freidman book

[misfit41]

I cant belive I waited so long to buy the 1964-1965 archives book by Dave Freidman ,it is GREAT as most of you know,
can anyone recommend another good book geared toward vintage race car photos,especially 427 and drag cars.
thanks,Tim

[computerworks]

There are two other Racing Cobra books by Friedman.

Carroll Shelby's Racing Cobras, by Friedman and Christy

Shelby American Racing History , by Friedman

Both are unfortunately out of print... you can cruise the used book sites or watch for them on eBay

be careful with the 'Archives' book... it is out there under several different titles, with different covers, both hard cover and paperback... but, inside, it is all the same book.

Friedman, in his own words, did NOT like the 427 and, as such, took very little film of it back then.

[mikiec]

Ron,

What book does the best of covering the 427 model?

Mike

[REDSC400]

I have a pretty extensive personal library of Cobra books and magazines. My personal favorite of the 25 books I have is a book titles "COBRA, The Real Thing" by Trevor Legate, Osprey Press, 1994, 272p ISBN 1-874105-05-7. This is a marvelous book with great detail and full coverage of the 427 and Daytona.

My second most favorite, because the author is so irreverent and tells the Cobra story from the British perspective is F. Wilson McComb's " AC (Shelby) Cobra, 1962-67 Marks I, II, III: 260, 289 427. This book, akso by Osprey and published in 1984 really is an eye opener of data and facts. Interviews and accounts from folks who worked at AC during the Cobra years.

Both of these books are out of print now and quite dear, price wise if you can find them. Check on ebay, Legates comes up there perhaps once every 3 months and McComb's has been there more often.

Friedman's books are great. Caution, some of his titles are essentially duplicate material and as mentioned earlier, HC and Paperback printings of the same book but with different titles. NOT NICE.

The reality soon sinks in to the Cobra fan that the 260 and 289 roadsters and the Daytona were the real track performers which "made" the Cobra reputation. The 427 was too late, too much and too old. Sure does look nice though. Especially in street clothing.

[computerworks]

Originally posted by mikiec


Ron,

What book does the best of covering the 427 model?

Mike

Of Friedman's? ..really none of them.
The problem with Friedman is that he clearly felt the company changed in character when they moved to the airport facility and began doing a whole lot of new things.
Friedman quit Shelby American in July of 1965; by that time they had only finished 10 427 Comp cars... so he had taken very few pictures of the 427. I think he referred to them as the "beginning of the end".

"Shelby American Racing History " has the most pics of 427 racing cars. This book is a compilation of pics he never published in earlier books.

Mills' books do have some detail info, as well as Legate... but it's basically a re-hash of the same text that's in the Registry.

[snakeeyes]

Here is the latest version of the list I did a while back of all of the Cobra books I'm aware of, along with a couple of links to sellers who might have used copies in stock (some of them are out of print):

-Essential AC Cobra, by Rinsey Mills

-Original AC Ace and Cobra, also by Rinsey Mills

-AC Cobra, also by Rinsey Mills

-The SAAC World Registry, editions One and Two

-AC Cobra 1962-69, a Brooklands book compiling old road tests and magazine articles

-AC Cobra Gold Portfolio, another Brooklands compilation

-Cobra, the Complete Story, by Brian Laban

-Automobile Quarterly vol 14-3, which has a Cobra article

-Automobile Quarterly vol 16-3, which has a Shelby article

-Automobile Quarterly vol 22-3, which has a great article on the 427 cars

-Carroll Shelby's Racing Cobra, by Friedman and Christy

-The Cobra Story, by Carroll Shelby

-Ford Cobra Guide, by Bill Carroll

-Road and Track on Cobra, Shelby, and Ford GT40, another Brooklands compilation

-Shelby American Guide, by Rick Kopec

-Shelby's Wildlife, by Wallace Wyss

-Daytona Cobra Coupes, by Pete Brock et al.

-Cobra: The Real Thing, by Trevor Legate

-Shelby Cobra, by Dave Friedman

-Remembering the Shelby Years, by Dave Friedman

-The Cobra-Ferrari Wars, by Mike Shoen

-Cobra Super Profile, by Grainger

-Cobra, by Beki Adam

-Classic AC's, by John McLellan

-AC Heritage, by Simon Taylor

-Shelby, by Steve Statham

-AC (Cobra) Autohistory, by F. W. McComb

-Shelby Buyer's Guide, by John Lamm


The Rinsey Mills "Original AC Ace and Cobra" book has some pretty good coverage on the 427 cars, if you're looking for detail shots of original cars. If you're looking for history, the Automobile Quarterly 22-3 article is very good.

The best source I've found for tracking down the out-of-print ones (besides eBay) is found at http:www.abebooks.com/home/TEW/

The in-print ones can usually be found at www.motorbooks.com or www.ewa1.com.

Bob

[Wahoo]

I spoke to Dave Friedman directly when I was enquiring about some photos of his of the 427. To quote--> "The 427 was total ****'--> not a fan. I mentioned the 427 that Miles ran into the tree and he said it was a 289 with the 427 shoe horned in. He was quite entertaining. He was pleasant enough. dftphotoservices.com has some good links to vintage photography. The 427 was considered too much, too late--I can say that he did not bring up anything regarding the change of the company etc., upon moving.

[Cal Metal]

Freidman was never a fan of the 427. His specific objections include the fact that the car never participated in a FIA event, never won a World Championship, and was never campaigned as a Factory entry, either domestically or internationally.