For the street, there's little chance of a rollover. A much bigger risk is your head snapping back or forward into the dash, even with a low speed impact. I run 5 points, high back seats, and full length roll bar. A few bad crashes in my life taught my safety first, I don't care what others think. If your dead, you can't drive a Cobra. I can always put the original style seats and belts back in if I sell it.

I have a BDR and I have 2 roll bars. I drive it a lot but don't feel any safer because these cars are simply not safe. I wear my harness, yes, but I am always worried about getting creamed from the rear or side.

No one has ever said they don't like the look.

The chance of being injured by a drivers side impact is the highest concern for me.

It should be mandated that all Cobras have two roll bars and be padded with material similar to that used to protect pipes from freezing.

That way, this thread can end and all drivers and family members will be safe and (hopefully) can live happily every after. ;) :)

The question now is what color the roll bars should be, polished or black, if you have two rollbars can you mix match the colors, or can you pad just one bar, or can you paint half the roll bar black and leave the other half chrome, or pad just half the bar and paint the rest, or pad half the bar and polish the rest, and if no roll bars then this does'nt apply to you.

I don't have a Backdraft, but have one of those bastard FFR's. I have had more than one person ride in my car and state they wouldn't do so again without some rollover protection on their side. I wanted to track my car but they wouldn't let me without some protection (roll bar) for the instructor. I drag raced my car and they (tech officials) told me they want to see a full width roll bar with side bars. In the end I went with the full width roll bar and side bars and already have highback seats. I had everything made removeable in case I ever sold it and someone wanted a more original look with the single hoop.
Sorry to disagree with some of the posts, but I believe my car is safer now. My only problem is that now the drag race officials want an overhead hoop and I said no. We all have to draw the line somewhere, lol. Cheers to all.

At the risk of contributing to extending this thread far past its lifespan, I saw a few posts in here by guys looking for a minimalist look on the padding issue. Has anyone tried this half-moon padding? It claims to be SFI certified 45.1. Trying to picture how it would look, but was just curious if anyone why is further along than I am in investigating this topic has considered or tried it.

Regards,

Kevin

I made my bars fully functional and heavy enough to handle a roll.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d.../DSCF00099.JPG

Since I'm such a short guy at 6'4", I had to increase the height 4 inches to pass the string test for a roll.

Whatever you do, decide what the purpose of the roll bars is. Safety or appearance.

Just my $.29 worth ( prices have gone up )

:D

I went with deuce and like it, screw what others think. It is my car for me and the way I like it.

Alright, from another BDR owner/driver. I chose one roll bar for a couple of reasons: 1) I drive like an old lady with my wife or kids in the car 2) I don't race every d^%#weed at the stoplights (although it is tempting) 3) I only test the limits when I am the only one in the car. I don't plan to race it in the near future, I like showing at car shows with family and friends, and it is what I preferred. It really is what makes your boat float, whether from your own heart or from other's opinions that matter to you.

As for all the passion regarding aesthetics, originality, and safety; relax people. You don't have to ride in anyone elses Cobra. I wouldn't turn my nose up to any of you if we were parked next to each other at an event. The differences would make for the best conversations.

True. And what's funny is that riding as a passenger in a Cobra is a hundred times scarier than actually driving the car yourself. I can't say I really enjoy sitting in the passenger seat of a Cobra at all if it is being driven even with the slightest bit of "high spirits."

LMAO!
anything else is not true to the car, the look and it's pedigree
... you mean that KIT CAR pedigree, oh yeah - some real history there :LOL:
----

I don't know Patrick, you seemed to enjoy your last ride in the passenger seat when driven with "high spirits."

I agree ... the experience from the right seat is a lot different than from the left. Same could be said for any car really, but the differences seem particularly pronounced in a Cobra.

My wife wouldn't ride in the car unless it had two roll bars.

So I only installed one!

Just kidding. Happy wife, happy life. I have two!

Sometimes life is a tradeoff!

Rollbars & More
 

Hello fellow Cobra owners.
I found this thread and ended up reading the wh.....oo....ll...e thing. If not for that, I would not be responding, and I pretty much stay on the side-lines these days, but I found that too much emotion and not enough realistic elaboration took over this topic. I have Backdraft #385 and I ordered it from the Boynton Beach Factory with 2 Rollbars...Right from the start. The extra was for my wife, but it later turned out that it didn't really help, as she died from a Brain Tumor shortly after anyway. Certainly an Irony to this discussion, and maybe this is a good reason to start my opinion.
Soo..., In my opinion, and I do not want to Flame any previous posters, but I can tell you that what you want your Cobra to look like is your domain. If you want 0,1,or 2 Rollbars is totally up to what works for you. Other posters have explained the advantages of more than one. You all have to understand that we all have Custom Cobras, and none of ours are original...In fact probably all Cobras today are much better than the Original, and I can testify that Backdrafts are very refined race cars as are many other replicas. If someone asks you if it is Real, you simply need to respond that it is light-years better than an Original.
I'm going to cut this off short in order to not bore you, but if all of you guys are worried about "Original" look, then hide your suspension, it's not likely original, and those of you with those beautiful Raush Engines....Hide them...Leave your hoods shut at the shows, because they were not available or stock back in the 60's. Our 17" Wheels on our Backdrafts were not original, but Oh, how well these cars handle with these improvements.
To sum up,
Take pride in your Cobra because it is Custom, it is yours, and it is what you desire in a Cobra, and it is a whole lot better than what they used to be.
Hail to the Cobra for making us all so proud to own one today, and for helping us all to respect every version you see today. These are all truly Awesome examples and continue to draw attention at Car Shows (Because most people at shows do not even know how many "Rollbars" the cobra had back in 1966)
Respectfully,
John