Why such poor choice in UK??

[jazzyjohn64]

I've been looking for a Cobra for months with a healthy budget of £25-40k. I'd prefer to buy used for the obvious reason that whilst depreciation thankfully tends to be low on a used replica example, I can save maybe £4-5k on a 3-5 year old example.

Despite the 50+ cars available on Piston Heads, I'm shocked by the poor choice available in the UK - specifically for someone who wants an authentic as possible replica. Despite the options available to people building their cars in the UK, why do so many people have such poor taste in choosing cream and flashy interiors when the original interiors were so basic.

Original type interior looks like this:



But this is an example of how so many UK built cars look like inside:



This is NOT an authentic looking interior - no authentic Cobras had a dash layout like this and a "bling" interior. WHY oh WHY are so many UK built cars made with non correct interiors? Time after time and hour after hour I look through autotrader / pistonheads / carandclassic and find a nice 427 looking car only to go into the ad and find it has this type of crappy interior.

This only seems to be the UK as well and only maybe 1, 2 or 3 of 60 cars available at a time have the correct authentic type dash layout. This makes it incredibly less likely and more hard to find a car within my budget that is blue with stripes!!

Compare this to the US where most builders have the taste to create cars with the correct interior dash layout. Just look at this listing of cars on the US eBay for example:

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/Cars-Tru...c0.m282&_rdc=1

and check out this Superperformance at $50k (around £30k so well within my budget):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1965-...0aee06bc#v4-32

I can't import a car though as it's LHD and the taxes and VAT etc erode the apparently good price (it would end up costing maybe £50k with RHD conversion if even possible)

Why are so many cars created without any consideration in making it look authentic? It extends to the exterior in many cases as well with incorrect front air filters etc etc and in many cases it isn't any more difficult to make it look proper. If the dash needs to be padded and non rocker switches for SVA, this is easy to do by padding it etc and then changing it after it passes, but people seem to go for this "centred dial" look which is completely NOT a Cobra. Look at the Trevor Legate book of authentic cobras and they ALL have an interior like the top photo albeit with some 289 and earlier cars having both dials behind the steering wheel.

Most examples in the UK seem to be from the "drive around and pose on Sunday and know nothing about original cobras" camp rather than "I cant afford a real one but I'd like as close as possible to the original as I can". Even companies that sell lots of Cobras like Soverign cars only have 1 car with the correct dash layout within my budget and that has a Chrysler motor.

So, back to my conundrum. I have £25k - £40k for a 427 style dark blue car with stripes, single rollbar and authentic dash layout with a Ford motor. Not to much to ask if I lived in the US - I could pick up a car today.. but over here its taking me weeks and weeks to find something and its driving me mad!

My options seem to be:
- Crendon (these look great and I know they are superbly built but there are few used examples around)
- Gardener Douglas (well built and raced etc I know BUT rear end design, underslung pipes and dash layout on most cars is NOT authentic)
- Hawk? Rarely anything 427 style seems to come up for sale
- An authentic styled DAX (does one even exist?)

I'm sure I'm not the only one in the position that they can't afford £220k for a real 60s 427 (see Piston Heads) but has a good budget of £30k-40k and wants an authentic styled 427. I don't even want something too different - just the classic blue/stripes/427 style. Look on any eBay auto site and there are countless cars within my budget - where are all the equivalent UK cars with authentic dashes?? I appreciate I can't get an alumninium bodied Kirkham etc within my budget but I should be able to get a fiberglass bodied authentic styled car within my budget as making a car look authentic on the dash etc is not difficult.

Superperformance seems to be a great option over there within the £30k range and they are the only company to produce authentic looking cars - any chance a UK builder will start selling ready made cars from them or at least a range of authentic styled cars?

If anyone has the sort of car I'm looking for and would consider selling, please PM me. I have cash waiting for the right Cobra that is authentically styled!

[JBCOBRA]

Firstly, the steering wheel is on the wrong side! LOL Only kidding
What are the rules for shipping a car over? Maybe that is a good option?

[James Stern]

JJ64, I drove a 280 SL with Left hand drive for 6 years in the UK ('94 to 2000). Have the rules changed for registering a car in England? It was actually quite easy except when passing.

