Unique Cobra questions
 

I have my eye on a Unique Cobra, and may want to see it in person. I have looked at their website and searched several forums. The Unique forums are not very active these days. Maybe some of you can answer some of my questions or point me in the right direction.

Does anyone have any links to build threads for the Unique 427? I feel most of my questions could be answered that way.

If not, I have a couple specific questions below.

Do they use wood to mount their pedals to? I have come across an owner talking about wood materials possibly creaking as they age. I also saw a photo of a pedal box that looked like it might be bolted to wood. I am not trying to spread rumors or say wood is not a viable car building material (Morgans, for example) just curious.

Are the bolt on Compomotive wheels easy to swap for true pin drives? is the track width the same or does one have to change halfshafts and control arms?An original looking replica is something that is important to me, honestly that is probably the most important thing for a potential build/purchase.

I have read they use steel in the cowl support, but could find no photos of this, I was wondering if the fiberglass is sandwiched around it? Any photos would be helpful.

I believe the cockpit is fiberglass, is this going to allow a lot of engine and exhaust heat to come through? Is the aluminum panels of an ERA, for example going to be any better?

I watch Cobra replicas on Bring a Trailer and am always surprised to see the Unique cars often selling for less than comparable Superformance, ERA, etc. This despite them being well regarded, any thoughts on this?

I welcome any input on any of this or anything else anyone thinks I should consider before diving in. Thanks in advance.

Hi Ravine,

I have a Unique 289fia. I too, had Compomotive wheels which I swapped out for
Knock off wheels. I purchased them from Vintage Wheels, and I am extremely
pleased with them. I didn't have to change anything out. Bolt on the hubs,
and put on the wheels.

I also wonder why Unique doesn't get the love it deserves. They are great cars.

Good luck.

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By chance is this the Unique your speaking of ? This one has been off & on CL for a year, first time @ 75K, most of the time it's 125K, or make offer. I like what he say's if it doesn't sell @ 75k, he will raise the price back up to 125K ;) What a 'Unique' sales tactic :) https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/...701633553.html

Now, I've never crawled under a Unique Cobra, so keep that in mind. But a switch from bolt-on wheels to true pin drives is not a quickie task. I'm betting the track width will require a chop and weld of the Jag half shaft. ERA's outboard braked six pin system does. That's not as hard as it sounds, but you have to cut the yoke, turn down the shaft, press-fit and weld. You can read about it here: https://www.erareplicas.com/427/shorten.htm But what might be a little more challenging than that is configuring and fabbing your hub carrier, hubs, brakes (if you want outboard). That is some serious modding. Cobraracing sold hubs and carriers at one time, but I believe ownership of that outfit has changed hands. ERA stuff, if you even got a hold of it, is not going to work for you. In fact right now I'm told even ERA buyers can't get ERA rear uprights. Here are pics of the Cobraracing stuff, there are bound to be others out there that will fab it for you. Now, if you can live with 5 pin adaptors those will fool most people. I couldn't though, I had to have true six pins.

https://i.imgur.com/X2qERFX.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fJqC56n.jpg

If you can find a Unique, get it. ive had mine for over 18 years, and it was built in 1990 and still mint.

you can call unique and give them the number off the one your looking at, the weavers are good people and could possibly help you figure out how it was built.

pin drive on them, like most others require the short rear setup. so if it dont have it already, than i would likely not want it. I have Jag rear on mine with center brakes, and honestly prefer the lug nuts. I also have a daytona, with pin drive, so that is my comparison. they look awesome, but pretty big extra cost and can be a pain to get off and they are not all the same. I have FIA wheels on my daytona, which means the setup that was on it before i got it was wrong. vintage wheels got me fixed up and all good.

dont really think i had much issues with the unique, besides the blinker/ headlight high low setup, and the original pull out light switch..... well until i swapped in LED lights anyways.
now all good and still shines and goes great!

price-
many pay a lot for how its built. SBF, 4 speed, irs, ect ect.... now a days, most think the only way to buy them is gen3 yote motor, t56 magnum, 15+ irs.... but honestly, your pocket will define what options you will get. I would avoid a fox body donor build, as you will get them cheaper so expect it to not really gain in value.

