RE: You Know You Want To: AC Cobra Mark II 289
Discussion
£1.5m sounds about right the way that the collectors market is expected to run at the moment.
Can't shake the feeling though that that market is way overdue for a massive correction. At this point, much as I don't wish it on anyone, I can't help but feel like a buyer at that price (or any that the current climate would suggest)is going to lose a big chunk of money.
"Why is Kevin Kivlochan selling?" is the real question here...
Can't shake the feeling though that that market is way overdue for a massive correction. At this point, much as I don't wish it on anyone, I can't help but feel like a buyer at that price (or any that the current climate would suggest)is going to lose a big chunk of money.
"Why is Kevin Kivlochan selling?" is the real question here...
FWDRacer said:
It is a beauty - Great looking car. 1.5M's worth. 
I think not. Cheaper ways to get into the Goodwood revival meeting.
I have been building my collection and looking at some cars for a way into Goodwood.... I think not. Cheaper ways to get into the Goodwood revival meeting.The flagship race is the TT, that’s the one to take part in. The most cost effective entry would be a good DB4 GT at circa £1m.
But if you want to win you need an e type, a GTO or a Cobra..... maybe a Bizzarini, but they are very thin on the ground.
I think the Cobra is the most cost effective potential TT winning car.
BUT, you have to have a special car to get an entry, replicas (ok there have been a few rare exceptions - and not cobras) will not get an entry, nor a modified road car. It has to be a car with period race history which this has. I think this is the right price for such a car. By the way, some say all the cobras that ran at Le Mans they have stories. Hasn’t this car run at Goodwood loads of times in the TT??
They say there are only 3 or 4 proper RHD comp 289 Cobras... This car I understand from a friend who knows all about the proper 289’s is the only RHD 289 Cobra that left the factory with an FIA body (fat rear arches) like the cars that went to Carroll Shelby in the USA (of which I think he said there are 15 or so, all LHD). I saw this car last year at Salon Prive, amazing car and also very rare that it is genuinely its original chassis and body (unlike a lot of old racing cars)... I like the D type set up windscreen, how mean looking!
Really I want a Ferrari, but a GTO is definitely out of my League!! SWB’s aren’t quick enough for the TT...
We ordered 4 new Cobra's for delivery in 1964. The first one, a green one, we registered as a demo car. The 2nd one, a red one ch#6039, went in the showroom for sale at £2,500.
It caused no interest at that price, an E Type at the time was around £2,000. The Cobra had the same creature comforts as a £500 Lotus Seven and was viewed as a pricy Lotus. So we struggled to sell it. After nearly a year in stock a buyer came forward.
The green demo car also found a buyer after a very long time trying to sell it. As they'd taken so long to sell, we cancelled the remaining 2 cars.
6039 was sold by it's first owner around 1969 for some £1800 and I believe is still with the buyer. Our green demo car seems to have disappeared, no trace can be found of it.
Here is 6039 on display in Rackhams dept. store.
AC Cobra 1964 - Cob 6039
It caused no interest at that price, an E Type at the time was around £2,000. The Cobra had the same creature comforts as a £500 Lotus Seven and was viewed as a pricy Lotus. So we struggled to sell it. After nearly a year in stock a buyer came forward.
The green demo car also found a buyer after a very long time trying to sell it. As they'd taken so long to sell, we cancelled the remaining 2 cars.
6039 was sold by it's first owner around 1969 for some £1800 and I believe is still with the buyer. Our green demo car seems to have disappeared, no trace can be found of it.
Here is 6039 on display in Rackhams dept. store.
AC Cobra 1964 - Cob 6039
dmcars123 said:
FWDRacer said:
It is a beauty - Great looking car. 1.5M's worth. I think not. Cheaper ways to get into the Goodwood revival meeting.
I have been building my collection and looking at some cars for a way into Goodwood.... I think not. Cheaper ways to get into the Goodwood revival meeting.The flagship race is the TT, that’s the one to take part in. The most cost effective entry would be a good DB4 GT at circa £1m.
But if you want to win you need an e type, a GTO or a Cobra..... maybe a Bizzarini, but they are very thin on the ground.
I think the Cobra is the most cost effective potential TT winning car.
BUT, you have to have a special car to get an entry, replicas (ok there have been a few rare exceptions - and not cobras) will not get an entry, nor a modified road car. It has to be a car with period race history which this has. I think this is the right price for such a car. By the way, some say all the cobras that ran at Le Mans they have stories. Hasn’t this car run at Goodwood loads of times in the TT??