Jim

[Rickd]

Aren't the Hawk replicas true to the original AC, spartan, sports car interior? I agree - the "padded dash" look resembles a "pimp" mobile. Not really familiar with the UK market - I did notice that Hawk offers motor mounts for MG, Triumph motors, and special mounts for BMW motors. Ford V8's become an issue with emission controls etc? For me the perfect car for the UK would be a 289 body, with a nice 331 stroker motor in it. Economical to drive, plenty of power when you want it (mine dyno'd 446 HP at 6000 rpm and on a chassis dyno put 326 to the ground).

[Rickd]

Soverign Cars had a navy blue 427 SC with the Hawk removable hard top. Standard - genuine - cobra SC interior. Has a mopar V8. Around 40,000 pounds (can defiinitely get one much cheaper in the US - but shipping and DUTIES????).

[FatBoy]

I drive a LHD Kirkham in the UK and it really isn't a problem.
Also, importing a Cobra from the US is a very easy way to avoid the dreaded IVA. LHD also adds an extra touch of originality.
I have a friend with a Contemporary Cobra who might be prepared to sell. It has an Ali Shelby 427 with Webers and is a very original looking car. I can make enquiries if you're interested.

Paul

[jazzyjohn64]

Its shocking how many of the cars over here DONT have anywhere near a realistic dash layout. Seem to be many more cars in the US - if there are any UK members who might consider selling a car with an "authentic look", PM me :-)

[Ant]

I bought a RamSC from the UK as I wanted the nice space framed backbone chassis in the hope of some handling instead of the offerings here in NZ.
The Ram dashboard was terrible with large abutments on each side and basically unfinished dash ends, so I modified the dash with curved in ends etc and it looks like an original racing dash.

One option is you can always buy used and modify dash area yourself!

[SunDude]

I thought Superformance was distributed in the U.K. too? Even though they're probably pretty rare (as they are here in Canada), used ones must come up for sale eventually.

[Jamo]

Look for a Crendon...

[jazzyjohn64]

You mention dash replacement etc - how straightforward was this? Is it a simple case of taking one out, moving the dials etc and putting it back in?? My worry was that most "bling" dashes might extend lower and the mounting bits on the back might go down lower thus making an authentic type dash too small..?

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by jazzyjohn64

You mention dash replacement etc - how straightforward was this? Is it a simple case of taking one out, moving the dials etc and putting it back in?? My worry was that most "bling" dashes might extend lower and the mounting bits on the back might go down lower thus making an authentic type dash too small..?

Take a close look at the ERA for sale in my sig line. Yours would not be the first one I've sold to an ecstatic UK customer .


Bill S.

[dcdoug]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Take a close look at the ERA for sale in my sig line. Yours would not be the first one I've sold to an ecstatic UK customer .


Bill S.

Now that would turn some heads in the UK!

[Ant]

Originally Posted by jazzyjohn64

You mention dash replacement etc - how straightforward was this? Is it a simple case of taking one out, moving the dials etc and putting it back in?? My worry was that most "bling" dashes might extend lower and the mounting bits on the back might go down lower thus making an authentic type dash too small..?

Dash replacement is a very easy modification as its basically flat apart from the curved ends, this forum has information on original gauge placement. If you select a good kit or road going car then then you can alter improve areas, if major parts of the basic design and build isnt good then you are stuck with it.
With the Ramsc the dashboard to me is a BIG let down so I reworked that and the body surrounding which wasnt difficult, and with the large tunnel it might not appeal to everyone and is a very hands on build and priced accordingly.

The important thing is to buy a good kit or car as a rough kit or badly designed car you will have to live with it, and major areas are difficult and expensive to rework.

The US cars like Kirkham, SPF, ERA, Backdraft, JBL etc are all extremely good and vary depending what you want. Now is a good time to buy I reckon. Buying a good car which has most of the finishing work done would be my recommendation as I have been 5 years building this and have just started the time consuming finishing work and after building 3 Cobras I forgot how demanding and difficult some of this work is and quite frankly all I want to do is some racing and not so much of the build work as enthusiasm disappears especially when I rebuild areas more than once and the dollars keep stacking up to well over NZ$120k.

[Ant]

I think Superperformance market cars in the UK.

http://www.superformanceuk.com/