DragonSnake Cobra: CSX2416

[CompClassics]

Since I had a hand in 2416's current history, I'll add my two cents. CSX2416 was a very special Cobra, no "street" Cobra came close to it as far as the option list and potential power. The option list of this Cobra would have put it right there as a "Slalom Snake" had that option been available at the time 2416 was built. The fact that 2416 went through the SAI race shop to receive its performance options is another reason that this Cobra is a factory competition Cobra, that is why it does not carry a standard "AC" foot box tag. The "AC" tag would have been removed, and replaced with the competition tag, because it carried an engine number stamping that did not correspond to the engine in the car any longer and since the competition engine carried no warranty there was no reason for a new engine number stamping. There is another thing that people have not thought about when the Cobra was ordered, the dealership was in the transitional phase of being sold. This may have lead to a "change order" in the preparation from "Dragon Snake" to just a very highly optioned Cobra, food for thought? This would have eliminated the dealerships involvement with drag racing, the cost and put car on the showroom floor that could be sold. The buyer (Ascough Jr) wanted the car in red and the dealership wanted a sale and did whatever it took to make that happen, including sending the car back to SAI for a rework. Working in dealerships previously I know this can happen, especially if the dealership already has a car on the floor that has cost them a bundle to begin with.
Ned had already provided me with the SAI accounting ledgers with the SAI heading of the ledgers stating that this Cobra was intended to be Frye (spelling, I don't have the notes in front of me) Ford's drag Cobra. Those are SAI's ledgers not Joe Smoe's ledgers. Nobody has brought up the fact that maybe the Cobra was delivered as a "Dragon Snake" and the new dealership owner decided that they didn't want anything to do with drag racing so they sent the car to have some of the modifications reversed, new rear fenders, new differential, sway bars, wheels and tires, etc. Maybe they did this to keep a Ford dealership owner happy so they would continue to order and sell Cobras? As Ned had previously stated, we may never know "WHY ?".

Ned had stated that he was only aware of one Cobra being sent back to SAI to be converted to a competition Cobra. CSX2049 was purchased as a well optioned street Cobra and was returned by the purchaser's son to SAI to be converted into a competition specification Cobra so that he could go racing, not as a driver but as the Cobra's owner. Both of these details have been verified by Paul Cunningham's (one of the hired drivers) step son who often accompanied Paul to the races and was in charge of towing the race car to the track and to SAI for upgrades. Unfortunately the information obtained from the driver's step son in regards to who did the competition work on the Cobra was learned after the most current version of the SAAC Registry had already printed.

Steven had an awesome restoration completed on CSX2416 and he should be very proud, RIP Steven I will miss hanging out with you on your West Coast visits. I was fortunate enough to have started the restoration on 2416 and did a lot of discovery work associated with it.

[Hal Heindel]

Originally Posted by CompClassics

Nobody has brought up the fact that maybe the Cobra was delivered as a "Dragon Snake" and the new dealership owner decided that they didn't want anything to do with drag racing so they sent the car to have some of the modifications reversed, new rear fenders, new differential, sway bars, wheels and tires, etc. Maybe they did this to keep a Ford dealership owner happy so they would continue to order and sell Cobras?

Sorry, CompClassics. I've read your quote over and over and still can't make sense of it! But let's say "what if?" There is still the point I made earlier in this thread about the scattershield. Only a certified moron would remove a costly but effective safety item like a scattershield from a high performance engine and replace it with an inferior and potentially harmful street part.

Has anyone ever seen the damage an exploding flywheel can do when the fragments come flying through the firewall? I have. Back in the sixties I was working as a tank mechanic at Fort Hood, home of the first and second armored divisions. One of the M26 Dragonwagons came in for repair because the driver happened to be in the wrong gear going down a steep incline. He lost a foot in the incident, and his blood was still on the floorboard. Not one of my happier days in the U.S. Army.

Getting back to CSX2416, in the Mecum video for the forthcoming auction, Ned Scudder and Colin Comer, both recognized authorities on Shelby Cobras, clearly describe the car as "the most optioned STREET Cobra ever built." I couldn't agree more and hope this will be the last newly discovered Dragonsnake to slither out of the woodwork as yet another barn find.

FYI, the auction brochure for both the red and the yellow Cobra contains the most factual descriptions I've read about these two cars. I suspect Ned and Colin both had a hand in the write ups, and it shows. As auction literature goes, this brochure has established a new level. Kudos (and thanks) to Dana, Ned, and Colin for that.

https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0519-37...obra-roadster/