Hi-Tech question for TJD

[snakeeyes]

Tom, I have a question for you about the front track on my Hi-Tech 427. Ever since I bought it a few months ago the look of the front end has bugged me; something about it just didn’t look right to my eyes. At first I thought it was down to the 255-section fronts the previous owner had installed. I replaced them with 235s, which helped a little but didn’t cure the problem. Then I lowered the car thinking it was the ride height, but it still looked odd.

Today it occurred to me to measure the front track, which is 65” from the outside edge of one front tire to the other. I Googled “427 Cobra front track” and was kind of stunned to see it listed as 55.5” on two different sites.

Can my car’s front track really be 10” wider than what was correct on the original 427 cars? The front tires fit inside the fenders with at least an inch of fender lip showing. The front wheels to the best of my knowledge are 8” wide Halibrand repros. I’m wondering about the front wheel offset but if the wheels were moved in by even a couple of inches they would be WAY inside the front fenders; I don’t want the thing looking like a Pro Stock drag car and even if the offset were changed by 2” per wheel the track would still be about 8” too wide.

I’m stumped here...any thoughts or comments? Do you have any data on what the Hi-Tech factory track was on the 427 cars? As best I can tell the car has the stock front spindles from Hi-Tech.

Thanks,
Bob