CFX 37. Original colour pictures from January 1971

[Classicus]

CFX 37
   Original colour/ black & white pictures from UK "Car" Magazine road test.
   Published January 1971.
   "H" Car registration = 01 August 1969 ~ 31 July 1970.
   http://acfrua428.activeboard.com/index.spark?forumID=115841&p=3&topicID=16000798
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[Emmanueld]

This car is magnificent and resides here in Southern California North of LA. Just beautiful. Will ask owner if he wants his name on the board. Emmanuel

[Emmanueld]

I went to see the car yesterday, it is in a private collection, it is magnificent! it did win it's class at Pebble Beach a few years back. Same color as mine, BRG and beige interior. It has a dark green carpet which is stunning, probably the nicest 428 in the world! Again Stunning!!!!!!!!!!
   
   E
   
   
   
   
   
   
   [:)]

[Classicus]

Great find, great pics and superb car ! Well done thanks Emmanuel [8D]

[Emmanueld]

By the way guys, I just heard the car is for sale, the owner wants $325K. This is the nicest one around! If anyone is interested, please let me know!
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[Classicus]

Well as the general pound/ dollar rate at this moment is approx. £0.6187, $325k equates to £201,077 !
   
   Long, long overdue   [8D]  [8D] !!!!
   
   http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html

[lyonheart84]

Well asking and getting are 2 entirely different things. Even as a Pebble Beach quality car and the best in the world I suspect that's over the current market value, but I guess a multi-millionaire that wants the best might pay that price. The lovely UK Convertible has now been up for sale for at least 18 months since it sold at auction ( and at that time in my opinion the dealer paid far too much for the car ) with no private takers and I doubt that jacking the price up another £ 30 or £ 40 thousand helped to sell it even in what's perceived as a rising market. Only cars that physically sell at a known price give an accurate indication as to market values, and even then you sometimes get a freak result at an auction when 2 or 3 wealthy bidders get carried away and don't want to lose out. In a way it's a shame if the cars suddenly rise into the stratosphere as mere mortals will never again be able to afford one ( lol it's ok if you have one already of course, although the downside is they become too valuable to drive or park anywhere ).

[Classicus]

True of course, but I think there's three new factors that could soon start coming into play as a result of this new asking price.
   
   Firstly the rarity factor. I'm guesstimating that there are probably no more than some 20/ 30 cars known, out of perhaps a maximum of say 65/ 70 possibles left at most worldwide, where there is recent (within a year or so) online proof of any form of owner activity at all, so the chance of any car coming up for sale is severely limited even before you start. Secondly I think this must undoubtedly make it a seller's market. And finally, and yes sadly and most unfortunately for the poor likes of us, the 428 is gradually becoming an investment to be garaged in a portfolio alone and no longer a car to be seen, driven and enjoyed.
   
   Personally though I'm really glad that if nothing else the old threat of becoming yet another Cobra replica has at least gone....
   
   So roll on the Mark II AC Frua 428 ! [8D]

[lyonheart84]

Fortunately with the proliferation of other forms of Cobra replica's from fibreglass kits right up to 'Shelby continuations' once Frua's got over about £ 40,000 they were no longer viable to break up and turn into cobra's. Maybe if you came across a rolling chassis only for a Frua with the body completely destroyed in an accident or rotted away then it would be easier to fit a cobra body on it. However most of the aceca/cobra rebodies of 428's were done in the 1980's when Frua's were only worth about £ 10,000 and Cobras at that time about £ 70,000 or more. If the 428 shells were too damaged or rusty it was impossible to buy enough suitable panels or unfeasibly expensive to have them made like Emmanuel is now having done. I would have been happy if values had tailed off between £ 50000 and £ 100000 ( I still couldn't afford one these days !!! ) as this would be a respectable level but probably high enough to prevent chassis chops and conversions. Does anyone have a definitive figure for the number of 428's converted to Cobras/Aceca specials ( I think only 1 of the latter is known ? ). No doubt there are still 1 or 2 428's quietly rotting away under tarpaulins somewhere in the world as a small handful still seem to have no details recorded. With any luck they will now be worth restoring.

[Classicus]

It's been a while since any previously unknown 428s turned up, so you should be able to get some idea of existing Cobra etc. conversions from the totals at the bottom of the Register and Archive.
   
   http://acfrua428.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=115841&topicID=20130103&p=3
   
   I suppose the next question is when will someone decide it's worth converting them back to 428s.... ?

[Emmanueld]

It's probably reasonable when a very nice Maserati Mistral roadster will do in the mid $400k these days. The Frua is rarer but typically US engine cars will do less than so called more exotic engined one. The one exception is the Cobra and we all know where the Frua comes from. So I think people are finally learning that under that steel "bathtub" as a very well know Cobra guy once told me, lies an authentic Cobra coil springs chassis. It's too bad these cars were not built in alloy, they would be way more valuable today, because, 1: less corrosion issues and 2: alloy cars are just more exotic in people's minds.
   But when you consider the whole vintage car market, 300 grands is not that much for such a rare automobile. As far as not driving them, all the Cobra guys out here, race or drive them all the time. Unlike a Maserati, which has a fragile drivetrain, the Ford stuff can take a beating and be repaired for a reasonable amount of money. And every suspension bits are available as well, so are brakes!
   
