The end of my Cobra - it's being deregistered

[750hp]

I'm waiting for a small parcel to arrive from the States, so was very happy to see a note to collect something from the local Post Office.

It turned out to be a letter from Queensland Transport advising that one of their Authorised Safety Inspectors had reason to believe that my car did not comply with the regulations, and ordering the car to be presented for an inspection within one month.

Those of you that have seen the car would know that this spells the end of my driving time with the car. It will be deregistered shortly. The go-fast parts will find their way onto future projects over time.

It sh!ts me to think that some pr!ck can order my car off the road without having even pulled the car over. The last couple of times the car was driven was to the MacLeans Bridge Sports Car day and Sanctuary Cove last weekend. Maybe those mythical Dept of Transport Safety Nazis really do write rego numbers down at car shows.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted......

[PCC]

Commiserations Craig.

The Beast is no longer to be!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look on the bright side - it was hell of a good fun while it lasted!

Are we getting closer and closer to the good ol USA - Legislation, blue tape and more and more Big Brother watching!

Next Project.................

How about a stripped down DB7 with a monster breathing piece of fire under the bonnet.

At least thatway from the surface most Regulatroy Authorities across here would think "Oh its an Aston Martin - whats one of them."

Catch up tomorrow - presume you'll be topless!!

[Rebel1]

Sympathies Craig..can't be much that doesn't comply.

Pull the offending bits and repower.

Hi winding small block maybe.

Cheers

[PatBuckley]

That just sucks!

Sorry, buddy.

[Jim Barnett]

DEFINITELY a BUMMER for you and a SAD POST to read!! I feel your grief! I lost my first cobra to the Republic of California and I was miserable until I got another one!! Hope you can resurect yours and be able to keep it!!!

[ToyCollector]

Bummer Craig, I foresee the same Nazi stuff happening here over time.

[Bud Man]

Sorry to hear it, Craig. With national voting turnout here of about 40%, if it does happen here, we will have no one but ourselves to blame for it.............

Bud

[Buzz]

Craig that is a heartbreaker. We all watched in awe as you put that incredible beast together and now it's days appear to be numbered.
While that tyranosaurus still rules the earth, could you indulge us with some stories about what it is like driving her? Did you ever get to really flog her and get some hard perfromance data? How fast is she really and could you actually use all that power without scaring yourself half to death?
Like the dinosaurs, old buddy, the legend will live on and continue to make the hair stand on the necks of ordinary men for a long time to come.

[Turk]

That sucks BIG time.
Just a preview of things to come here in US.

I bet California will be leading the pack in this like we do in all safety, clean air and other good crap. They are chumping at the bits, to make car ownership more and more difficult. I am sure someone here in California will pick up on stuff like this and go to work.

Basturds.

TURK

[Tongue Pirate]

Damn! It just isn't right! I feel we will all suffer the same fate, in time. Even the cleanest of fuel burning cars don't stand much of a chance for the long term IMHO.

[Cameron Parsons]

Craig.... Yikes..!

that's a real bummer

Rather than deregister, as these are getting so damn hard to get plates as it is, why not De-Power and present?

At least then you will have a driveable or saleable assett. Once off the road, it will be tough to get it back on.

Good luck with it

Cameron

[Rebel1]

Exactly my thought Cameron.

I'm unaware of Craigs requirment for rego...I'll guess unleaded naturally aspirated, then a bog standard 302w will get him past the post.

I'm going to take a guess that MacLeans Bridge day was where some-one heard the side pipes and maybe gazed under that bonnet.

Craig.....I've got a bog standard unleaded 302w, even got the standard 2 barrel on it, but no flywheel or starter, and a new BW world class T5 and bellhousing which has got no more that 10 miles on it. An unused SVO clutch and pressure plate, and a tail shaft.

You are welcome to a lend of the lot if that helps at all.

[PCC]

The biggest issues with these cars is what people do to them after they get registered.

Of the 30 or so Cobra's at Bowdens yesterday I doubt any would pass an inspection by the DoT.

Its not just engines, its the whole car. Even mine would have a couple of issues so no doubt you have to weigh up complying or de-registering.

It would be eay to spend another $20,000 including the time to do it on some of these cars bringing it back into line.

The other probably more important point is does the DoT impound the car if they consider it is dangerous etc etc?

Not nice!

[Rebel1]

Originally posted by PCC


The other probably more important point is does the DoT impound the car if they consider it is dangerous etc etc?

Not nice!

Pete, Yes they can if they pull you up whilst driving on public roads.

But again, lets not forget that all this compliance stuff is our own fault. We have debated this issue and it appears little has been done.

We have a national club within which are state chapters. The club has got to set the minimum standards to which we can construct PCV's. Once those standards are defined and accepted by authorities, we can then cruise in peace.

If that means installing late model injected engines then so be it. But the hot rod fellas can get compliance with unleaded carby engines because they defined the standard.

Lets look at the dark side paternity. They are using the LS1's because they comply and because they fit. We can comply with either the 4.6 or 5.4 ford engines if we could fit them in.

