11th Apr 2006, 19:57
I want a Cobra, but I'm only 18 and would crash it. Plus I wouldn't be able to afford to buy or insure it. Guess I'll have to stick with the Saxo.
23rd Dec 2006, 16:22
If this is a 427 cammer engine it was capable of zero to one hundred and back to zero in 4.3 seconds.
28th Jan 2007, 22:35
That last comment is on the right track, except for he/she missed the comment before. 0-100-0 in 4.3-6 sec. the fastest I have ever personally seen it done was in 4.8, with an OK driver.
17th Apr 2007, 00:58
AC (Auto Carriers) was the name of the British company that built the car, although many people prefer to call it a Shelby Cobra. S/C stands for semi-competition and represents the more highly tuned variants. The 427 S/C being the most potent.
27th Apr 2007, 07:19
Thanks for the answer. There are many replica manufacturers out there. I believe I read that Carroll S. himself endorses one - my guess is that this would be the one to buy from (if I ever win the lottery one day :)
4th Jun 2007, 07:20
Quote:>> "People stare all the time and everyone thinks it's a replica."<<
If you do indeed have an original, you are one very, very fortunate individual. I bet it's worth a fortune :)
Do you have a link to any pictures of 'er?
I do realize that this is an old forum/ thread, but anyhow..
2nd Jan 2008, 17:19
A certain Healey emporium in Victoria, Australia had a genuine Cobra 427 on its forecourt. I asked the driver what it was like to drive, and he replied that it was a huge handful, and that he actually preferred the 289 version which was a little more tractable around town. (Oh to be so spoiled for choice)
16th Sep 2013, 22:26
I saw a early 260 car the other day, impeccably restored, & I liked it better than the "too much" 427 beast. Adding more horsepower & wide flares over did it. I was lucky enough to get a ride in a 289 race version once, & yeah, it's one of those moments you never forget.
17th Sep 2013, 07:56
Personally I would buy a Viper first. We have one in our family. The kits in over 30 years of car shows never win in our area. So many, and how do you judge one? The lack of weather protection if it does rain is another issue. Just not a big fan of kits, even high quality as you can surmise.
3rd Nov 2004, 20:53
Ah Yes! Memories of the Cobra Beast:
Growing up in Midland, TX, and hearing various roars and shrieks and howls coming from the direction of Midland Air Park, Sunday afternoons, I and my fellow teenagers were drawn there like moths to a flame.
SCCA, of course and they were all there--the Fiat Abarths, Elise's, Elan's, Formula Fords, Cooper Mini's, the occasional Jag C.
A couple years later the noises got louder, when Guy Mabee and Carroll Shelby started showing up with their stuff. Shelby first caught our eye with his Birdcage Maserati--most beautiful car I have ever seen, before or since.
But no one ever looked back when, one Sunday, they brought out their Ford AC Cobra. Holy S--t! Cam so full-race, the thing wouldn't even idle under 1k rpm, and even so, was rocking so bad as to wear out its shocks.
The drivers always had to yell at us kids to "Stay Away from the Sides!" when they were idleing/revving, but even so a couple of us got our socks burned off, due to the under-door, straight-out-blooey exhausts.
Their mutual goal was the first 200 mph sports car. They failed with both the Cobra and the Birdcage, but finally got it with a hybrid yellow fiberglass job, which wasn't near as cool as the Cobra.
FWIW,
AMc
PS: Many years later, Chip Genassi built some of his first engines in an old airplane hangar complex nearby.
A.