FFR's perky butt keeping it down?

[Dangerous Doug]

The funny thing about all the various body differences, is that the non-initiated can barely tell the difference between a 289FIA and a 427 S/C.

I don't know how many times I had read my "Complete Guide to Cobra Replicas" and studied the various manufacturers and the photos, before I began to realize that the SPF body was different from the ERA body was (slightly) different from the Kirkham body.

I did see a silver FFR in Scotts Valley last week that had quite the perky butt. I think the owner had larger tires in the back and this made the car look jacked up with the signature FFR perky posterior. Didn't look right to me, but it didn't stop the teenagers on the corner from dropping to their knees and bowing, "We're not worthy!"

I went with ERA because the snake bite I got was from an original 289FIA at the Monterey Historic Auto Races, and I "wanted THAT body". Looked far and wide, and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw an ERA 289FIA in real life (at Athens at the NorCal Cobra breakfast one morning).

DD

[289fia_cobra]

Doug you do make another good perspective point.

From a gathering at Livermore and Baji's, everyone know's their Cobra's pretty well but nobody get's put down.

From the casual person on the street, it goes from:

"is it real"
"is that a Miata"
"is that a old Vette"
"what IS that"
"it's cute"
"floor it!"
and thumbs up and waves.

for all intents, non-enthusiasts agree it's a unique and good looking body style unlike the bars of soap w/4 wheels these days (yeah, I got one of them too!). It never really bothered me the butt was "perky". But I guess when a bunch of them are lines up "cheek-to-cheek", the FFR's do stand out as an odd duck I guess.

And finally, to the "purists" well, I would argue that based on everything I've read in all of the Cobra related literatures and pictures to date, not many of the racing Cobra's were exactly alike. What is correct on one, doesn't exist on another (i.e. extra tall side louvers, existence of hood lovers, the hacked up front scooped Cobra called "the turd" by ken miles, windscreens vs. windshield, etc.) Just too many differences in each racers car to say something was included in the original or not. I get tired of the arguements after awhile and just drive and enjoy what I built.