[Donunder]

I had years of frustration at not being able to test drive any of the local Cobras because I simply could not fit into any of them, even the 94” stretched ones. I would not have felt safe driving any of the cars offered me because of the restriction in the foot well / steering wheel area. I’m close to 6’5” with very long legs and size 13 feet so the problem was a real one.

I was on the verge of taking the plunge anyway, deciding that if I were to ever own a Cobra, my only choice was to order one of the local stretched versions with a view to taking it to Scott Hampson at Venom Custom Fabrications to modify the stock chassis. My thoughts were to alter the frame around the transmission tunnel in the manner that some of the American kits have the tunnel moved to the right to allow extra width for the driver. The frame at the extremity of the footwell would have to be widened to accommodate my size 13s. The dash panel would have to be modified too to allow knee room behind the steering wheel – all extra expense on top of an already expensive purchase. It would be a gamble but with nothing else available locally it seemed I had no other option.

My son Craig and I had for some time been investigating the possibility of buying an older Arntz Cobra from the States. I had been in contact with other Arntz owners over there who stated that I would definitely be able to fit. The Arntz is built on a 91.5” chassis so is indistinguishable from a 90” car. It has several clever features including a very long footwell and more importantly the footwell seems wider at the pedals than in local cars. Additionally the floor mounted pedals are adjustable over three settings to cater to the long-legged. It seems beyond belief that with the big block Chevy engine mounted so far back as to be almost mid-engined, there is still so much foot room. The Arntz cars were not produced in great numbers and because they are prized by their owners, few come onto the market. As luck would have it though, right at this time an Arntz became available in Washington state that met all our criteria.

The car duly arrived and went straight to Scott’s. While attending to compliancing and associated engineering work he adjusted the pedals to their forward-most position and removed the left foot footrest to create even more room down there. The seats mounted directly to the floor were moved as far back as possible. The steering column was moved 2” to the right (remember it’s a LHD car) to make more room inside the car for my left elbow. Because of the amount of leg room there was no need to interfere with the original dash layout to create knee room. I now have a car that, thanks to intelligent original design by Steve Arntz back in the 70s and some clever work by Scott, I now fit in quite comfortably and can drive with plenty of room for my feet knees and left arm. I look through the screen at about three-quarters height.

Sure, it’s not the car I’d choose to do a long non-stop interstate haul in, but for a 300 klm whiz around the great south-east or an autumn evening cruise on a lovely starry night in Brisbane, it’s as close to perfect as I could wish for.