AC Cobra 427 S/C (COX 6136)

[Chafford]

1989 AC Cobra 427 S/C 'continuation' on sale in the USA for $275,000 (£175,000).
   
   http://www.billkempercobras.com/Pages/default.aspx
   
   http://www.billkempercobras.com/Pages/PhotosCOX6136.aspx

[nikbj68]

Interesting choice of wheels, spline rather than peg `Brands. Nice.
   
   
   
   That`s about as good looking an S/C as I`ve ever seen.
   
   

[shep]

Hi Nick, am I missing something? Surely the wheels in the photo are peg drive. If they were splined, they would have a smaller 2 eared spinner, like you see with Rudge Whitworth wire wheels, which locks on an external taper rather than these where the mating face is a female taper machined into the wheel. Nice pics, but the bit I don't get is the price. Surely this car has the same provenance as a Mk IV Cobra, produced at the same time in the same factory by the same blokes! Add a couple of thousand bucks for the 427, and being built to look like a 427 S/C, but where does the other 100k on the price come from? Andy.

[Chafford]

Shep
   
   As you say, all the Mk 111 Continuations are contemporary with the MkIVs - but facsimiles of the originals with 'COB' and 'COX' chassis numbers  and historic parts that allow them to be registered as '60s Cobras with FIA papers. As you comment, what intrinsically makes Rod Leach's COB 5002 continuation worth £250k when his mint MkIV lightweight will only fetch £140k? Possibly rarity - only 10 of this run were produced (COX 6136 was part of an earlier run of continuations).
   
   

[SB7019]

Andy.  Agree with you on the wheels.  The pricing differentials are interesting.  In 2001 AC were listing the Superblower (MkIV replacement) at  £79,000 and the Continuations (and FIAs) at around £150,000 ( depending on exactly what engine was fitted).   Actual prices paid were no doubt subject to negotiation.  Working off this base the prices being asked for the Continuations do not sound too far off, and are presumably also negotiable.

[nikbj68]

Aah. I thought these were the FiA type and on splines, hence no lockwires. But still, they are not the 'usual' 427 design with the 12 holes.
   I recall the Continuation FiA car on the AC Motorshow stand with the Superblower, being offered at £125,000 , what would that have been, 1999/2000/2001-ish?

[TLegate]

The continuation FIA was listed at £140,000 at the 2001 NEC show - without taxes!!!! I'm still in shock. (and what happened to the 25-car run I wonder?)

[SB7019]

Nik.
   
   They are the FIA type - but these were on pins as well.  You can see them for sale on the Hawke site.  The motor show was probably the 2000 one as, from memory, they had an FIA (polished alloy) a Superblower and a CRS on the stand.  It was then and there that I started my discussions with AL that led to my having a Superblower built with modifications to make it as close to a MKIII as practically possible.   The FIA seemed to me to be too much of a race car for road use and the advice AC gave me at the time was that the 427 can be temperamental and also quite nose heavy so, again, would not be as well suited to my needs. So far, 17,000 miles later, I  have not regretted the decision.

[nikbj68]

Cheers, Peter. I thought they were a straight swap for wires!
   On the AC stand, I was told that if I wanted a continuation FiA, I`d have to get my order in fast, as over half of the 25 were 'in build' with 'orders' on several more!
   I`m sure somewhere I have the promo postcards from the AC stand that had the pricelist with them, but do I really want to spend a night in the attic?
   Having seen (and heard!) your Cobra on several occasions, I don`t think anyone could argue with your choices of spec & build, and most importantly, how you went about achieving them!!!(But that`s another one for 'off the forum')

[Chafford]

quote:Originally posted by nikbj68
   

   Having seen (and heard!) your Cobra on several occasions, I don`t think anyone could argue with your choices of spec & build, and most importantly, how you went about achieving them!!!(But that`s another one for 'off the forum')
   

   
   Might be interesting 'on the forum' [:D]

[AK1055]

Chafford,
   
   The pictures are dated Nov 2003. Are you sure this car is still for sale?
   
   Malcolm

[Chafford]

quote:Originally posted by AK1055
   
Chafford,
   
   The pictures are dated Nov 2003. Are you sure this car is still for sale?
   
   Malcolm
   
   

   
   Malcolm
   
   Still being advertised this month:
   
   http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale/cobra/unspecified/1395598.html
   
   At that price, a US sale is probably being held back by the lack of a 'CSX' chassis number. Perhaps a rich enthusiast could bring it back to the UK (assuming the date coded 1965 Nascar block allows it to be registered as a historic vehicle to avoid IVA regulations)
   
   
   Mark

[SB7019]

Nik.
   
   "Buy now while stocks last" has always been a good sales line - especially in the car business.   In my various visits to the factory I only saw one in build so maybe you could have had one after all[:)]. Not sure what number were actually produced?   Have searched through the registry and can 't find any record of the Continuation FIAs or 427s. Am I looking in the wrong places?

[Chafford]

They aren't recorded. However I seem to recall in 'ACtion' that a request was being made to AC for a list of 'continuations'
   
   Most of the information below is from Trevor Legate's 'Cobra - The First 40 Years' (with a few additions on my part).
   
   The following complete cars and rolling chassis were built to original specifications before 1996: CSX 3056-58, CSX 3070, COB 4000-01, CSX 4002 (title transferred to COB 4000), CSX 4003, COB 4004, CSX 4005-13 - all 427 style cars except COB 4004, a RHD 289 MkII initially exported to Finland (but apparently now back in the UK).
   
   AC produced a further 16 continuation 427 cars, 9 of which were sold as complete cars for racing in the late 80s /early 1990s with a further 7 chassis in various states of completion - chassis numbers from COX 6133.
   
   There were also two 289 FIA cars produced after Mr Lubinsky took over, the first with chassis number COB 1001 (in 2002), the second COX 2610 (in 2003).
   
   Then there were the 8 427 'continuations' built between 1998 and 2003 with chassis numbers COB 5001 - 5010 (nos 5003 and 5009 not used).
   
   Since Trevor's book was published - COX 5012 (Trevor's own car), RS 5037 and 5038 (Ace 2.6 bodies/with Cobra MkII chassis built in 2004 and completed later). RS 5038 is Gus Meyjes' car and has a 260 V8. The final car to be painted at the Frimley factory, COX 3361 is a red 427. COX 2615, a yellow 289 was also completed by AC Heritage after AC closed its UK operation. AC Heritage has also advertised COB 4007, another 427 recently.
   
   Then there were the 14 cars commissioned by Carroll Shelby from AC with chassis numbers CSX 1001 upwards in 2005/6. There's also an FIA commissioned by Shelby from AC - CSX 7503
   
   Here's CSX 1001
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   And then of course there are the AC Heritage built cars such as COB 5014:
   
   http://www.acheritage.co.uk/newbuildcob427~61.html

[SB7019]

Mark.
   
   Thanks for this - I should have pulled Trevor's bible from it's hallowed place on the bookshelf.   I presume that COB 1001 was the one I saw in the factory in 2001 when it was being built in the next bay to mine.   At the time I think there was one completed and unsold Superblower (7018) there plus a 212, a couple of 427's and four or five (maybe more?) CRS's in build.  Most of the other AC's there were MKIV's in for servicing.
   
   The ill fated Mamba was also in build - but was away from the main production facility behind closed doors.  Does anyone know what happened to that car?  The last time I saw it was at the 100th anniversary event at The Chelsea Hospital in the summer of 2001.