A true 400 - 450hp engine in a cobra is positively lethal. In Craigs case it is a little more extreme. His car is by far an exception to the norm, but is what Craig wanted.

I do feel for Craig. Not because of what has happened as I'm sure he realised it was just a matter of time and he was living on borrowed time. It is the manner in which it happened that I find underhanded.

[SCOBRAC]

I'd suggest you defend your personal property at all costs... But then I remembered you folks were disarmed and your guns were made into Japanese cars.

Sorry for your loss.

[SCOBRAC]

Oh, by the way... We still have our guns... And our Cobras.

[750hp]

Originally posted by Rebel1


I do feel for Craig. Not because of what has happened as I'm sure he realised it was just a matter of time and he was living on borrowed time. It is the manner in which it happened that I find underhanded.

Exactly my thoughts. The end goal was a car that accelerated well, stopped exceptionally well, sounded like any Cobra should, and looked good driving down the road. I got what I wanted, but my choices in getting there were aways going to make it a bit of a target. I always figured that a reasonable cop might see it go past and while thinking it's a bit louder than most cars - it's to be expected from this type of sports car. You know the cliches - Harleys are loud old dinosaurs ridden by murderous gang members, Jap bikers are all racers living on borrowed time, Ferraris are rich people's pose machines, WRX/Supra/GTR drivers are all drug-dealing Lebanese teenage "hoons", just as Cobra owners are middle age guys driving around in their rumbling machines remembering the 60s road / race sports car era. Common sense dictates that the perception of all above road users is almost always incorrect, but it still seems to be what authorities perceive to be the case. Be that as it may, I think I've always felt that Cobras have had a bit of an easy ride with police, and I genuinely thought that a policeman pulling over a Cobra would allow the car to be a little bit loud, etc. That might still be the case, but it's hard to reason with a letter posted to me after the fact. It's hard to stand on the roadside and explain why the car is the way it is, and even offer them a ride in the car. That might now be a problem in that it might allow - heaven forbid - a bit of discretion. What might their policies and procedures tell them to do if they found that I was a normal, well adjusted citizen with a clear conscience, no criminal record, and a fanatical interest in all things mechanical. What if I told them that my illegal Wilwood braking system works with such efficiency that while it outperforms any production car under $300,000, it just hasn't been tested by the Australian Government. How about the illegal Motec M800 engine management system that has been privately proven to be more fuel efficient than Ford factory systems, just that Motec haven't spent the money for the official approval. The guys at the Inspection Station are not going to be interested in a chat. They have no interest in anything other than the black and white reality of the ADR rulebook, and for that reason I have absolutely no chance of getting a break. It will be cheaper for me to build a new car from scratch than to modify (unmodify?) this one.

[PCC]

What we should do is help Craig out with that future project....

AC Ace - Would you really want to change one of these - with only 1,000 made surely the originality would come ahead of customising.

If you want to stay with open motoring how about a Cateraham or Lotus 7 - monster motor awesome power to weight ratio - not sure whether you would run into the same problems as with the Cobra.

MX5 - Interesting if you could get away with it.

Aerial Atom - forget the conversion and frighten yourself with what it has to begin with.

Hmmmm - running out of ideas - that's what happens when you have a Cobra - what would you replace it with????

I think it would have to be a radical project - something from the 60's or 70's and customise however.

Difficult!

[Fred Douglass]

Gawd, what a revoltin' development!
My peers here in America are exactly right---it's coming to a state(s) near us! You combine masses of purposefully- uneducated, class-envy morons, sleazy socialists/Nazis* (who dispaly dazzling ability to spend other peoples' money and destroy the last vestiges of individualistic fun [cobras are a good symbol]) and you have the new Amerika!

*it's critical that the great unwashed believe Nazis and Fascisti were RIGHT WING----which of course they were not, being national socialists.

In any case, the days of wine and roses are going to be over soon. Cripes! Even Maine went socialist! If you wanna keep yer cobra---vote Republican (although there seems to be only minor differences between the parties now---they're BOTH federalist monsters intent on being buzz-killers!).

Maybe we need to take over a large land-area somewhere and defend it against all Demo-libbo, pinko-pukes. Or maybe just institute propertry-ownership requirements for voting! How 'bout Janice Rogers Brown and former Rep. DORNAN for an all-California-save-the-nation ticket in '08!!!!

Ar-ar-ar-ar-oooooooo

[ToyCollector]

Freddie, I see we have the same political philosophies. Time for more than a two party system here as I can no longer discern much difference between both Tax and Spend parties who both take away our liberties more and more each day. We also, as car hobbiests, need to make sure the new generations take an interest in our hobby too, so when it comes time for them to vote and be politically aware, they will fight the fight with us as well. My biggest fear is the apathy and loss of car interest in the new generation. The "tuner" stuff is definitely helping bring them into the hobby however.

TURK, Califorknia has ALREADY started this process with what you all went through with SB-100 BS.