Factory 5 Cobra Kit Cars

[Wheeler]

One of my old mentors was Joe Di Loreto. I vividly remember going for a few spins in his blue ac cobra with the 427.

Cheers, Steve

Mentors? Is that what you call 'em nowadays?

 

[ssc]

Hi Wheeler, hope all is good. I was a law clerk for Joe before he was appointed to the bench. After passing the bar I rented an office from him. He had a good collection of cars at the time including a Dolphin and alfa’s Not to mention the cobra and a Ferrari Daytona etc.

Here is some information on Da Judge.

http://www.blakechristian.com/downloads/LB%20Magazine%20Shelby%20article.pdf

And more info here on page 28 with a picture of the cobra that I believe I rode in.

https://www.lbbusinessjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/March-29-April-10-2017.pdf

Cheers, Steve

 

[Wheeler]

Hi Wheeler, hope all is good. I was a law clerk for Joe before he was appointed to the bench. After passing the bar I rented an office from him. He had a good collection of cars at the time including a Dolphin and alfa’s Not to mention the cobra and a Ferrari Daytona etc.

Here is some information on Da Judge.

http://www.blakechristian.com/downloads/LB%20Magazine%20Shelby%20article.pdf

And more info here on page 28 with a picture of the cobra that I believe I rode in.

https://www.lbbusinessjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/March-29-April-10-2017.pdf

Cheers, Steve

An old friend practices law in Long Beach you might have known him, Dan Nishiyama.

 

[ssc]

I knew him. Learned a few things from him. Enjoyed him. He had style.

Cheers, Steve

 

[clarence]

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I sold my Ford GT in May. Original owner, 26,000 miles over the 15 years. Nice to enjoy a car for that period of time and then make some $$$ on the sale.

We had a large group of SoCal owners that enjoyed them on the road and a handful of us went to many track days. We would organize a Saturday or Sunday drive 3-4 times a year that would take all day and cover 250-300 miles. Usually get a dozen or so cars, but at times we would have 20 GTs snaking around in the various mountain roads to the North, East and South of LA and Orange County.

View attachment 913774

That is awesome!

 

[Wheeler]

So I have been thinking about one of these. Anyone ever build or own one? Can a guy with average mechanical know how build one in the garage minus motor,trans, rear end and paint?

I have doing some pricing and I can most likely build one for around 45k with a Blue Print 307 Fuel Injected motor. The motor is 15k by itself. But the car would be completely brand new. Not bad for a nice hot rod. But I would need to build the car excluding the motor,trans, rear end and paint.

Or I could buy one used for around 30-35k with mustang fox body parts and motor. Of course I could spend around 45-50k+depending on build quality.

Just wondering if anyone has done this before and how it worked out. I also wonder how much a shop would charge me to build one? Maybe @bonesfab could chime in on that.

Below is what it could look like

View attachment 913191 for a nicer one

You might consider placing a call to Bill DenBeste Motorsports before you make any final decisions.

Build your Cobra - Denbeste Motosports

Build Your Cobra Shelby Cobra 427 S/C CSX 4000 (Aluminum) Build Shelby Cobra 427 S/C CSX 6000 (Fiberglass) Build Shelby Cobra 289 FIA CSX 7000 (Aluminum) Build Shelby

denbestemotorsports.com

 

[v6toy4x]

what is the story on this one?

 

[Dkahnjob]

I put a Chevy 350 and Muncie 4 speed in a 1956 Austin Healey 100-4 many years ago. It was fun to drive and went fast in a straight line but handled terribly.
I replaced the 48 spoke wheels with 60 spoke and they held up ok. But after a 20 mile drive my tennis shoes would be smoking from all the heat coming through the fire wall and floor boards.

 

[white tortilla]

My grandpa has a pretty nice sunbeam he fixed up. Nice little weekend car. Little hot this time of year.

 

[Wheeler]

View attachment 914437
View attachment 914437

what is the story on this one?

R code drag pack car that I picked up last year in Vegas.

 

[Wheeler]

I put a Chevy 350 and Muncie 4 speed in a 1956 Austin Healey 100-4 many years ago. It was fun to drive and went fast in a straight line but handled terribly.
I replaced the 48 spoke wheels with 60 spoke and they held up ok. But after a 20 mile drive my tennis shoes would be smoking from all the heat coming through the fire wall and floor boards. View attachment 914498

Ted will enjoy seeing these photos of your car. Have you any more of 'em?
I show him this thread tomorrow when I see him.

"According to Morton, Phil Remington gave Ted Sutton the job of installing the 427 into the Cobra because he was impressed with the job Sutton had done installing a small block Ford in his Austin-Healey."

