Whatever happened to Contemporary?

Russ Dickey · #1 (**permalink**) 03-10-2003, 06:22 PM

Last summer, I past up the chance to buy a really nice Contemporary Classic here in the KC area. It was FE powered and, with the exception of the lug nuts on the wheels, was very authentic looking.

I didn't buy it because I had heard that Contemporary had gone out of business, and was afraid to buy a product from a company that had gone under. Just wondering what happened to them? I remember them being a close competitor to ERA in terms of quality and authenticity, but maybe I was wrong.

I also read elsewhere in these forums that FFR has obtained the molds for the Contemporary bodies. Anybody have more info on that?

As a side note, driving the Contemporary was awesome. Very tight, solid car. However, it was a bit tight in the cockpit. I am not a huge guy, but at 6'0, 225lb, I was a little surprised that it was that snug. I've read that most of the new replicas have dropped foot boxes, extended wheelbases, etc. to account for this. I'm just amazed at how Dan Gurney raced these things in the 60's...

Thanks for all the info,

Russ

teamfour · #2 (**permalink**) 03-10-2003, 06:46 PM

FFR has the molds and tooling for the Contemporary. I think theya re too busy right now to think about offering any kind of support for the Cont.

KobraKarl · #3 (**permalink**) 03-10-2003, 08:02 PM

Some of the guys here know the whole story , The short version is ,the original owners got in to some financial difficulties (stories vary , I heard a lawsuit rumour) and sold the operation to Burtis motorworks who was Going to offer a cheaper mustang donor version of the car.

They never got it off the ground. I dont know if Burtis ever sold a car.

I can say Ive never regretted purchasing one, they are a fairly faithful reproduction , and only deviate with the suspension, brakes and a couple of minor details

John McMahon · #4 (**permalink**) 03-11-2003, 05:54 AM

- Peter Bayer (who now owns Nisonger Auto.) sold Contemporary to Burtis.

- Burtis was an great engineer, but a lousy businessman.
(Mommy bought him the company.)

- Burtis listened to no one who tried to help him out. Didn't even want the mailing list from Bayer for the 700+ Contemporary owners!

- Burtis spent all his $$ building the Contemporary F8...which was his answer to the FFR roadster (1 exists) in a market already sewn up by FFR (stupid move). But he did get the suspension right!

- Burtis sold about 10 cars. (I own the last car to roll out the door). He went belly up after a fiasco involving perspective buyers of the business...no names puleeze!

As far as the value of a Contemporary....buy it. The only thing unique to a Contemporary, are the uprights in the suspension and the body. Everything else is available aftermarket. Don Borders and Boyd Coddington are now producing the body and frames for Contemporary cars.

KobraKarl · #5 (**permalink**) 03-11-2003, 08:58 AM

John ,what did you end up with for a suspension

John McMahon · #6 (**permalink**) 03-11-2003, 11:26 AM

Karl,

Jag.....front and rear.

KobraKarl · #7 (**permalink**) 03-11-2003, 10:42 PM

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm .....OK, I guess when you said "Burtis got the suspension right" I was assuming there was a change from the jaguar stuff.

John McMahon · #8 (**permalink**) 03-12-2003, 07:06 AM

Karl,

I meant the suspension in the donor F8 car, not the 289 or 427.
That's where all his funds went and he went bye bye. Chasing the FFR market.

My 289 suspension is just like the 427, all Jag with the exception of the uprights which are custom.

KobraKarl · #9 (**permalink**) 03-12-2003, 07:56 AM

John,

I am still looking to upgrade my front brakes and have found a couple solutions ,but I have not heard of "custom" uprights . Are they still made or are they adapted from another car?

wtcobra · #10 (**permalink**) 03-12-2003, 08:26 AM

Contemporary used two front suspensions, the jag which is a torsion bar suspension, and the coil over suspension. The coil overs were offered from about 1990 on. Image Auto Works, Don Borders, sells all the pieces to fit the Contemporary, give him a call, or check out his website.

wt

John McMahon · #11 (**permalink**) 03-12-2003, 09:07 AM

Karl,

You should be able to upgrade to most aftermarket setups like Wilwoods, which I run. Its not a big deal.

The uprights are the pieces made for Contemporary cars, but should have the same dimension to accomdate any brake setup.
As Wayne states, call Don Borders.

wtcobra,

#1...Hope you are feeling well and recovering nicely!

#2...I thought the same about the front suspension and now I see a 1995 frame for sale from Bill C. at Upstates with a torsion bar front end. Go figure.

wtcobra · #12 (**permalink**) 03-13-2003, 04:41 AM

John- Thanks. Feeling better each day. I always thought the Torsion bar suspension was standard, with the coil overs as an upgrade from about 1990 on. You could also buy the coil over set-up from Heidt's or one of the other Hot Rod suspension companies. I have a catalogue that shows the suspension, I just don't recall for certain which company, and now that I think about it, there may have been several that made coil over replacements for the XKE rorsion bar, including Kugel. In fact, I think mine is the same as a Kugel, if not a Kugel.

Wayne

mr bruce · #13 (**permalink**) 03-13-2003, 07:47 AM

Kugle is the one that originally designed the coil over conversion for the Contemporary cars. The uprite was a stainless investment casting. The spindle pin(where the bearings go) was GM, but I think you could have the Jag type if you were running the true pin drive hub, not the micky mouse adapters. Kugle still makes many of the parts, but they are primaraly a streetrod outfit. I contacted them when burtis was going belly up about parts and was told all their cobra stuff was sold to Curt Hamilton. He was still around those 4 or so years ago, and I did get a hold of him. Call Kugle , maybe they can hook you up with Curt.