New Member New SPF MKII Ordered

[Terry Evans]

It is always great to see new people. September was the 60th anniversary of Shelby American and this month is my 59th anniversary of my entering the Cobra world. Bought my first Cobra in November 1963, a 289 street version. I have also owned an original 1966 427 Cobra that I purchased used and abused. I was also lucky enough to be sent to Florida (Kennedy Space Center) so I was able to be at the Daytona Continental and Sebring for Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby victories in those races. I was also at the very first Cobra Club meeting in 1964 at Carroll Shelby and Lew Spencer's Hi-Performance Motors on S. La Brea Blvd in Los Angeles where the main attraction was Carroll Shelby. I only know what I read about replicas. My favorite Carroll Shelby quote is "these cars (Cobras) were meant to be driven.

[Idaho Chris]

Originally Posted by Terry Evans

It is always great to see new people. September was the 60th anniversary of Shelby American and this month is my 59th anniversary of my entering the Cobra world. Bought my first Cobra in November 1963, a 289 street version. I have also owned an original 1966 427 Cobra that I purchased used and abused. I was also lucky enough to be sent to Florida (Kennedy Space Center) so I was able to be at the Daytona Continental and Sebring for Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby victories in those races. I was also at the very first Cobra Club meeting in 1964 at Carroll Shelby and Lew Spencer's Hi-Performance Motors on S. La Brea Blvd in Los Angeles where the main attraction was Carroll Shelby. I only know what I read about replicas. My favorite Carroll Shelby quote is "these cars (Cobras) were meant to be driven.

Wow Terry, very cool. What a history! Have you remained active in the Cobra world over the decades?

I'll bet you regret not hanging onto one of those original Cobras!

[Shuskan3]

Congratulations on the order! I am finally getting some shakedown mileage on my 289 build and absolutely love it. One of the most fun cars I have ever driven.

I went a little crazy with the originality aspect and had a new dash cut with the right-sized glove box door, sourced the correct SW gauges, real 1964 hipo motor with hipo heads, original buddy bar valve covers, etc.

No matter how you decide to finish yours, you won't be able to help but smile every time you drive it.

If you decide to follow the originality path, let me know and I can share a lot of helpful information. For example, SPF installs the competition-style gas cap on all of their cars. The correct street gas cap is smaller. So, most folks with SPF cars that install the correct ceandess cap have to put a rubber ring around the bottom to fill the gap. I worked with SPF on my build and had them only drill the pilot hole for the fuel filler neck and cap. Then, 5 minutes with a hole-saw I was able to drill the correct-sized opening without a need for a rubber ring. So now I have the correct gas cap that looks exactly as it did on the originals.

Steven Crumpley
firstname . lastname at gmail if you'd like to discuss more