anyone recognize this body mfr (picture)

[the shadow]

I know I have seen this molded body style on a specific cobra mfr's body before back in the 90's. does anyone recognize the body reinforcement in the circled area.
thanks
Paul

[mrmustang]

Early CMC (the "H" bracing is the "tell").

My sage advice, even if they are paying you to take the car away, don't.

Why, do a search on Street Beast and Classic Motor Carriage (CMC) for the sordid details.

Bill S

[joyridin']

I had an early CMC some years ago and it did not look like that. Maybe that was earlier than mine, but the width of the metal rails looks to be about 2-3 times the width on my rails. Mine was about 1" x 1". The angle the steering column exits also looks wrong as the CMC used a Chevette column and come up at an angle. That column looks like it comes almost straight out and is close to the dash. More like an MG style column.

[Dwight]

I worked on one. A design nightmare.

You will have to re-engineer a lot of the car. Door hinges, pedal mount plate, hood hinges, radiator mounting, front wheels to wide for the body, ETC, Etc

I found a guy in Ga. that has build 7 or 8 of them and he told me to sell it for parts and buy something else.

I did not finish the CMC because of the owner. I finally called him and ask him to come get it. I could have finished it but he would have had the price of a SPF in it.

If it's free and you have a lot of time and tools you can finish it. Cheaper to buy another brand.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by joyridin'

I had an early CMC some years ago and it did not look like that. Maybe that was earlier than mine, but the width of the metal rails looks to be about 2-3 times the width on my rails. Mine was about 1" x 1". The angle the steering column exits also looks wrong as the CMC used a Chevette column and come up at an angle. That column looks like it comes almost straight out and is close to the dash. More like an MG style column.

Fiberfab is actually who I wanted to put in the earlier post, however, nobody would have known they were the original producer and parent company that turned in to Cars/CMC/Innovative/StreetBeast. and how knows how many other names.........it is just that before the business was sold and changed to CMC. The early cars had that same "H" pattern as shown i the picture above, the same body shape and style (uncertain when the change over to the classic CMC heavy lip occurred), as well as the hood hinges and dash lip, I do know CMC did buy out another company in the early days for "better" molds and jigs but unsure if the company had a "stage presence" as I have never been able to find it listed anywhere in early publications.

Bill

[snakeeyes]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Fiberfab is actually who I wanted to put in the earlier post, however, nobody would have known they were the original producer and parent company that turned in to Cars/CMC/Innovative/StreetBeast. and how knows how many other names.........it is just that before the business was sold and changed to CMC. The early cars had that same "H" pattern as shown i the picture above, the same body shape and style (uncertain when the change over to the classic CMC heavy lip occurred), as well as the hood hinges and dash lip, I do know CMC did buy out another company in the early days for "better" molds and jigs but unsure if the company had a "stage presence" as I have never been able to find it listed anywhere in early publications.

Bill

Ah, Fiberfab...the source for those who wanted a GT40 tribute on a Beetle budget. Wonder how many Avengers are still roaming the roads.

[Blas]

I think Legendary Cobra's was also called Classic Motor Coaches (Classic Motor Carriages Cobra) at some point. I have screen shots of ads for them.
Blas

[the shadow]

Originally Posted by Blas

I think Legendary Cobra's was also called Classic Motor Coaches (Classic Motor Carriages Cobra) at some point. I have screen shots of ads for them.
Blas

If that's true then its most likely what it is, as the owner now, said the original owner claims it to be a Legendary cobra kit. maybe what Bill said comes into play as well & its an early mold from the company CMC bought out? who know's? He's not far from me so I will still go look at it, I found a few more project cobra's for half of what he wants but they are all CMC incomplete kits. I'll take more pics and get more specs ten post them up for you guys to check out. Like I stated I dont want a money hole just a decent project since I cant afford a done cobra. I just got done bringing a barn find corvette back from the dead ,soup to nuts, that I got cheap no one wanted it I took it as a challenge. extensive fiberglass repair,rebuilt the engine,trans,rear,suspension,wiring and full paint, now I want another project hopefully my dream, a cobra.

[the shadow]

thanks guys, this is a car for sale local to me, its a roller and had a BBF & 4 speed in it that was removed before the last sale. owner says he was told it was a "Legendary Cobra " kit from the 90's. new owner had it set up for for a 302/5 speed now. comes with 9" rear,coil overs all around,manual R&P, doors,hood and deck lid are mounted,full interior,all chrome,bumpers + speed jacks,side pipes & headers,lights and harness,all gauges,fuel cell and aftermarket 5 lug halibrand knock off wheels,roll bar. needs to be plumbed and wired + engine tran installed. he's asking $17K with a used 94 302 and 5 speed no mfr's MSO.
I would never pay that for that car especially since it has no mfr's mso but i considered it as a project for a lot less as the body work ,engine/trans is no issue for me. never been on the road been a project since the 90's. he's open to negotiate as his wife wants it gone,this was a side project he bought. but soon after bought a finished FF cobra and doesn't want to finish this one.

[eschaider]

I think you are missing the point here, shadow. This car is so far out of the normal for a replica that if it were free you probably would still be faced with way more work and expense than you thought you bargained for. The current owner discovered that the hard way. Of course you can too. This car at any price is a bad deal and should be avoided.

