Smiths gauges on 427 Cobras

[Dan Case]

Originally Posted by xb-60

So if "Ford was losing interest in any version of Cobra by 1965" because of Shelby taking on the GT40 program for Ford, who was responsible for (as in who paid for) the development of the 427 coil spring chassis and the different 427 body? Was that solely AC's responsibility because they wanted to update to keep COB/COX cars in UK and Europe?

Many thanks for your knowledge and insights into Cobra history Dan.

Cheers,
Glen

It was still Ford money. Ford engineers did most of the main frame and suspension design work for the coil spring car. Ford got something like 43 international patents on design elements of the rear suspension, one of the first “computer aided” design sets of drawings Ford did.

A few of us spent an evening with the Ford engineer responsible for the front suspension. He had us on the edge of our seats talking about the tensions going on while the car specifications were being approved. Ford had in mind a very different car from the ground up but the owners of AC Cars said no, they couldn’t absorb the expense of discarding all the materials and parts already on hand. The particular sore point from his point of view was the front uprights, hubs, brakes, axles, and steering systems. His original designs didn’t use anything based on the earlier Cobra designs. He told us AC Cars said flat not because they already had blanks on hand left over and a bunch of new Cobra steering racks on the shelf. AC Cars could not would not eat the cost. Ford gave in and left over Cobra materials were used up. You’ll find left over dated Cobra parts all the way into at least the mid CSX31xx car, especially steering racks and windshield glass. The tools , parts, and materials AC Cars would not toss out meant 427 Cobras had to be Cobra like. At least that was the first person explaination he gave.

Ford money but not a front burner project anymore. I am sure the story is much more complicated than that but Ford jumped in deep with the Ford GT program….many more engineers and millions than they spent on Cobras.

Example: Steering Racks. I have found steering units in intact CSX30xx and late intact CSX31xx cars made more than two months before the ones in some CSX25xx cars.