Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobra #3170
In that case a good LS would do the job better than a Cammer and have about 200 lbs less front end weight. I think replicas are great because you can drive them and enjoy them. Why tie yourself to old designs with poor geometry and dated engine design. If you like the basic shape and fun to drive (read danger factor) have at it and make it what you want it to be. If I were doing a replica I would really go after weight reduction and a super stiff chassis with good geometry, that would be really fun to drive and still look "right" to folks as you drive by. If you are into sitting in lawn chairs at car shows then you can really go after original detail, but to me the fun of these cars is in the DRIVING.
I do not understand making an exact replica but who am I to criticize someone who is building something that they want. It is all about what makes you happy in the car world.
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You know I meant to ask what do you mean "danger factor" and poor geometry? If you are really saying a "modern chassis" are "safer" than the original design what specific facts are you relying on or empirical data are you relying on? Last I checked many originals are still being vintage raced safely. The current Shelby production Cobras raced in a spec series. No one was killed and no cars failed catastrophically as far as I know. The original Cobras won a World Title and 7 SCCA A production titles. Ken Miles and Dave McDonald were killed testing "more technologically" advanced cars (the GT40 J car and an Indy car respectively) not Cobras.
In fact the failures that predominate the threads on this site all seem to be those "more advanced" "stiffer" chassis with good geometry cars you are alluding to. Geez, just last week we had someone tragically killed when a SPF rear failed.
I don't recall any threads on this site dealing with CSX failures (original or current production) causing deaths or injuries. Maybe there were but I don't recall any. Maybe you can enlighten us.
You want weight reduction? These cars already weigh only 2000 lbs. You want a stiffer chassis?. Fine. How is that "safer"? I can follow some attenuated argument as to track use but it's not safer for street use. Perhaps it improves suspension ability in competition settings on the track but that doesn't necessarily make it safer necessarliy. I could argue the opposite.
Absent a full cage your "cutting edge, stiff chassis Cobra replica" will fold like a cheap camera if hit on the street by that Honda Mini Van just like my "dated" design Cobra. You will be just as dead a me.
Why tie yourself to "dated designs"? Well .... the Cobra shape is a dated design, no?. You keep tying yourself to that one. You could improve the design of that also. It's aero characteristics suck. However, isn't the idea to replicate the Car your pretending to drive? Hell if all you want is the "body shape" but nothing else and you want the leading cutting edge technology performance then go right to the top and buy a used F1 race car and slap a Street Beast body to it. Keep the engine where it is since no need to be faithful to the original. That right there is cutting edge "Cobra replica" all right. But is it really a Cobra replica? When have we gone so far from what these cars are supposed to be that owner interpretation has pushed it the equivalent of some "f'n" modern art master piece that has absolutely no relation to the Cobra to any degree other than façade. It is a pretender wearing a Cobra Halloween mask. Nothing more.
Having a Chevy motor in a Cobra replica is sacrilege and the best and fastest way to torpedo the resale value of any Cobra replica. Period. End of story. Any argument to the contrary is farcical.
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