They say there are only 3 or 4 proper RHD comp 289 Cobras... This car I understand from a friend who knows all about the proper 289’s is the only RHD 289 Cobra that left the factory with an FIA body (fat rear arches) like the cars that went to Carroll Shelby in the USA (of which I think he said there are 15 or so, all LHD). I saw this car last year at Salon Prive, amazing car and also very rare that it is genuinely its original chassis and body (unlike a lot of old racing cars)... I like the D type set up windscreen, how mean looking!
Really I want a Ferrari, but a GTO is definitely out of my League!! SWB’s aren’t quick enough for the TT...
Good luck in your TT winning quest - just entrust your P & J to Berger...
dmcars123 said:
I have been building my collection and looking at some cars for a way into Goodwood....
The flagship race is the TT, that’s the one to take part in. The most cost effective entry would be a good DB4 GT at circa £1m.
But if you want to win you need an e type, a GTO or a Cobra..... maybe a Bizzarini, but they are very thin on the ground.
I think the Cobra is the most cost effective potential TT winning car.
BUT, you have to have a special car to get an entry, replicas (ok there have been a few rare exceptions - and not cobras) will not get an entry, nor a modified road car. It has to be a car with period race history which this has. I think this is the right price for such a car. By the way, some say all the cobras that ran at Le Mans they have stories. Hasn’t this car run at Goodwood loads of times in the TT??
They say there are only 3 or 4 proper RHD comp 289 Cobras... This car I understand from a friend who knows all about the proper 289’s is the only RHD 289 Cobra that left the factory with an FIA body (fat rear arches) like the cars that went to Carroll Shelby in the USA (of which I think he said there are 15 or so, all LHD). I saw this car last year at Salon Prive, amazing car and also very rare that it is genuinely its original chassis and body (unlike a lot of old racing cars)... I like the D type set up windscreen, how mean looking!
Really I want a Ferrari, but a GTO is definitely out of my League!! SWB’s aren’t quick enough for the TT...
Well... If you buy it bud - I'll happily stump up for a pair of powder blue overalls, jet helmet and some stringbacks and and I'll share it with you... The flagship race is the TT, that’s the one to take part in. The most cost effective entry would be a good DB4 GT at circa £1m.
But if you want to win you need an e type, a GTO or a Cobra..... maybe a Bizzarini, but they are very thin on the ground.
I think the Cobra is the most cost effective potential TT winning car.
BUT, you have to have a special car to get an entry, replicas (ok there have been a few rare exceptions - and not cobras) will not get an entry, nor a modified road car. It has to be a car with period race history which this has. I think this is the right price for such a car. By the way, some say all the cobras that ran at Le Mans they have stories. Hasn’t this car run at Goodwood loads of times in the TT??
They say there are only 3 or 4 proper RHD comp 289 Cobras... This car I understand from a friend who knows all about the proper 289’s is the only RHD 289 Cobra that left the factory with an FIA body (fat rear arches) like the cars that went to Carroll Shelby in the USA (of which I think he said there are 15 or so, all LHD). I saw this car last year at Salon Prive, amazing car and also very rare that it is genuinely its original chassis and body (unlike a lot of old racing cars)... I like the D type set up windscreen, how mean looking!
Really I want a Ferrari, but a GTO is definitely out of my League!! SWB’s aren’t quick enough for the TT...
suffolk009 said:
I remember standing at the campsite bar at the Houx ten or fifteen years ago. It had just tipped with rain, and everyone was drenched.
Standing next to me was a guy who identified every kit cobra as it came in. A really passionate anorak. That's an X look at the wheel arches, that's a Y the nose is different, that's a Z see how the something or other doesn't look quite right. Then a couple of old boys burble up in something cobra shaped. His face drops, he puts his beer down, walks over in a trance, "Thats's a real one isn't it?" Yes it is, they say, smiling. "You lucky b
ds." They shake hands.
Nice story Standing next to me was a guy who identified every kit cobra as it came in. A really passionate anorak. That's an X look at the wheel arches, that's a Y the nose is different, that's a Z see how the something or other doesn't look quite right. Then a couple of old boys burble up in something cobra shaped. His face drops, he puts his beer down, walks over in a trance, "Thats's a real one isn't it?" Yes it is, they say, smiling. "You lucky b
ds." They shake hands.635csi said:
Fantastic looking car, but holy smoke that is expensive.
No major competition history, no famous drivers, a Le Mans top but no Le Mans appearences ?
Lovely though.
I am stuck with the fact you could have an exact and equally beautiful replica of this car made and still have £1.25 million left over (enough to not have to work and blitz it round Europe for the next ten years if you fancied). How much is knowing "it's the one in the picture" worth?No major competition history, no famous drivers, a Le Mans top but no Le Mans appearences ?
Lovely though.
jamespink said:
I am stuck with the fact you could have an exact and equally beautiful replica of this car made and still have £1.25 million left over (enough to not have to work and blitz it round Europe for the next ten years if you fancied). How much is knowing "it's the one in the picture" worth?
