Pics of the AC factory in Thames Ditton UK

[Trevor Legate]

True - when even a certain AC 'expert' had trouble recognising a MkIV, impact bumpers, headrests and all....my didn't we (not) laugh? Thar was an object lesson in how to kiss goodbye to club members.

[KevinW]

Crikey - Im slightly shocked - not that replicas are not wanted, but that the ACOC even kicks out its own. I'd be very unhappy if I'd spent £70k+ on a car with a right to call itself AC, then make the effort to support the owners club, and then got given marching orders. I havent ruled out getting myself a MkIV at some point in the future, i hope the story isnt characteristic. But I have now been tempted to put the cat among the pigeons at some point in the future tho'.....

.... why is there such an attitude in the UK when it doesnt seem to exist state-side?

Luckily(?!) my car isnt on the road yet - i intend to show up and park the jap tintop well away from the ali and tweed.

As to authenticity, there are a few things which i am well aware of that can tdifferentiate a crendon from the genuine article..... and I have been spending some time putting some of the anorak detail right - been making white fibreglass footboxes, which has been fun to learn how, but also a pain to get a high quality finnish.

[london]

Originally Posted by KevinW

Crikey - Im slightly shocked - not that replicas are not wanted, but that the ACOC even kicks out its own. I'd be very unhappy if I'd spent £70k+ on a car with a right to call itself AC, then make the effort to support the owners club, and then got given marching orders. I havent ruled out getting myself a MkIV at some point in the future, i hope the story isnt characteristic. But I have now been tempted to put the cat among the pigeons at some point in the future tho'.....

.... why is there such an attitude in the UK when it doesnt seem to exist state-side?

Luckily(?!) my car isnt on the road yet - i intend to show up and park the jap tintop well away from the ali and tweed.

As to authenticity, there are a few things which i am well aware of that can tdifferentiate a crendon from the genuine article..... and I have been spending some time putting some of the anorak detail right - been making white fibreglass footboxes, which has been fun to learn how, but also a pain to get a high quality finnish.

I don't think it's typical, the Mk IV register (which covers the derivitives such as the CRS and Superblower) is one of the most active in the club and the owners appear to be approachable. Having said that, one South African CRS (Carbon Road Series) owner recently reported that he received disparaging comments about his eligibility for membership because his CRS wasn't a 'real' AC. There's similar bewilderment amongst some of the US owners. Nevertheless, you'll have plenty of allies if you join the club or buy a Mk IV!

[london]

Originally Posted by Trevor Legate

True - when even a certain AC 'expert' had trouble recognising a MkIV, impact bumpers, headrests and all....my didn't we (not) laugh? Thar was an object lesson in how to kiss goodbye to club members.

I had a run-in on the ACOC website over discussing replicas - I don't think there was any malice involved, but I felt at the time that a rather rigid approach was being taken. Whilst I can understand AC owners wishing to discuss the various models of ACs (rather than Pilgrim or DAX replicas), given that the Cobra isn't a pure AC product, I don't think it would do the club any harm to have a separate register for cars sympathetic to the originals - Hawks, Kirkhams, Superformance and latter-day Shelbys come to mind.

I am currently raising the issue of a registry for Continuation Cars on that site (under 'Chafford' - I've moved since registering here!) so that cars like Gus Meyjes' excellent 260 engined 2004 continuation 'Ace' are properly recognised at the club.

[london]

Originally Posted by london

I had a run-in on the ACOC website over discussing replicas - I don't think there was any malice involved, but I felt at the time that a rather rigid approach was being taken. Whilst I can understand AC owners wishing to discuss the various models of ACs (rather than Pilgrim or DAX replicas), given that the Cobra isn't a pure AC product, I don't think it would do the club any harm to have a separate register for cars sympathetic to the originals - Hawks, Kirkhams, Superformance and latter-day Shelbys come to mind.

I am currently raising the issue of a registry for Continuation Cars on that site (under 'Chafford' - I've moved since registering here!) so that cars like Gus Meyjes' excellent 260 engined 2004 continuation 'Ace' are properly recognised at the club.

Aaron (Hurricaneharold)

Please see my earlier post (above). The issues I've discussed on the ACOC site wouldn't raise an eyebrow on this site - for example, suggesting alternative hard tops to the original Cobra pattern (with innovative ventilation for long distance travel to Europe) shouldn't annoy anyone whose reasonably broad-minded even if the shape isn't to their taste. Dave Brookes' latest version (see below) is an improvement on the original in my opinion and there's no reason why someone shouldn't be able to suggest that it couldn't be used on, for example, the CRS (which has little in common with a 60's Cobra apart from its basic shape).

http://www.v8cobra.com/images/h_top/IMG_1722.jpg

DB Replicas - Removable Le Mans Hard Top



I've received personal emails and been 'given advice' on what to say and what not to say. So I decided to remove most of my recent postings from that site - a safety first approach.



Mark


Apologies to others for this off-topic posting!