By Chris Bicknell

Bick66

The first SC 427 Cobra ever built is looking for a new home.  With only 3,800 miles, this car is completely original other than one repaint and is even sporting its first set of tires.  This is the first of only 2 stock gold Cobras to roll off the dealer floor.  Throw in the original one-owner title and dealer purchase order and you’ve got one hell of a piece of automotive history.

Follow the jump for more pictures and check out the eBay auction here.

Continue reading "The First SC 427 Cobra for sale on eBay!" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Here’s one for the tweed-cap set. A nice example of the AC Aceca, the closed-cockpit version of the AC Ace on which the Cobra was based, has turned up for sale on eBay. This one had the the Ford 289 conversion back in the 60′s, so it’s basically a Cobra–just one with a cute bubble-windowed hatchback. Different!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This week’s Showroom Showdownwas close, but in the end the Kirkham 427 KMS/SC  pulled ahead of the Superformance Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe for the victory. And looking at this photo, it’s not hard to understand why…

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This week’s Showroom Showdown is the battle of the high end Shelby kit cars. Both can be built up with the drivetrain of your choice to be wicked fast. The Superformance rolling chassis is manufactured in South Africa, while the aluminum Kirkham bodies come from a Polish jet aircraft factory and are finished at their facility in Utah. So do you prefer the muscular roadster or the sumptuous lines of the coupe? Which would you choose?  

By Mike Musto

RideLust.com

Every once in awhile a car comes along that makes me a bit nervous. Not so much because of what it is, but more because of what it does. Take this 1965 427SC MKIII Cobra from Superformance owned by New York Motor Club founder Larry Kosilla.

I have been very fortunate to have driven some of the fastest, most powerful cars on the planet, and they’ve all been amazing experiences. But this particular car may take the proverbial cake. Weighing in at 2,300 pounds, this Cobra sports a Roush Racing 408 Windsor stroker that puts out 495rwhp. Those numbers make for one seriously fast machine. Continue reading…

Continue reading "The Infamous Copper Cobra" »

There’s a lot of drop-dead gorgeous Cobra replicas out there, but this one frankly kind of blew me away. It’s got a Roush-built 427 rated for 535 hp (at the wheels), Wilwood 4-piston brakes and Bilstein progressive coil-overs, plus a ton of other pitch-perfect goodies. The orange Shelby stripes are apparently a Lambo factory color, and though it’s a little unconventional, I think the color scheme totally nails it. Overall, the car’s got all the go with none of the gaudy. If I had an extra 60 grand I’d totally hit the Buy It Now! Check it out for yourself.

I have always found it interesting to see how many "concept" cars never make it beyond the prototype stage. Typically, they show up at a few motor shows and then are never seen again. Often these cars are just being used as test beds for drivetrains that will go into standard models, or they have simply been a marketing tool to heighten interest in a brand. One example that comes to mind is the 2004 Ford Cobra concept. It was a great looking car, but sadly it never went into production. Not to be deterred, Denis Bedford from Australia decided that he would build a 2004 Cobra replica kit. Those who know their Aussie motoring history would realize that if anyone could pull this off it would be Denis. He earned his place in automotive history by first producing his Volkswagen-based Sabre kit cars, and went on to produce a vintage Cobra kit as well as a GT40 kit. While he eventually sold his interest in DRB Sportscars, retirement apparently did not sit well with Denis and it wasn’t long before the first 2004 Cobra kit, rebadged the "SC 540," rolled out of his factory. Because the car is based on a modern BA Ford Falcon drivetrain, construction should be relatively simple as it uses the complete wiring harness and other major components such as brakes, gearbox and motor. I’d really like to know what Ford and Carol Shelby think. What’s your take on this new kit car?

The Factory Five Cobra beat the Lotus Elise by a 2-to-1 margin in this week’s Showrooms Showdown. I guess that shouldn’t come as a big surprise, given the fact that CarDomain is definitely a built-not-bought kind of crowd. I had a lot of fun reading the comments, too.

Pictured below is my all-time favorite photo of the month on FFCobra.com. Built by Anthony DiOrio of Carmel, New York, it looks absolutely stunning (and dare I say somewhat understated?) in British Racing Green.

Ok, so you have $50k burning a hole in your pocket and you want a pure sports car. One option is to go to your local Lotus dealer and get a very mildly-optioned Elise with the 189 hp Toyota four banger. Or, you can order yourself a Factory Five Cobra kit and go whole hog–with just about any body, paint and drivetrain option you can think of. With $50k to play with you won’t have to mess with any used donor parts, and will even be able to choose between building it yourself or farming it all out. Still, it won’t provide the instant gratification of the Lotus. So it’s built vs. bought, English sophistication vs. American muscle. Which would you choose?

Randy Schratz ran his Cobra in the exhibition class, and it was the first car up the hill. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to chat with him about what the mean machine was packing under the hood—or even what kind of kit it was—but it was still one of my favorite rides in the lineup. Seriously, have you ever seen a more bad-ass looking Cobra? Have you ever seen one that looks anywhere near this bad ass? Ever? Because I sure haven’t—the rear tire/wheel combo just kills me! Three more pics after the jump.

Continue reading "One Mean Machine: Randy Schratz's Cobra" »