...But, the point to this car is that it is original, and therefore has FIA status and the ability to run in any given event. The Goodwood Revival meet is an invitation event only, and as such cars of note may only apply. They (Goodwood), are starting to get a little hotter on period specs, to stop certain cars being a good deal faster than they have any right being. This makes it even more important to get a quick car to start with, not one that was so so, and then throw a load of development at it and have it sail close/over to the rules to be competitive.A well sorted Cobra is competitive, and power is not a problem, Warrior, Knight and co can get the horses from the motor, we know as we run a falcon sprint, and the car is looked after by the same people that run a very famous Cobra. At Spa 6 hours last year you know something is amiss when an E-type stays with a GT40 up the long drag from Eau Rouge! Work that one out....
These cars, as some have eluded to, are not in the same stratosphere as their non-competition relatives. Competition history is all important. The Historic scene has become more about doing the right races with the right cars for some more than merely taking part. The ability to be competitive often boils down to how deep your pockets are.
Don ´t mean to be nasty but why is so much credibility given to Mr Carol Shelby alone, he just shoehorned an engine into it and did some marketing didn't he, the cars where made in the UK. It was not invented by him as such, it´s a subbed out car that was re-spec´d and polished as the years went by. Please shed some light if I have it completely wrong fellas.
danieru said:
Don ´t mean to be nasty but why is so much credibility given to Mr Carol Shelby alone, he just shoehorned an engine into it and did some marketing didn't he, the cars where made in the UK. It was not invented by him as such, it´s a subbed out car that was re-spec´d and polished as the years went by. Please shed some light if I have it completely wrong fellas.
You're right but it was the genius of Shelby to shoehorn a big V8 into a underpowered British sportscar that turned it into a legend and the widowmaker handling especially of the 427 V8, it's in my top ten lottery win dream garage along with a 288gto, 6R4, Pikes peak quattro etc, etc. Shelby,Remington and Miles(who DROVE it..) showed their hot rodder philosophy with the outrageous installation of the big 427FE motor in the Mark 2 with its modified Ace, leaf sprung chassis. Would give my back teeth to travel back in time and watch Miles piloting in its debut at, I think, Sebring in '64?
The shape of both slab side 260/289 and steroidal 427 are iconic and a reminder, like the E Type, that the '60s were the last stand of the classic front engined sports/racing cars.
Contemporary road testers revelled in the stripped out, 'vintage' feel of the Cobra, drive even a good replica nowadays and the buzz is unlike any modern grey porridge, unrefined of course but addictive if you like this type of machine ( I do.)
If cost was no object, I'd love a competition 289.
Paul/runt
The shape of both slab side 260/289 and steroidal 427 are iconic and a reminder, like the E Type, that the '60s were the last stand of the classic front engined sports/racing cars.
Contemporary road testers revelled in the stripped out, 'vintage' feel of the Cobra, drive even a good replica nowadays and the buzz is unlike any modern grey porridge, unrefined of course but addictive if you like this type of machine ( I do.)
If cost was no object, I'd love a competition 289.
Paul/runt
Nuttypaco said:
danieru said:
Don ´t mean to be nasty but why is so much credibility given to Mr Carol Shelby alone, he just shoehorned an engine into it and did some marketing didn't he, the cars where made in the UK. It was not invented by him as such, it´s a subbed out car that was re-spec´d and polished as the years went by. Please shed some light if I have it completely wrong fellas.
You're right but it was the genius of Shelby to shoehorn a big V8 into a underpowered British sportscar that turned it into a legend and the widowmaker handling especially of the 427 V8, it's in my top ten lottery win dream garage along with a 288gto, 6R4, Pikes peak quattro etc, etc. danieru said:
jellison said:
V.Nice.
But I'd rather go for one of the (20) New / Old Burma Mk XIV Spitfires that could be coming onto the market soon!
20 Griffon engined beasts (2050hp, 460mph) buried (crated ready for final assembly) in 1945.
Or my 65 Griff
Griffon equipped ? Wow! keep us postedBut I'd rather go for one of the (20) New / Old Burma Mk XIV Spitfires that could be coming onto the market soon!
20 Griffon engined beasts (2050hp, 460mph) buried (crated ready for final assembly) in 1945.
Or my 65 Griff
Yep Mk XIV were Griffon power - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_...
I like things that start with GRIFF
A Big Muscle cars Chevelle beating a "Proper" Race Cobra ain't gonna happen.
On most tracks a 289 Cobra would beat a big block, they were way heavier and the weight where it did not really do the handling any favours. Maybe on a drag strip (but that ain't racing) a 427 might win but not on most tracks (unless ones dominated by straights).
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