RRLOwen

Cobra's have always intrigued me. At one time I had begun the process of asquiring the parts to build one. Then I saw this beautiful 911 which was about the same money as I would have spent on a Cobra and I decided that the Porsche was for me. Now I'm on my fourth 911.

I still beleive that there are similarities in the sexy lines of the Cobra and the 911. I could drive one but it wouldn't replace the refinement of the 993.

Agro1

Keith - I had mine for about 2 years. Never lost interest in it, just wanted something that I could drive all the time. The Cobra only ran on C12 which meant I really couldn't go that far - but I built it for the track and I knew what I was getting myself into. Take a look at the Cobra bbs - there are no punches pulled around that place. Maybe that's what's shaped me Seriously though, there was a MASSIVE flame thread that went into double digit pages each week debating the merit of "real" Cobra's and "fake" Cobras. I learned a lot to say the least so this argument is old hat for me...
Brakes ? What brakes

Stu - you will love it. It eats ANY Turbo's lunch in a straight line. But it ain't no Porsche...

Chris - they're actually made in South Africa and imported by a very good dealer network across the country. Build quality, fit and finish are second to none.

chris walrod

Forgot to metion the show on Spped Channel, its called Dream Car Garage. One of my favorite show's! The two guys that host the show are a crack-up!

philghill

Prior to getting my 993, I had ERA build me a Cobra (see links to pictures).

Links to my Cobra pictures

Took about a year-and-a-half of planning/construction/etc. and it was definitely the coolest/quickest/most fun car I'll probably ever own. It was "original" in many ways--Ford FE 428, single Holley 4-barrel, Halibrand knock-offs, original interior, side pipes, etc. Had around 500hp and cost about $64,000 total.

However, I was a complete stress case about 90% of the time I owned it(didn't want to leave it anywhere, was afraid I'd break down, etc). I should have got it when I retired. I would recommend ERA in a hearbeat. It kills me when I see Cobras now (and it kills me even more when I see crappy ones)--and I will own another one when I retire. Let me know if you want to chat more about it... You're right that it's a completely different beast than the 993 (and the Corvette, which I've also owned)... Take care.

Monique

Agree to this assessment. Down to the comma.

If you want to build yourself, IMO the best kit is Everett Morrison. Coz the chassis is the best of the lot!!! Hands down.

Then ERA and Superformance. Bored out 351 Windsor is the way to go.. now avail fomr CHP in CA at 427 Cu/in with 525 HP. When the car weighs 900 kgs, it makes it VVVquick.

The link is the best there is and will give you lots of knowledge.

Mounting the body on a friends Cobra this weekend.. I've been up to my ears in Cobras.

Good luck.

Agro1

Monique - I would not reccomend Coast High Performance. Their 427 stroker comes with cast I beam rods and a cast crank. You have to special order a "forged" motor. Plus, CHP does not stand behind their product at all. Don't ask me how I know

Monique

Agro 1,

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking of the "special" with the tough guts.

But now... again thanks for the tip. Who built your engine??

BTW, how rigid was your chassis? Know little about Superformance.

Bokonon

Wow, Phil, that is a sweet Cobra. Did you have smog problems in California with it?
thanks
-terry

philghill

Terry--Fortunately, I didn't. It was in 1999 and an ex-DMV woman helped me with registration. It got registered as a 1965 Ford 2-door and my annual DMV fees were around $50. However, I'm pretty sure the woman got in trouble and is no longer in business. But I did worry about that too--that someday the DMV would call and want to take my registration away... But I sold the car in 2001 and sleep comfortably now.

Agro1

Monique - the Superformance chassis was the most rigid of any Cobra I drove, ERA, Factory Five, Shelby (tubular junk), EM, etc...I drove most of the good ones and the SPF was the best. Setup well, it was very very quick. CHP built my first motor and it threw a rod through the oil pan on a cool down lap. The motor had 1000 miles on it at the time and was the upgraded forged motor. I then had a friend at Rousch Racing build me a NASCAR motor. 418 CID, 550hp @ 8200 rpms Open headers running into the sidepipes (no baffles). I miss the sound, I'm sure anyone that lives w/in a 2 miles radius of me doesn't.

flatair

"I could downshift from 4th to 3rd doing 80 on the freeway, goose it, and it would leave two black strips 100 feet long."





Not to put another dangerous idea in your head, but personally if I were going the kit car route I'd go for one of those GT40 replicas.

Brad

Pete Lech

Thanks for all the great information. Who better to ask for Cobra info than your Porsche friends?

BTW, the ERA GT40 Kit is twice the price of the Cobra, as I recall. I visited them in Connecticut last October. Really neat people.

hatchy

I was looking at Cobras for a while, and was under the impression that SB-100 made it possible for 500 cars per year to be registered as kit cars and it would be smog exempted.

philghill

the key (at least when I was getting my car) was as long as you could prove the year of the engine [mine was a 1966 big block 428] and it was a pre-smog year, then you were ok. going through all the motions though (CHP inspections, DMV confusion, etc.) just seemed like too much to me. that's why i got "help". by the way, i spent many hours in the ERA shop pictured above watching my car being born.

Speedraser

I've been very interested in the various Cobras for a while now. IMO, nothing beats the ERA for glass, and Kirkham is the way to go for aluminum.