Need help with a 427 Contemporary's History porary

[Anchorman1008]

I recently bought an AC Cobra built by Contemporary with a 427 dual quad side oiler and a C6 automatic transmission. The gentleman who owned it before me for roughly 30+ years passed away and I bought it from his estate. What a beautiful car so while it was never on my bucket list, I couldn't say no to a 427 side oiler AC Cobra, right. While I have some of the original paperwork, I do have many questions about the legacy of the car. I'm pretty sure it was built around 1992 because the color code for the car is 1992 Buick poly which is a blue/green color and it is a Ditzler base coat, clear coat finish. While it has a Shelby America Vin tag, it is registered as a 1965 Ford, and not an AC Cobra kit with a CSX Vin number. Does anyone know where I could get a little more background on the build and history of this car? Thanks, Rich

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Anchorman1008

I recently bought an AC Cobra built by Contemporary with a 427 dual quad side oiler and a C6 automatic transmission. The gentleman who owned it before me for roughly 30+ years passed away and I bought it from his estate. What a beautiful car so while it was never on my bucket list, I couldn't say no to a 427 side oiler AC Cobra, right. While I have some of the original paperwork, I do have many questions about the legacy of the car. I'm pretty sure it was built around 1992 because the color code for the car is 1992 Buick poly which is a blue/green color and it is a Ditzler base coat, clear coat finish. While it has a Shelby America Vin tag, it is registered as a 1965 Ford, and not an AC Cobra kit with a CSX Vin number. Does anyone know where I could get a little more background on the build and history of this car? Thanks, Rich

Do you have the CCX (Contemporary Cobra) chassis number ?
That, along with what state you purchased it from will help, as someone might just know the original owner.


As far as the Shelby American VIN tag, those can be had at any number of parts vendors for around $20-$25 and means nothing. Same goes for the way it is titled, as the titles and registrations "back in the day" were simple and straight forward, and there were no "special construction" or "kit car" designations. The local DMV/MVS took the MSO (manufacturers certificate of origin) from the kit manufacturer at face value, if it said 1965 Ford 2dr convertible, then that is what the car was titled as.


Will await your response, and we can go from there.


Bill S.

[767Jockey]

I posted all this and of course the site lost it, so we’ll try again.

I have a Contemporary, they’re nice cars. You have a good Cobra there. There are a few ways I can think of to narrow down the timeframe when it was built.
1- Look on the cockpit side of the firewall, up high above the transmission tunnel. Some Contemporary cars have a sticker up there that says the company name and a body number. If you do have that sticker what is the body number on yours?
2- Remove the drivers side front tire. Somewhere between the forward upper A-Arm mount and the rear of the wheel well, on the main chassis frame tube, is a stamping with a serial number. What is your serial number? The stamping can be hard to near impossible to see, as they are often obscured by heavy layers of paint or powder coating buildup. You may have to play a bit of Where’s Waldo to find the stamping, but it IS there.
3- Is your cars front suspension a torsion bar setup or a coiler shock setup?
4- This Club Cobra website used to be hugely influential in the Cobra world. There is a better than even chance that the guy who owned your Contemporary for that many years participated on this site. If possible, perhaps reach out to the family of the prior owner and see if they know what his logon name here was. By looking at his past posts you will likely learn a whole lot about your cars history.
5- What town and state was the car in all those years the prior owner owned it? By posting that info here, along with a few photos of the car, there’s a really good chance someone will recognize the car and set you off on your trail of discovery on your cars history. Someone may be able to tell you the prior owners name here on Club Cobra. Again, there is a better than even chance that he participated here.

Jeff G. (1985 CCX) here on Club Cobra was at one time the unofficial “registrar” of Contemporary (CCX) cars. At one time he did an interview with Peter Bayer, who is the original owner of Contemporary, the manufacturer of your car. Jeff posted a whole’s summary of that conversation with Peter on here. If you do a search on here and find that thread you’ll learn a lot about Contemporary. I also know that Jeff had attempted to start a registry with CCX’s. Perhaps your car is in the registry that he had started? I have a vague recollection that perhaps he forwarded the registry to someone else to maintain, as Jeff no longer owns a CCX. Perhaps reach out to Jeff via PM if he doesn’t see this thread beforehand and ask him to maybe direct you to the Peter Bayer interview thread as well as who maintains the registry now. Maybe your car is in there.

There is a lot of Contemporary expertise and experience on this forum still. Ask away with anything you need to now and one of us is likely to be able to help you. Start with all the above info and we’ll go from there. Good luck and welcome!

EDIT - Here's a few threads on Contemporary to get you started. I didn't find the thread Jeff made with the in depth interview with Peter Bayer, but perhaps Jeff or someone with better search skills than I possess can help with that. Hopefully these threads I did find will help you along your path.

Contemporary Classic Motorcar History

Contempary Classic Motor Car Company

Contemporary serial #

[1985 CCX]

Who is Jeff G?

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

Who is Jeff G?

Some guy I've heard of over the years........

[saltshaker]

do you have the number of your car? I have the registry book of all the contemporary cobras
Jon

[Lulworth]

Saltshaker,
That’s interesting
What information can you provide from a CCX chassis number via the registry book ?