Heat-
they are all the same, you will get some heat becuase of the design. dont worry its not bad at all. i drive mine in lower AL no problem..... now the daytona on the other hand, gets HOT. lol

remember this was built 34 years ago....

Yes, that is unique marketing, it does look like a nice car, but it is not the one I am considering looking at.

Thank you, I saw something that sounds similar from Trigo. I will take a look at the Vintage wheels website too.

Patrick, thanks for the info on that. I saw on the Unique website mention of cut down shafts for pin drive wheels being an option. But I also saw this link from Trigo that looks like they have an adapter to make it work, I also see their 6 pin vs 5 pin wheels have different backspacing. I think I could live with 5 pin vs 6 pin, they look the same from the outside, correct? I want an authentic look, but mostly only concerned about the interior and exterior, not so much under the hood or underneath. I also don't mind the inboard brakes, I doubt I would ever track the car.

Check out the link below. Thoughts?

https://trigowheels.com/Adapters.html

Good idea on calling Unique and seeing what they can tell me. I have heard nothing but good things about the Weavers and that they are super helpful. I think I will do that this week.

I hear you about the lug nuts vs pin drives and the cost. I am pretty hung up on the pin drive wheels though, even if it means some work to get it there. Great looking Cobra btw, and I love the green, BRG is on my list of possible colors if I was building one.

like mentioned above, vintage wheels sells a set for the unique builds. i think they have pin drive and bolt on for the longer jag rear.

you cant go wrong with a unique, and thats coming from owning one for a long ass time, and over 14k miles on it.

Checking out the Vintage wheels website now, thanks for the info. I really like the cast and vintage flat finish on some of those wheels, will have to do some research on backspace, etc.

5 Pin Adaptors and keeping your inboard brakes will save you thousands of dollars. And virtually no one will be able to tell the difference. In 20 years with my ERA with their special rear and true six pin drive hubs I've had exactly one guy notice them and he was an XKE restorer. He spotted the pumpkin as a Salisbury, the IRS half shafts as maybe starting out in an XKE, but it did not have inboard rotors, or the funky Jag trailing arms, and it only had one coilover per side, had aluminum uprights for the hubs, and was adjustable for toe. He whistled and asked "how in the hell did you do that?" I told him "I didn't." Now, on the other hand, I bet I've been asked "why do you have those wires on your wheels?" a thousand times.:LOL:

Duplicate, because this site's software is so horrifically crappy it's beyond comprehension.

Vintage 5-Bolt adapters only way to go! I second that!

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Color me a Unique fan, Ravine. I've been lucky enough to own an ERA 427SC, which I loved, and a Unique FIA that I loved just as much. There are a couple of details that I liked about each one. Both cars had the Jag rear with inboard brakes when I bought them. High hp engine transplants and sticky tires later, I ended up putting in a watts link to control the top of the jag hubs. Worked wonders on both. The Unique rearward link to control the jag hub bottom is not as aesthetic as ERA's solution to my eye, but allows much harder launches that don't disappear in tire smoke. The Unique had bolt ons when I bought it. Bob at Vintage wheels set me up with a great set of 5 pin adapters and knock offs that worked great. I carefully mocked up where I wanted the wheel to be, and ordered custom backspace wheels (that took account of the adapter thickness) to get the exact stance I wanted. Pretty economical, all in all. Good thermal insulation material and technique around the footboxes, and maybe transmission tunnel, will greatly reduce the heat inside the passenger compartment. I spent some time doing that during both engine transplants. I owned my ERA for 10 yrs, and the Unique for 15. I have to say that they were both bulletproof. Good luck to you!

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