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What brand of cobra replica do I have?
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Hi everyone. I have recently acquired a cobra replica. Its a long and useless story as to how I ended up with it but I have limited info on the car.
What I need to figure out is what brand or manufacture produced this chassis so I can order some parts such as headers and exhaust to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!! |
Have no idea who would ever use such small tubing for a chassis. Looks like just enough there to hold the body in shape. Maybe this was supposed to be a store display that someone adapted with a real drivetrain. Personally, I would feel unsafe knowing what was holding it together.
Bill S. |
Might be a Bennet? The pictures shown is what as known as a spaceframe chassis, small tubing with proper triangulation makes it just as strong or stronger than big fat main frame tubes and most times lighter
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the bennet in the pictures have irs, but yours has a 9" straight rear, but who knows, the link shows a bennet chassis, small tubing built with lots of triangulation, plenty strong-http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/arntz-butler-forum/135422-bennett-chassis-bennett-jig.html
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Bill S. |
There was a , builder? , just down the road from Bennett who was making a frame kind of like Bennett frame on flat top steel table which was pretty clever, ha ha, because he would just flip it over to wield more pieces of frame together. He made a couple of cars I think. I have a Bennett car and I can tell you it is very strong. Bennet made a model of his frame to test design and more triangulation was added as was needed. Bennett had jigs for frame and a arms ect. Seen many original cars in Bennetts shop getting problems sorted out.
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qwik bingo search came up with these, maybe yours is in there sumwheres-https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Space+Frame+Chassis&form=IRBPRS&=0&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover
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In my opinion the OPs pictures do not look like the Bennet pictures in the link. The nose of the Bennet is kind of octagon shaped. In other words, there is a 45^ piece of tubing in the corners. Also the Bennet main rail is more like 3" tube where the OPs is 1.5 - 2" main rails.
I get the space frame can be lighter and stronger. Kind of like roof trusses verses ceiling joists and rafters. The space frame needs to have triangles in the vertical and horizontal directions. There may be some going vertical, but I cannot see them in the picture. Without them this frame would be like a noodle, unless the body was designed to be a structural member of the frame. The body would have to be at least 1/4" thick glass. To the OP are there stress cracks in the body? I wouldn't be surprised if this is home made car and not sold by any of the kit manufacturers. I would be seriously concerned about the design strength of this car. It may be done well and no problem, but until I understood it, I would be concerned. |
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BTW, I notice those coilovers appear to be on a quite an angle - much less vertical than I'm used to seeing. |
A lot of the strength of a chassis like this comes from a center "backbone" and triangulated braces. The outsides then become little more than outriggers to hold the body on. You can't see the center very well in the photos though and the car has all it's interior panels attached. TVR chassis are similar in design if anyone wants to look one up. I don't have any saved photo's to post.
Who made this one? No idea. I haven't seen one like this at all. Larry |
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"Its a long and useless story as to how I ended up with it but I have limited info on the car."
You never know what embedded clues may exist in the long and useless story. Could be an interesting read for some here ! |
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Your'll find a multitude of original Bennett chassis photos right here on clubcobra by CLICKING HERE
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In addition, when Wayne McAllaster was building them, here is a link to shots of his version of the Bennett chassis
CLICK HERE The chassis photos from the OP match neither of these. |
Seems to me we have another member of the ready, fire, aim crowd here. There was no doubt a reluctance to step up to the price point of a well constructed replica and an itchy trigger finger that was certain the mother load of barn find Cobra's had in actual fact been found. Clearly the only thing remaining was to scarf up this jewel in the rough, confirm its identity as a high end replica and live in well deserved satisfaction over the killer deal that was scored.
Somehow I think this deal looks more like the other side of the pendulum swing. That said, the car and its new owner are probably well matched. Ed |
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I would advise not putting a lot of money into a car like this. Labor is fine to waste if you have the time. You could drop a $25K drive train into this car an not raise its resale value a dime over a junkyard donor that runs good. This is definitely like building a new house in the worst neighborhood in town. |
I'm not so sure I agree. That chassis looks to me like a well triangulated space frame design that has had at least a degree of thought and engineering put into its construction.
It definitely is not a basic hot rod square tube ladder frame that most Cobra bodies are slapped on top of. If it is one of Bennett's products, and it's not in too bad condition, it might be very much worth the effort to restore, if not from a return-on-investment POV, just for the joy of owning/driving a solid, well engineered Cobra. The extra wide wheels/tires well tucked under the body really look like Bennett's work, and the only reservation I have is the fitment of the live axle rear suspension. Maybe it's an owner-built car based on a basic body/chassis kit from a high quality, low volume builder like Bennett. |
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