96" wheelbase Cobra?

[j jones]

Frua have a "CF" or "CFX" prefix on the chassis numbers.

"CF" is the domestic (right-hand drive) prefix, "CFX" ('X' for EXPORT) is left-hand drive.

The Frua chassis is identical to the 90" series III (Big Block) Cobra, except being 96" long, and having rubber suspension bushings rather than bronze. The metal bushing was supposed to be more accurate, but didn't last very long, and were intended for racing. (many "originals" are using the rubber ones now).

The Cobras and Fruas were made side-by-side, as seen in factory photographs.

There is endless debate about who did what, and the definition of "Cobra".

Shelby, Ford and AC developed AC's Ace/Bristol roadster by stages into what became the iconic Cobra. Before Shelby arrived on the scene, AC and Rudd had already shoehorned a Ford 2.6 engine into their little, lightweight car.

Shelby eventually wound up having AC ship rolling chassis with bodies to California, where the engine and transmission were installed. (It made no sense to ship american running gear to the UK and re-import back to the USA).

Shelby American and Ford continued to develop cars for racing. Ford did the engineering to create the series III big-block Chassis to make it strong enough to handle the power and weight of the 427 FE (and the 428 that most original Cobras were sold with).

It has been claimed that ol' Shel was forced to replace the 428 engines in his Cobras with 427's. Mayyyybe...., who really knows? Who really cares, or can prove it? Cobras have 427's! End of story.

Fruas also had 427's. Some of them, at least.

The cars were tremendously expensive in their day. Chassis built in England, then Shipped to Italy to be bodied, then back to England where American running gear was installed. Wayyy to expensive and too complicated (Strikes in Italy in '68 and '69), 427's were much costlier and going out of production - so they renamed their car "AC 428", mindful of Shelby having been called out for misrepresenting (some thought) "his" Cobra.

But the 81 AC fruas built from 1965 until 1973 were 'bespoke'. Built to order. If the customer wanted a 427, that's what they built. There no arguing about it. There are no records to prove or disprove it - just as there's no point arguing if an "original" Cobra was purchased with a 427 under the bonnet. Maybe, maybe not.

So, what is a Cobra? Is a Frua a Cobra?

A Frua looks nothing like a Cobra - Original, Contiunation, Re-creation, Tribute or Kit. It looks only like the 81 cars made. There are no others. Under the skin, however - Yes. It's as much a Cobra as a Cobra.

You could take parts off an "Original" Big Block Cobra, bolt them onto a Frua and drive off. Chassis, steering, differential, brakes, engine, transmission, and electrics.

Mike McClusky did some suspension upgrades on my car, and I sold the original springs, Koni shocks and wheels to an emminent Cobra owner who had one of his (original) cars in the shop at the same time. In they went. So...

Amazing. Bearing in mind that this car is a GT, and weighs more than a Cobra roadster, it's as original as a series III BB Cobra.

You don't have to tell people it's "the real thing". And it's a lot less expensive, more comfortable and much more useable. And you can dust other cars of it's vintage in a cloud of blue tire smoke. Goes around corners too. Sweet!

[j jones]

I seem to have hijacked this old thread, so I'll add this one more thing:

There is a Frua for sale in Australia.

It appears that the owner has done an excellent job bringing it back to life.

It's been brought down to bare metal (Italian steel=rust), and had some pretty tasty engine work. It is a RHD car, but (consider this!) the ACOC actually has ORIGINAL LHD interior parts in their stocks. And all Fruas (I think) were made to be either RH or LH drive cars. The mounting brackets for Brakes, Clutch and accelerator are in place.

You car find the car on the "oldtimer australia" website.

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER TURNING IT INTO A COBRA ROADSTER (this just a friendly warning - it's been done; a mistake)

The price is (in my humble opinion) very fair. I have no horse in this race.

I realize this car may not be to the taste of many on the Club Cobra forum. We all have our opinions.

My opinion: These cars are undervalued. They're much rarer than their Cobra (brothers? cousins?) counterparts, and if you want to tour the car, way more driveable. (It's a coupe. Install Air conditioning, a radio and insulation).

[xb-60]

Thanks for all that information. Interesting stuff.
A couple of questions….
When you say that AC and Rudd already had a 260 Ford engine fitted to an Ace body/chassis "before Shelby arrived on the scene", had AC done this all on their own initiative, or had Shelby sent them an engine and it was fitted to the Ace body before he actually got there to talk about a deal?
Next one…and you can take it as a comment…..what’s a Cobra ‘relative’ doing fitted with an automatic transmission?
Cheers,
Glen

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by j jones

...Before Shelby arrived on the scene, AC and Rudd had already shoehorned a Ford 260 engine into their little, lightweight car.

It sounds like the 260 Ford you're referring to is the Rudd tuned 2.6 litre Zephyr motor, not the SBF 260 V8 that Shelby initially used. And 'shoe-horned' is a correct description I think, as the six cylinder engine is longer than the very compact little 260 V8.
Cheers,
Glen