If you can't afford a mainstream product offering then you would be well advised to wait until you can. Engaging on this project is tantamount to going into your back yard and using $100 bills to barbecue a roast. When you are done it costs a lot of money and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.


Ed

[the shadow]

I understood what your all saying Ed and not looking into buying a hole to throw money into, it looked like a decent kit with potential but after reading the replies and doing some background search's on CMC/street beast kits I think I'll wait for something else.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by eschaider

This car at any price is a bad deal and should be avoided.

This is it in a nutshell. Take it if he pays you to haul it away otherwise run, don't walk, you can do much better. I doubt you'd even come out ahead if you bought it to finish and flip it...

[Buzz]

Don't be too hasty. I do not think that the car in the picture is a CMC or Street Beasts. It does not have the characteristic deep lip around the rear cockpit edge that is unique to that brand. Check it out a bit further - the lip may have been cut off. Quick check - look under the hood at the engine bay - if it's a CMC, there'll also be that deep lip surrounding the edge.
See the pic below and look closely at the rear edge of the cockpit. That is a CMC defining trait.

[Buzz]

Here's a pic showing the engine bay. Note the deep vertical lip. If the car you're looking at does not have that, it isn't a CMC / Street Beasts kit and may well be worth checking out.

[the shadow]

I originally posted it because back in the 90's I was hell bent on building a kit and got brochures (no internet) from a lot of vendors and for some reason I remember one of them having those wide body stiffeners. at first i thought it was an early shell valley or lonestar kit? even back in the 90's CMC had a bad name, a buddy bought a 34 coupe kit and had to rework the whole thing I remember him telling me the fiberglass was real thin and he had to stiffen up a lot of area's.

the CMC kits look like they have a flatter hood/cowl area where this one is more rounded up wards. the lip in the cockpit area is formed as a bull nose (rolled under) and not flat.

[spf645]

I have to consider myself lucky after some of the horror stories I've read about CMC. Only two parts were missing when kit was delivered. Phone call, and couple weeks, got those. Was first attempt at building a kit, and oh how I wanted an ERA or Contempary Cobra. But the price for those was more than double the speedster from CMC back in the early 80's. Thanks ERA for keeping the business going. A reputation for quality has kept your name high on the list for many years.

[the shadow]

the Kit was made by Legendary cobra company out of Longwood florida in the 1980's. I cant find any old info on them but the body is thick and all the edges are formed as a rolled bullnose.

[joyridin']

Originally Posted by the shadow

the Kit was made by Legendary cobra company out of Longwood florida in the 1980's. I cant find any old info on them but the body is thick and all the edges are formed as a rolled bullnose.

Buy it if you can get it for a reasonable price. The biggest issue most people had with CMC/Streetbeast, or whatever they were called was missing parts and a very poor instruction manual. If you weren't a fabricator or somebody that knew how to wrench on cars, you were doomed the minute you opened that assembly manual and saw the drawings of which some looked like they were made by a 10 year old.

Mustang 2 front end, 8.8 or 9" rear, engine and trans out of a Mustang, and you can find the rest of the parts anywhere as long as the body parts are there.

[the shadow]

in this case everything is there , the original 250pg manual, body mount kit ,all chrome,interior,exhaust,aluminum radiator,weather stripping, wind wings, fuel cell,wiring,lights, cooling fans,glass,mirrors, fuel neck and cap,roll bar,seats,gauges, master cylinder, pedals,steering,disc brakes,coilovers,wheels tires,rear,exhaust. and he's throwing in a doner 94 5.0 and T-5 trans + a new edelbrock victor jr intake & MSD distributor coil. I would need to by brake lines,fuel lines,a shifter, parking brake handle,battery ,belts, hoses + normal assembly hardware.

Aside from rebuilding the engine and finishing the body work (already started) the car needs to be plumbed for fuel and brakes and assembled (frame is painted already). Like I said the fiberglass is good, its thicker than the FF he has parked next to it and all the edges are bull nosed not sharp flats. this isn't my first fiberglass car I built a 41 willys from scratch with no manual and just got done an extensive corvette restoration with a lot of glass work, this would be a cake job for me. my hang up is his price vs buying a brand new kit for the same money or less. what to offer that's not an insult and fair ,I told him I was going to shop this against new kits so he knows Im gonna go lower. Im trying to get a cheap cobra project that has everything there (parts wise) and local which this is. Im just like 90% of the car world, I want to pay as little as possible to get what i want. Im in no rush I've been waiting 30 years for a cobra. Im either gonna find what Im looking for as a kit or win the lottery and buy a finished one. I've been holding out for the lottery and thinking it aint gonna happen LOL.

[eschaider]

Many budget builds end up incomplete (as this one has) for good reason. The builder did not loose interest, in fact they frequently buy a more expensive completed vehicle.

The build process with this type of kit becomes a never ending project with unplanned upgrades driven by component obsolescence, lack of current component availability or builder election to do a little bit better here and there.

At some point (it varies for each of us) the expense and futility of the project becomes apparent even to the most jaded. At that point build progress halts, a for sale sign is crafted and a finished car search is begun. You have found this one at the tail end of these sad events.

This project is most likely to have an unhappy ending (for you) after costing measurably more than you intended to spend and taking more time and effort than you expected. Why not shortcut the process, save the time, money and effort and buy something better suited to your needs.


Ed