I just got the Cobra down off jackstands last Thursday, drove it 220 miles to a 2 day car show in Beaumont, TX, then another 110 miles home early this week. I thought I'd post photos from a trip I made around the car:
Like any used car you buy, there's some to like in it and some not to like. The engineering on the car seems first rate, the components all seem to be race oriented, even the build makes me believe that the car started its life on the dragstrip.
What little history I know is that the body is from a company called "Cobra Auto Works", was reportedly made in Oklahoma City. The frame is suppose to have been built by Ron Godell RaceCars in Tulsa, OK.
I bought it as a driver, though, and it has all the blemishes you'd expect from one that is driven almost daily....a few rock chips here and there, scuffing on the door sill where the door closes, that sort of thing. Some of the things just are, like the sidepipes...I'd much rather have the 289 body style and exhaust system, or at least the undercar exhaust, but it is what it was when I bought it and it doesn't mean all that much to me right now. Surprisingly, I do like the nudge bars and over rides...it is driven in traffic daily, so the chances of contact are correspondingly high. The wheels...would rather have Trigos, or better yet chromed wire wheels, but oh, well...at least there's a "theme" going here with chrome bumpers, wheels, windshield frame...might get the headers chromed, I' haven't decided about that yet.
Lots of little projects...kinked fuel lines, etc...simple stuff, nothing hard, other than finding the bushings that were needed to rebuild the parallel 4-bar rear suspension. Now I get to start on the front when it goes in for the winter. It was on jack-stands for 2 years, I just couldn't seem to find the parts or when I did I couldn't find the time.
Anyway, it's a pleasurable machine, will idle away from a stop-sign in 3rd as easily as it will do a half-block long burnout in 1st. Powertrain is out of a 1989 Mustang GT, the 5.0 HO engine and the World Class T-5 tranny. Right now I'm torn between building up the what I think is a box-stock 302 and just building the 351C block I have in the garage...love a Cleveland, but that's a lot of work and expense, changing over headers, that sort of stuff. Right now the engine in it seems quite nice, it has all sorts of get up and go and also gets 21 MPG on the highway.
I sure wish Pat Barry could have considered a trade-in, I'd be driving his RF GT40 right now if we could have dealt.....
Cheers!
Doug
Like any used car you buy, there's some to like in it and some not to like. The engineering on the car seems first rate, the components all seem to be race oriented, even the build makes me believe that the car started its life on the dragstrip.
What little history I know is that the body is from a company called "Cobra Auto Works", was reportedly made in Oklahoma City. The frame is suppose to have been built by Ron Godell RaceCars in Tulsa, OK.
I bought it as a driver, though, and it has all the blemishes you'd expect from one that is driven almost daily....a few rock chips here and there, scuffing on the door sill where the door closes, that sort of thing. Some of the things just are, like the sidepipes...I'd much rather have the 289 body style and exhaust system, or at least the undercar exhaust, but it is what it was when I bought it and it doesn't mean all that much to me right now. Surprisingly, I do like the nudge bars and over rides...it is driven in traffic daily, so the chances of contact are correspondingly high. The wheels...would rather have Trigos, or better yet chromed wire wheels, but oh, well...at least there's a "theme" going here with chrome bumpers, wheels, windshield frame...might get the headers chromed, I' haven't decided about that yet.
Lots of little projects...kinked fuel lines, etc...simple stuff, nothing hard, other than finding the bushings that were needed to rebuild the parallel 4-bar rear suspension. Now I get to start on the front when it goes in for the winter. It was on jack-stands for 2 years, I just couldn't seem to find the parts or when I did I couldn't find the time.
Anyway, it's a pleasurable machine, will idle away from a stop-sign in 3rd as easily as it will do a half-block long burnout in 1st. Powertrain is out of a 1989 Mustang GT, the 5.0 HO engine and the World Class T-5 tranny. Right now I'm torn between building up the what I think is a box-stock 302 and just building the 351C block I have in the garage...love a Cleveland, but that's a lot of work and expense, changing over headers, that sort of stuff. Right now the engine in it seems quite nice, it has all sorts of get up and go and also gets 21 MPG on the highway.
I sure wish Pat Barry could have considered a trade-in, I'd be driving his RF GT40 right now if we could have dealt.....
Cheers!
Doug
Last edited:
