlled manor as you suggest. I have seen the results of a head on collision with a tree at 60 mph and the car did crumple at it's mid section and basically the car folded in two at the cab killing the driver. Do you have some crash test data that you want to share ?? Hey look I like SPF cars just don't jump on here with some prearranged marketing plan that can't hold water...

Mcdoo

[VintageUpgrades]

From the SPF website.

Show quality two-stage paint finishes.
Hand laminated fiberglass body with reinforcing inserts.
Heavy duty TIG welded ladder frame chassis with crumple zones.
Fully independent front and rear suspension.
Limited slip differential.
Willwood® power-assisted vented disc brakes (4-pot calipers.Front, Single-pot calipers back)
Billstein® custom crafted coil-over shocks.
Aluminum pin drive “Halibrand” style wheels (Knock – off) with 15” tires.
Side and rear view mirrors.
Original style pedals, catches and fittings.
Original style shifter and hand brake lever.
Carpeted interior and trunk. Aluminum finished firewall.
Soft top and side screens.
Tonneau cover.
Sun Visors and wind wings.
Wipers & Washer, heater/defogger.
Leather seating surfaces (drivers adjusts.)
Original style latch-lock seat belts.
Moto - Lita wooden steering wheel.
Monza style filler. (locking gas cap)
Aluminum, single core hi-performance radiator, shroud and dual fans.
Oil cooler and braided lines.
Stainless steel fuel tank. 17 gal. (Pressure tested.)
Original style side pipes and headers to accommodate Ford based V8 engine
Original style gauges (Smith) and switches. (Lucas.) Reverse 180mph speedometer
Stainless steel roll bar, chassis mounted

I am not trying to sell anyone on anything. Its just a photo.

[McDoo]

Originally Posted by VintageUpgrades

From the SPF website.


Heavy duty TIG welded ladder frame chassis with crumple zones.

I am not trying to sell anyone on anything. Its just a photo.

There is no question that the frame is ridged. But without some kind of testing it is just sales lingo that means nothing. Maybe you should have said" look guys two roll bars are better than one and left it at that....

McDoo

[Dangerous Doug]

I know the car and the owner of the car McDoo refers to. Randy Klein, I believe IS his name. The unfortunate driver had just stolen the car after following Randy (I haven't spoken to the owner since the Canepa Cobra meeting) home from a Starbucks. He was rocketing through a school zone at 80 mph, lost control, spun around backwards, flew off the road and hit a tree backwards. You've probably seen the pictures of a folded Cobra with it's backend against a tree and a tarp over the body, er, ah, cockpit. That'd be Randy's car. Last I talked to him, he wanted a SPF Daytona.

I am not a crash analyst, and I didn't really look at the photos, but either way, I don't see the point in accusing someone of misrepresenting the photos to sell double roll bars.

Glad to hear the driver came away relatively unscathed. Subtle reminder to keep things under control. Could have been much worse. Could have been hurt badly. Could have hurt or killed someone else.

I was putzing through my brother's neighborhood with a light pedal, and a deer jumped out in front of me. Had I been driving hot, I would have had a deer likely go through my windshield.

"Be safe, or be roadkill" to quote Calvin (of "Calvin and Hobbes")

DD

[madmaxx]

Mitch,

He did have a cool set of those Roush valve covers on his engine did he? I love them but not for what they cost retail. Any stainless steel sidepipes?

Thanks

[VintageUpgrades]

The valve covers along with the engine attached to them are going into a 69 Mustang this week. The pipes are salvageable, having only a few dings on the bottom.

[madmaxx]

Thanks, are the pipes stainless steel?

[pcoghlan]

OK, I saw a thread a few days ago where someone made reference to the fact that the site might need to mellow a little and I opined that I thought it was just fine. Reading a few threads the last few days though it does appear that even the most innocent threads turn into accusations, arguments and general lack of friendliness.

I don't see anything in the original post to infer that someone was trying to 'sell' dual roll bars? Sheesh

Speaking of which what is the issue with single or dual roll bars. It seems EVERY aspect of building a Cobra becomes divisive with people in one camp or another and unable to see a post pertaining to the 'other' camp without firing back.

Cant we all get along? Think of the children!!!!

Paul

[madmaxx]

Shows how productive my post are, i have resorted to cannibalism. Humanity at its best!!!

On a side note, it is a small miracle anyone survived that wreck, one of their nine lives was used up on that one. The only mode of transportation in which a cobra wins as far as safety would be a motorcyle.

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by McDoo

I'm not sure what your message is here but looking at the damage to the car and my experiance with SPF construction this car did not hit a concrete wall at 80 mph. It looks like it might have hit at something like 35 mph judging from the damage. Fliping twice ?? I don't think so since there is no side damage noted on the picture. If what you described happened the car would be a pile of junk and you would not be able to tell what it was......McDoo

Let's see if I have this right. He posted a story with a pic about HIS customer, and he added HIS opinion about the crumple zones, (not to mention he has the actual car in HIS possession) and you jump in out of nowhere and call BS on the story and are accusing him of trying to sell double rollbars?????? Hilarious.

Originally Posted by McDoo

If you are trying to sell double roll bars as safer why not just say so....as they are kinda sorta at low speeds.
McDoo

And at what speed do the double rollbars stop being effective and what is the source of your data? I really want to know because I just finished my car and it has the mounts for the second rollbar. And I need to know how slow I can wreck without breaking my wife's neck.........................

[Scufty]

Ya I must say McDoo....Way outta line in my book ...wow ..I love a good argument but what the heck was all that jazz about trying to sell this and that?
I didn't see his post as that AT ALL...Hummm weird around here last few days