Hello and thanks

[andig]

Hello all, this is my first post, although I have been lurking on the site for some months and hoovering up all the great advice on the forum.

A bit of background, my name is Andy and I am a Brit who has been living in Austin for the past 6 years.

I am a self confessed car nit and over the years I have owned a number of sports cars including several TVR's when I was in the UK.

I have always wanted a Cobra, since lusting over the adverts I used to see in Classic Car magazine back in the 1980's.

After lots of researching, I quickly shortlisted my choice to a Superformance or a Backdraft but ultimately, I keep coming back to the Backdraft as being the one for me.

I haven't pulled the trigger yet but it sounds like Jay at Vintage is the way to go and he seems to have a great reputation with the forum members and Backdraft owners.

One question still remains and that is which engine to go with. Do I go with the new 5.0 Coyote [modern, efficient, lightweight and sounds great from the Vintage videos) or do I go Ford Racing 427 +Inglese Stack (why?.....because it is a 427 and looks/sounds great too).
What do guys think?
Thanks for your help - all advice gratefully received.
Andy

[Dimis]

Welcome aboard Andy,

You know there is no right answer here... It's up to you.

But, if it were my build in a Backdraft, I'd go the Coyote.
Reason being - It's evolution.

Also as research & development on the engine continue, there will be more aftermarket stuff available, & in time, it will probably get direct injection which will push it further ahead of the SBF.

Just my thoughts...

Best of luck

[am9648]

Andy,

Welcome to the madness of the cobra world.

If you are in the Austin area, contact James Yale, he is located in Houston and is an authorized Backdraft dealer.

I purchased mine through James.

[aa909]

Hi Andy

I just took delivery of my Backdraft Cobra this week from Jay and Brian at VMS. They are great to work with and you'll have fun following the build on their website as it progresses.

With that said, I think engine choice is a personal matter I don't think there is a right or wrong choice. I personally chose the 427 from VMS for a few reasons, After exploring options with Jay I decided I really wanted a "427" with a carb and 500+hp for that sweet exhaust rumble, it just felt right on this car, and the price was right.

If a "427" isn't a "must", then the coyote is a killer set up and I believe Jay has a car ready to go with that engine

Best of luck, either way you're going to love the car
Art

[andig]

Guys,
Thanks for your responses, all very helpful.
Methinks I am going to be noodling on the engine choice a little bit longer.....all part of the decision making fun though!

Andy

[sean2789]

Hello Andy
Coyote is the go,fuel injection and should always be happy.Do like the look of the Backdrafts and I do not know Jay but everyone speaks very highly so it would be a very easy decision for me,good luck.

[SinCityJets]

I am the proud owner of 1079....Coyote is the only way to go. I can even see some "purists" taking a walk on the dark side for this one!

Chad

[Cashburn]

Want to hear more about those TVRs...

[SpecOp1]

Right car,right motor......have both (BDR 1063) and it has been a blast. The Boynton BDR Boyz have been great to work with. Cheers Bill

[wkdfast]

Welcome to the club Andy,

I just purchased Backdraft 1078 from Jay at Vintage Motorsports and couldn't be more pleased with the experience. Engine choice for me was easy. I wanted to be able to lift up the hood and see a classic style engine in a classic style car. The VMS 427X is one sweet sounding engine...even when it's just sitting there idling. I don't have anything against the newer technology of the Coyote, but like Art, I wanted to be able to say it had a 427 in it, because the question does get asked.

Either way...you can't go wrong with VMS. Have fun!

Brian

[andig]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

Want to hear more about those TVRs...

Jay,
The TVR's were a realization of a boy hood dream. I used to live only a few hundred yards from the factory in Blackpool in the North of England and as a 10 year old I used to see these beautiful, fast and noisy beasts being blasted around the local streets by the factory engineers. When I could finally afford one, I just had to have one.....or three as I ended up with over the years.
The first was a Chimaera with the 4.0 Rover sourced V8. It only had 240 bhp but was quick ish and sounded great.
The second was the 2+2 Cerbera with a 360 bhp flat six engine that was an absolute screamer.
The last one I had was a 2001 Tuscan, which was a shorter chassis version of the Cerbera but with the same engine. The car looked great but the handling was suspect and I never really liked that one.
All told though, I loved them and it was a sad day when they shut the factory a few years ago.

Andy

[Cashburn]

I know a company that toyed with resurrecting one like this as a roller:

[jhv48]

I don't know about the rest of these guys, but when you pop the hood and show off the engine, you lose the WOW factor with a coyote engine.

Why buy a 50 year old design with no power steering, cruise control, antilock brakes, launch control, electric windows, cup holders, decent heater and then put a modern fuel injected, electronic snakepit that you won't be able to work on even if you wanted to.

If your goal is to have a sports car that handles well, is comfortable, isn't loud or stinky, then there are better choices out there.

For me, a cobra is meant to have a smelly, throbbing, cantankerous, leaky pushrod engine that always needs attention just like the originals did (with a few modern upgrades).

But that's just me.

[aa909]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

I know a company that toyed with resurrecting one like this as a roller:

Wow wow wow. Don't know squat about that car but it looks awesome!

[Mark Brye]

Was it Backdraft toying with the idea of the TVR? Seemed like I saw a post from Reg on Backdraftboys in which he posted some pictures if memory serves me correctly.

[Cashburn]

Originally Posted by Mark Brye

Was it Backdraft toying with the idea of the TVR? Seemed like I saw a post from Reg on Backdraftboys in which he posted some pictures if memory serves me correctly.

At that time it was a discussion about building something like a Weismann GT:

[Cashburn]

Sorry for launching this one off topic... but the TVR got me thinking.

[andig]

Originally Posted by aa909

Wow wow wow. Don't know squat about that car but it looks awesome!

This was the last one they built, called a Sagaris. If my memory serves me right that also had a 4.0 litre straight six with 400+hp. There is a firm in the uk reconditioning these cars now and dropping in the LS7 Chevy motor. These cars are similar in weight to a Cobra and have no electronic driver aids, other than PAS and they can be a real handful......just like a Cobra!

Andy

[SinCityJets]

Originally Posted by jhv48

I don't know about the rest of these guys, but when you pop the hood and show off the engine, you lose the WOW factor with a coyote engine.

But that's just me.

I disagree. At our cars and coffee, every Saturday, there's always a big group of people admiring this Coyote set-up. Maybe within the purist Cobra group (who are all most likely driving a fake/replica cobras) there will be some nose snubbing, but the rest of the planet will have plenty of WOW!!

Chad

[aa909]

Originally Posted by SinCityJets

Coyote is the only way to go.

Chad

I have to say that is a very subjective statement. Like I said in an earlier post, I don't think you can go wrong with any choice as the setup in these cars is a personal choice. At the end of the day driving a Backdraft Cobra is blast regardless of engine, but I draw the line at a supercharged inline 4!

Art