 

[Taboma]

View attachment 914520
My grandpa has a pretty nice sunbeam he fixed up. Nice little weekend car. Little hot this time of year. View attachment 914519

Now that's awesome and was my vision or how I'd imagined life with my 5.0 Miata, growing old together, like I see the older gentlemen cruising their Cobras.
Well, I tried, I honestly did, but I finally had to own it. I found it impossible to drive that car in a responsible manner, or even close. I'd imagine it, I'd almost repeat it like a mantra, calm, just cruise easy, now repeat it again and again.
Oh fucking hell, a block down the road and I'd be smoking the rears and grabbin gears. It made me do it, I had no defense, knowing that car would be the death of me, albeit grinning from ear to ear, it had to go.

That's a really nice Tiger

 

[Dkahnjob]

Ted will enjoy seeing these photos of your car. Have you any more of 'em?
I show him this thread tomorrow when I see him.

"According to Morton, Phil Remington gave Ted Sutton the job of installing the 427 into the Cobra because he was impressed with the job Sutton had done installing a small block Ford in his Austin-Healey."

Those are the only pictures that I have of the project. Actually the small block Ford fits in the Healey better because it is narrower, but I had the Chevy sitting around so that is what I used.

 

[HubbaHubbaLife]

Factory Five Shelby Cobra Mk 3 Roadster

Bid for the chance to own a Factory Five Shelby Cobra Mk 3 Roadster at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #35,460.

bringatrailer.com

 

[beaverretriever]

My big issue with Factory Five cars is some of their stuff has been tweeked body wise and don't meet original specs. Their Coupe dimensions are so far off, it makes them look weird.

Besides the Daytona Coupe, the 289FIA is my favorite Cobra since it was pure race car. The 427 wasn't as pure race car and didn't win as much as the 289 throughout the years.

I think Factory Five did a pretty good job on this.

289 USRRC - Factory Five Racing

Overview The Factory Five 289 USRRC Roadster is period correct. Period. The Factory Five 289 USRRC Roadster is a gentleman’s racer.…

www.factoryfive.com

Truly, the only thing I would consider these days is a aluminum continuation car as they actually go up in value.

 

[johnnyC]

You might consider placing a call to Bill DenBeste Motorsports before you make any final decision

Build your Cobra - Denbeste Motosports

Build Your Cobra Shelby Cobra 427 S/C CSX 4000 (Aluminum) Build Shelby Cobra 427 S/C CSX 6000 (Fiberglass) Build Shelby Cobra 289 FIA CSX 7000 (Aluminum) Build Shelby

denbestemotorsports.com

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dam near got a stiffie looking at these pictures.... WOW

 

[spectras only]

You don'r see Cobra kit cars much on tracks, only in the paddocks, their owners use something more suitable. The original 289 is appealing bit ridiculously expensive to track them. I only seen real ones at Laguna Seca. This 64 E-type has been raced since 1990 by my friend. Here she's at Area27

 

[spectras only]

I'd like to see this Tesla powered Cobra at our track and see how long it would last. Mission Raceway is very short with no elevations to fight.

 

[Shlbyntro]

So I have been thinking about one of these. Anyone ever build or own one? Can a guy with average mechanical know how build one in the garage minus motor,trans, rear end and paint?

I have doing some pricing and I can most likely build one for around 45k with a Blue Print 307 Fuel Injected motor. The motor is 15k by itself. But the car would be completely brand new. Not bad for a nice hot rod. But I would need to build the car excluding the motor,trans, rear end and paint.

Or I could buy one used for around 30-35k with mustang fox body parts and motor. Of course I could spend around 45-50k+depending on build quality.

Just wondering if anyone has done this before and how it worked out. I also wonder how much a shop would charge me to build one? Maybe @bonesfab could chime in on that.

Below is what it could look like

View attachment 913191 for a nicer one

Well thanks to remembering and seeing this post from a while back and my unfortunate event of last week, I pulled the trigger on a roadster kit late last night. I opted for the base kit and optioned it out to the hilt for exactly everything I wanted. Saved me about $4k over the complete kit which had some things I didn't like. I plan on using the drive train and some other parts out of the mustang but ordered my kit with a brand new Moser rear end. Im pulling out all the stops and building it exactly how I want it from the get go. The guy on the phone when we were reviewing my order today seamed baffled that I didn't order the complete kit until he started asking me questions, I think he realized that I knew exactly what I wanted lol.

They are a great bunch of people. I was emailing back and forth with them for 2 days asking all sorts of questions about specifics of the kit and spent about an hour on the phone with one of their techs with even more questions before placing my order. They really do make you feel like a part of their extended family right from the very get go which is awesome!

If all stays on schedule, I'll be receiving the shell and all the goodies right around Xmas, Happy birthday and Xmas to me!