   Emmanuel

[lyonheart84]

Useful to read the current situation with traced and untraced cars, I feel sure CF42 is alive and well hidden in someone's ( probably not a club member )garage as the renovation on her was finished in the mid 1980's by the person that bought her from me. He was quite elderly so I'm assuming sadly he is no longer around, so perhaps his sons/daughters still have the car if he didn't get bored with it and sell it. I suspect no more 'cobra conversions' will have been done in at least the last 15 years. I'm not sure any will ever be converted back to Fruas as the cost of re-lengthening the chassis and fabricating all of the unavailable body, trim/chromework, glass and interior parts would be prohibitive if not impossible.
   Emmanuel, prices have suddenly jumped of certain cars in the States in the last 12 months or so, hence I guess in terms of rarity $ 300,000 is not insane for a perfect Convertible although I suspect he won't achieve that figure. I had no idea Maserati Mistrals could achieve that figure in America, in the UK you'd be very lucky to achieve anywhere like $ 150,000 for a roadster and $ 60,000 to $ 100,000 for a Mistral Fastback Coupe , I'm not sure about the rest of the European market values as they are of course left-hand drive like the USA.

[Emmanueld]

Brett hi, yes the Mistral roadster is achieving big money these days, I think because of the fact just a handful were made. The coupe on the other hand is quite reasonable. Lots of them have been converted to carburettors and that will seriously impact the value of the car. As for the Frua, corrosion was a big problem and also the fact that the cars were so cheap for a long time. Probably quite a few of them were owned by people who could not afford to service them properly of who just did not care. What I call the Midas or Pep Boys crowd. These shops do more damage to an automobile than years of neglect. I remember years ago when I was in school, a friend of mine who had a little Fiat Spider needed a muffler, he took the car to Midas for a replacement and when I  saw it afterward, they had made holes in the boot to attach the new exhaust, I was amazed.
   For rust repairs it's the same thing, it can be done right and it can be expensive or it can be done cheaply and it will make things worst in the long run.
   In the case of my car, I believe it must have been sitting for years in some back alley or in the grass. Then some unscrupulous owner decided to do a "cosmetic" job on it, install a new interior and sell through auction for big bucks. I see no other explanation. This happens a lot in the vintage car market.it's like the matching number scheme here in the US. I am thinking about vintage Corvettes and jaguars, people will pay a big premium for this and unless you have documentation from new, with follow up with service bills on a regular basis through the life of the car, I will assume it's BS. I have seen cars which were not matching one day and were the next day. Yet people fall into this all the time!
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[Emmanueld]

The good thing about CFX37 is that it's ownership in the US is well known, the same people here in Los Angeles, have owned it since 1982 and re-sold it to each other. I believe it came from Switzerland. Being in Southern California for so long it has not been subjected to corrosion. As you know, we don't have salt on the roads and it rains just a few times a year over here. This is the only place I know where you can actually unbolt an exhaust system on a ten year old car.
   
   Emmanuel

[lyonheart84]

You are right Emmanuel as many exotica were 'refreshed' in the 1980's and 1990's as the prices went up. People did not have the money or interest to substantiate doing 'proper' body off chassis restorations as the intention was to 'pretty' the cars up and make a profit in a rising market. This holds true for almost any medium value performance machine, and from a dealer's point of view it would no be possible to do a full restoration, just cosmetic improvements. There were less likely to be inferior repairs done on high value cars such as Bugatti's but they also tended to attract a differnt kind of owner to a Maserati, Iso, AC, Jensen, Aston etc. I take your point on the American obsession in recent years with 'matching numbers' Chevrolets, Mopars, Fords etc of the muscle years especially the rarest models. In recent years this has had a knock-on effect even here in the UK with buyers asking if a car is 'matching numbers' even if they don't really understand what it means or which makes/models can actually have matching numbers. I would say it is unlikely that anyone here would restamp blocks on their American car to achieve this result although there may well be some imported muscle cars with re-stamped blocks. There is probably a slight premium on the more desirable American cars here with matching numbers although not as much as there might be in USA. Thankfully common sense normally prevails. In fact we own a 1972 Corvette Convertible here with matching numbers ( at least the engine is, maybe not date matching engine ancillaries as I haven't checked ). It's fairly rare here as it's a Targa Blue 350 cu.in convertible with factory hard top and air conditioning. Not many over here and she is pretty good condition although not show condition.
   But I'm still waiting for my lottey win so that I can buy your car when you get bored with it  LOL !