42 gallons vs fuel cell

[What'saCobra?]

Prompted by a beautiful picture of a historic 42 gallon tank placed in the rear of new a Cobra at the Kirkham eBay search site thread above, i wonder about your thinking regarding the obviously high safety risk using these highly exposed thin skin tanks.

Seems to me if you are creating a hangar queen for shows etc, the risk is very low and the historic accuracy is very high. i like it and have had them on originals and continuations.

But, if there is any road use mit sturm und drang, spirited eventing or sport/club racing, informal or not, the risk is real. Is it worth the risk, particularly to newbies that don't yet understand the under/oversteering nature of these cars with high power and cold tires?

Not looking for regulations, mind you, since the SCCA has the item well under control, if you wish to get real serious. Just your thoughts.

Some years ago, while planning to run a Lotus 18 Formula Jr. in VSCCA, i neither wanted to drive seriously with that old aly fuel tank over my legs, nor change-up to an ugly cell. There is very little extra space available in a Formula car, of course. i paid a pretty fair penny to have a custom flexible cell installed within the original unit, but with modern fittings, etc. It was quite OK and i never needed to "test" the installation, but felt confident in the installation and look.

My own CSX has the beautiful original 42 gallon tank in the garage along with the nice Connolly-covered seats, but a proper new steel cell with a flexible bladder of fewer gallons in the front of the boot/trunk, mounted quite low. Of course, that design places the fuel within considerable protection from/with the surrounding roll bar supports and braces, frame/axle components and rear lid/frame/supports.

Of course, there are very few accidents and fires (and with current fuel prices, there are likely to be even less in the future!), thank goodness. but...

What d'ya think today?