Commissioning a Turn Key ERA 427 Cobra

[TButtrick]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

What am I missing here?

She's 5'11", she flies airplanes for a living (think free travel), she's buying a Cobra and chose an ERA street model, one of the greatest automobiles of all time and she lives in the SF Bay Area, the geographical center of great taste, technology, venture capital and great food. And she's single.

I say "Hubba, Hubba."

That's the way I see it. And she has patrick pegged to boot. Will you marry me Flygirl? We wouldn't have to argue about the transportation for the wedding party.

[Murky781]

That car is SO wrong! Almost as many rollbars as Patrickt.

[Flygirl]

It's probably going to be a while. ERA hasn't begun the build and I'm taking it slow (but taking it).

[mreid]

Yeah, but you got to love the sidepipes. Equal burn opportunity for all!

[Flygirl]

^^^ Haven't yet...
:-)

Originally Posted by TButtrick

That's the way I see it. And she has patrick pegged to boot. Will you marry me Flygirl? We wouldn't have to argue about the transportation for the wedding party.

I will, but only if you'll agree to a prenup: Whoever instigates the divorce has to give the other person their cobra.

[TButtrick]

Originally Posted by Flygirl

^^^ Haven't yet...
:-)



I will, but only if you'll agree to a prenup: Whoever instigates the divorce has to give the other person their cobra.

deal, and throw in a hydraulic lift and tools

[jeffy]

Flygirl-

Thought of you and your plans for a white 427 this weekend. The Elvis movie "Spinout" was on TCM early Sunday and I caught it on my DVR. I just watched the racing sequences and fast-forwarded through the rest, which looked pretty dreadful, even by Elvis standards.

One of the stars is a white 427 Cobra competition car with white sidepipes and red roundels with black numbers: looked pretty sweet, particularly with the racing wind screen, FIA wheels and lone RayDot mirror. Another forum member posted some screen caps from the film a while ago (the dark Cobra with the white stripes is a 1964 289 comp car):





One thing that was kind of cute was that Elvis drives the Cobra into a creek, but no one was dumb enough to get the "real" car wet:



I had no idea what kind of car they used as the "stand-in", but the story is told here:

Google Image Result for http://images.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2010/11/ElvisSpinout_05_1000.jpg

Bonus trivia: the girl in the red and white cap drives a red Ferrari convertible that, surprise!, winds up in the same spot in the creek later in the movie. Its stunt double was easy to recognize: a red Triumph TR4.

Jeff

[xb-60]

Nice one Jeff. Good story. The Raydyot on the 427? It's not there on the close-up. Is it maybe something the photographer's carrying? A press ID, or the flash on his camera maybe?
Cheers,
Glen

[jeffy]

Originally Posted by xb-60

Nice one Jeff. Good story. The Raydyot on the 427? It's not there on the close-up. Is it maybe something the photographer's carrying? A press ID, or the flash on his camera maybe?
Cheers,
Glen

Glen-

Wow! You have an eagle eye! I didn't notice that. Wonder how that happened?

Here it is in a still taken from the movie (note the realistic background, and nary a hair out of place!):



And you can see it on the "stunt double":



As well as in this publicity still. So, why isn't it on the car in the close-up at the starting line? You can see it in the "long" shot from across the track. Very strange.



So many unanswered questions...

Jeff

[Flygirl]

Great pics!

Yeh, I gotta say, sometimes at the end of a busy day, just before I go to sleep, I let my self lie in bed and fantasize about driving a Cobra, and what that would be like. It's my little treat, just a few minutes when I can let my mind wander.

I put the other Elvis racing movie in my Netflix queue by mistake (drawing a blank at the moment, I think it was called 'Speedway,' the one with Nancy Sinatra who incidentally is a twig!), and ended up watching some vintage stock car racing instead of seeing the Cobra as I was hoping.

It was kind of a disappointment at first—and the movie itself was painfully difficult to get through—but the highlight for me ended up being the opening credits, specifically the shots of all the real stock car drivers who drove cars featured in the movie, photographed in the driver's seats of their cars.

Tiny Lund was really cute, he kind of similed and glanced away, and put the car into gear; it was adorable.

Some cool, vintage stocker action though. What really struck me was how, in the banked curves at Charlotte, the cars appeared to be in a constant, but slight, overseer condition. The rear ends of the cars were definitely tracking higher in the bank than the front, like the car was constantly diving all the way through the corners. That was excellent, at first I wasn't sure I was seeing it, but after closer observation, I'm sure I was. Wow!!

And, did I say that Tiny Lund was cute?
:-)

[Flygirl]

I know this is totally off topic, but I was stationed in Florida last year for work, and (talking about Southern racing action) visited the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing.

Excellent!!

Some pics for your viewing pleasure. Dig the SOHC Fords and the 427 air cleaner. Also, it was amazing how many of the graphics were hand-painted, even major sponsor logos like Hot Wheels. One of the highlights of my stay.

[Flygirl]

And some more, I've got a TON of photos from that day. The Dart 2 was one of my favorites. And what I'd give for that Shirley Muldowney bag!

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Speaking of a woman driving a Cobra, Youtube has an old series (I don't remember the name) where the girl has the (289) Cobra and gets the bad guys. I'm sure someone from here remembers it, as the link I saw came from one of the posts on CC.

[RodKnock]

I think it was Honey West, played by Anne Francis, but I'm not 100% sure.

Here's the link to the previous thread on it: Honey West drives a cobra

Youtube clip no longer works.

[cscobra]

It was Honey West (on for one season, 1964-65). My wife has the DVD set with that season on it. Honey certainly appeared to enjoy her drives in the Cobra.

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Yes, that was it. Pretty neat for the day.

[jeffy]

Flygirl-

There was also some racing in "Viva Las Vegas" where, once again, Elvis is a singer/race driver. Elvis drives a 289 Cobra street car at one point, but no 427s, as I recall and, at least compared to "Spinout", it was watchable.

Another for your Netflix queue is "The Fast and the Furious". No, not the one with Vin Diesel, though that IS one of my favorite "car" movies, but this one from 1955:



Completely different story (bad guy kidnaps a girl, I think, and they drive around California), and, for some reason, the bad guy's car is a Jaguar 120XK, and the finale involves a road race on 17-mile drive in Monterey. Lot's of fun.

Also, it's free on the IMDB hulu channel! Follow the link.

The Fast and the Furious Full Movie (The Fast & The Furious (1955)) - IMDb

Enjoy!

Jeff

[DanEC]

Has ERA started building your car? If so what form and options did you settle on?

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Has ERA started building your car? If so what form and options did you settle on?

Her profile says she hasn't logged in here since January... soooooo, I would say "this bird has flown."

[kgs365]

When I picked my car up in January Peter said he got a deposit from a women for a 427 .....?