[Lulworth]

Originally Posted by saltshaker

do you have the number of your car? I have the registry book of all the contemporary cobras
Jon

Saltshaker,
That’s interesting
What information can you provide from a CCX chassis number via the registry book ?

[Thor maine]

What do you know from the registry of my former car #102?

[Anchorman1008]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I recently moved from NY tp Florida so with the move and the holidays, I'm still trying to dig out, if you know what I mean. I do have what I think is the original owners name, the gentleman in Northport, Long Island (NY) who's estate I bought the car from, as well as the assembly manual from Contemporary that I will find tomorrow and post what I can find. I also have a Polaroid (remember those) of what seems to be the car going across an auction stage. Looks like back in the day like a Russo and Steele type auction but I will take a picture of it and post it in case someone has any recollection of this picture or event (long shot, but with the unique color of the car (Buick Poly) and the hard top, you never know). I'll also take a picture of the VIN tag and also look for the other Contemporary number on the firewall and chassis. Thanks again for all the information so far.

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by Anchorman1008

Thank you everyone for your responses. I recently moved from NY tp Florida so with the move and the holidays, I'm still trying to dig out, if you know what I mean. I do have what I think is the original owners name, the gentleman in Northport, Long Island (NY) who's estate I bought the car from, as well as the assembly manual from Contemporary that I will find tomorrow and post what I can find. I also have a Polaroid (remember those) of what seems to be the car going across an auction stage. Looks like back in the day like a Russo and Steele type auction but I will take a picture of it and post it in case someone has any recollection of this picture or event (long shot, but with the unique color of the car (Buick Poly) and the hard top, you never know). I'll also take a picture of the VIN tag and also look for the other Contemporary number on the firewall and chassis. Thanks again for all the information so far.

That's a coincidence, I spent the first 50 years of my life on Long Island over in West Islip. I don't recognize the car, probably because I moved away way back in 2008. There's a Long Island specific forum here on Club Cobra, maybe sort through that forum and see if you can pick up something on there about the car. Also try reaching out to the group on that forum, maybe they'll be someone on there who recognizes the car. Maybe it's worth doing a Google search by image with a photo of the car to see if anything turns up?

[Anchorman1008]

Just had a chance to pull out my paperwork and also check the front suspension and also for the frame# stamping on the drivers side tube frame. It is a torsion bar front suspension, and with some light sanding through the original black imron paint, it looks like the frame is stamped with CCX 33450. Also, the gentleman who's estate I purchased her from and who owned it for 30+ years was named Richard Willis III. My assembly manual has the name Mr. Ralph Dowd or Dovel written on the top of the blue manual cover in script in black magic marker. Not with a sharpie, but what looks like an old fashion magic marker. There is also a hand sketch of the hard top in black pen on the cover of the assembly manual right below the title block sticker that specifies that the drivers side has a course thread bolt and the passenger side has a fine thread bolt. Does that ring any bells since it is an unusual place for the hard top bolting criteria. Hopefully this helps, and again, thank you for all the support.

[Anchorman1008]

Just had a chance to pull out my paperwork and also check the front suspension and also for the frame# stamping on the drivers side tube frame. It is a torsion bar front suspension, and with some light sanding through the original black imron paint, it looks like the frame is stamped with CCX 33450. Also, the gentleman who's estate I purchased her from and who owned it for 30+ years was named Richard Willis III. My assembly manual has the name Mr. Ralph Dowd or Dovel written on the top of the blue manual cover in script in black magic marker. Not with a sharpie, but what looks like an old fashion magic marker. Hopefully this helps, and again, thank you for all the support.

[Anchorman1008]

I am having a hard time adding pictures of the car but I was able to post them in the Contemporary Classic Motorcar forum just in case seeing a couple pictures of the car helps.

[767Jockey]

Sent you a PM with some info on the prior owner of your car. It's not much but hopefully enough to start you on your search. He went by Dick Willis from Northport, NY. Perhaps someone on here is familiar with him.
I'm not seeing any photos posted on the Contemporary or Long Island Cobras sub-forum. I'll PM you my email address. Email them to me and i can post them in this thread for you.

[Anchorman1008]

I found some old paperwork with the paperwork I received with my car. There is a receipt from British Miles in Morrisville, Pa. to a Ralph Dovel of Baltimore, Maryland. I'm thinking he may be a past or original owner. I also searched his name and there is an old Baltimore Sun newspaper article from May 30, 1993 mentioning his name for an exotic car auction as a buyer. Wondering if that narrows down the build date of my car to 1993? Any additional history or help with the build year of the car would be appreciated. Frame # is CCX 33450.

[767Jockey]

Rich,
This quote was picked from post #55 in the below thread:

"My CCX 3524 was registered with my local DMV in 1990." Since your car is number CCX 3-3450 I'd guess your car was built maybe 1989ish, maybe even early 1990?

Contemporary Classic Motorcar History

[767Jockey]

All, Anchorman1008 (Rich) recently purchased his Contemporary at an estate auction. The car has lived in Northport, NY on Long Island for the last 30 years. The former owners name was Dick Willis, who is recently deceased. Rich is having difficulty posting photos so he forwarded them to me to be posted up here. Rich is hopeful that someone will recognize the car, as he has very little info on it. If you do recognize the car please reach out to Rich with any info you might have.

[767Jockey]

More photos

[767Jockey]

More Photos