First New Hurricane 427 Roadster Body

[ff2-emtb]

Glad to see this is working out so well for them. Always good to bring more business to Iowa Found this on the local news station, which by no small coincidence the chief weatherdude is the brother of Scrantons owner.

http://www.kcci.com/video/21746460/index.html

[jwd]

Very nice. Thanks for the link.

Jim

[FUNFER2]

I had a shop tour several year ago and was very impressed. I as a body man really like where the mold lines are, this way is much easier than on top.

One of my perks, for some of the replica company's out there, is they don't have the arch of the rear wheel wells the same as the original cars, and as you see from the photo's, and very well,.... in the video link that ff2-emtb supplied (thank you) they look right on. Very happy to see that !

Will they still have the round tube and IRS option ?
(haven't looked at the site yet)

[MFE III]

I think that's Jason's street car version. Jason was one of the original HM fabricators and I'm glad to hear he's been drafted back into the operation.
Thanks for the link.
Matt

[dlampe]

That is Jason's street car. I absolutely love the look of the street version. It almost looks more original than the 427 SC version. I think people assume the SC is a replica but the street version might leave them scratching their heads!

[Mike Braatz]

Regarding Legendary, I think what he was saying was the car is related to the origional Legendary Cobra's -- Legendary Cobra's were built in Jay Oaklahoma and the sales office was in Orlando, they went out of business in the 80's and appear to be the cousin of B&B. All three cars appear related.
Mike

[Kit Cars Mexico]

If somebody wants a very nice Hurricane with Hood, Doors and Trunk made in Aluminum, this is one of the best, HM1040.

http://www.clubcobra.com/classifieds...uct=2424&cat=2

[lineslinger]

Originally Posted by cdnus

Is it just me or does that photo look phoney????
The whole background is blurry & lacking of any colour,gloss or definition, yet the newly minted body is shiney black & razor sharp in definition.
Perhaps a little computer enhancement?

Craig

Its an advertising/promotional photo.
They're chasing a period correct middle sixties look with the composition of the photograph/ad having the B@W "look".
I thought it was pretty apparent that's what the art director of the photo was after.
Photoshop has been around for a bit.................

[dlampe]

You are wrong about the association to B&B. I have had both and there is nothing similar except that they are both replicas but that is were it stops. Brian Anderson of B&B (previously LA Exotics) has never been part of Hurricanes past. This car does have a past and was sold under a different name years ago but it wasn't Legendary. The car has undergone significant changes and no longer can be called anything but a Hurricane. There is nothing left from the original company. The frame jigs are new and the glass molds have never been anything but Hurricane. The car that Hurricane bought to start their company was really unsafe to drive. I was there and saw the original frame that came with the purchase and it was junk. Hurricane started from basically scratch on the frame. They looked at ERA as the standard and you will notice quite a few similarities. The body is pretty close too. I think on the new cars the roll bar support is more correct than the older Hurricanes but other than that, I will stack it up against any other glass car's profile for correctness.

[Joe Wicked]

Hurricane is most welcome to send me a kit to "Test" the assembly process.

In all seriousness, though I wish I could order a kit soon, but it will still likely be a few years.

[RedBarchetta]

Great start! I'm more curious to see the chassis, the suspension and underpinnings and how the wheel wells and other panels will be finished. Are they targeting the SPF/BDR crowd or looking to compete with the likes of ERA? Or is this an alternative to the Shell Valley/B&B/FFR do-it-yourself crowd? Competition is always a good thing for the consumers.

-Dean

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

Great start! I'm more curious to see the chassis, the suspension and underpinnings and how the wheel wells and other panels will be finished. Are they targeting the SPF/BDR crowd or looking to compete with the likes of ERA? Or is this an alternative to the Shell Valley/B&B/FFR do-it-yourself crowd? Competition is always a good thing for the consumers.

-Dean

Excellent question!

[elmariachi]

Wow, we already have conspiracy theories and misplaced lineage, and they haven't even delivered the first car.

To add to Dean's comments:

The molds in use by the new Hurricane in Iowa were originally created by Jerry Connolly, founder of Component Craft, located in Bedford Texas in the early 90's. I have personally spoken at length with Jerry about the process he used to create the molds. Based on feedback from Jerry and withstanding some additional research, we are hopeful to comment on which CSX car was used as the donor the coming weeks.

The main body mold shown briefly in the opening sequence of the video linked above (and pictured below while still at the now-defunct Hurricane Texas in 2008) was taken directly from an original CSX car in Dallas and are the exact same molds used to make the original Component Craft cars (thought to be around 100 in total production) and the 122 Hurricanes under Arps & Burroughs. To my knowledge Hurricance Texas did not complete a sellable body.

[Mike Braatz]

Regarding the relationship with B&B and Hurrican, I can't say if there was a relationship or not, but when I compared the cars side by side I thought they were almost identical -- -- However, I would like to here Mr. Anderson's response on if there ever was a relationhip with B&B to Legendary -- I think this is an interesting topic- --because, I wonder what the heritage is to a number of the Cobra's today --
Sorry for taking this off topic ---
Mike

[RedBarchetta]

My father owned a boat building business for a few years when I was a kid. He used to tell me that the first thing that you do when making a fiberglass boat is to paint it (i.e. spray the gel coat). This picture makes you appreciate the fact that to pop a Cobra body from a mold and using the proper body measurements/configuration, you must find a way to separate the lower half so that you can remove it from the mold!

If Hurricane follows the ERA mantra (former CSX car as a model) and does the necessary aluminum wheel well/engine compartment trim, and then adds a reliable and serviceable undercarriage/frame, and finally makes sure that the little details (windshield rake, rear roll bar angle/down bar angle are correct) then all I can say is they will have a winner that should be able to compete with pretty much anyone.

This content SPF owner is looking forward to learning more about this brand.

-Dean

[jwd]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

If Hurricane follows the ERA mantra (former CSX car as a model) and does the necessary aluminum wheel well/engine compartment trim, and then adds a reliable and serviceable undercarriage/frame, and finally makes sure that the little details (windshield rake, rear roll bar angle/down bar angle are correct) then all I can say is they will have a winner that should be able to compete with pretty much anyone.
-Dean

All of this had already been done with the previous Hurricane's.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by jwd

All of this had already been done with the previous Hurricane's.

Yep, I have no doubt they can make a beautiful glass car. Whether they can maintain their cash flow is another story. They might have to take a very small profit, and hopefully not a loss, at the outset to get a few beautifully done cars out there.

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Yep, I have no doubt they can make a beautiful glass car. Whether they can maintain their cash flow is another story. They might have to take a very small profit, and hopefully not a loss, at the outset to get a few beautifully done cars out there.

One key advantage that Scranton Manufacturing has, is that the Hurricane Cobra is only one of their business units. They don't have all of their eggs in one basket.

[dlampe]

This car will be a competitor with ERA for the Kit buyer and I think it will do a good job. They follow a similar theory in that it has become a dead on replica as far as the exterior is concerned. The engine compartment is clad in aluminum except for the classic white foot boxes. It has the same throttle linkage and foot box fresh air lines as my Kirk ham had on it. The only issue is it does not have floor mounted pedals. That would really be the icing on the cake! I really enjoyed mine when I had it. I wish them the best.

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by dlampe

The engine compartment is clad in aluminum except for the classic white foot boxes.

So you slant the top of the footboxes, mold the tub with white gelcoat instead of black and that problem is fixed forever.

Originally Posted by dlampe

The only issue is it does not have floor mounted pedals. That would really be the icing on the cake!

Agreed, but as you already know they're open to that kind of feedback as well. My impression is these guys are prepared to do whatever it takes to be competitive in price, features, and quality.

The economies of scale with Scranton are tremendous. Their raw material consumption is already so high that they're be buying steel and fiberglass cheaper than anyone in the replica business with car #1. Couple that with the ability to utilize existing tools and existing people and the only cash flow problem they are going to have is how to haul it all to the bank.