>To: Roland Dudley <cobra@snakebyte.cdc.hp.com>
>Cc: british-cars@autox.team.net, sfisher@Pa.dec.com
>Subject: Re: Leaf-spring Cobras
>Date: Thu, 23 Apr 92 15:07:52 PDT
>From: What was the question again? <sfisher@wsl.dec.com>
> > To help visualize this if you've never seen it, there is one leaf at each
> Yes, I think I can see it.
>Well, I expected *you* could. I meant for those not fortunate enough
>to have slithered around under a Snake, even if only at a car show.
>Of course, I have another advantage. The very first car model I ever
>built was a 289 Cobra. Can't remember how old I was, but it was the
>first fairly complicated model (meaning steerable wheels, body that
>comes off the frame, etc.) It was a detailed model. Maybe I'll help
>my daughter finish the 427 S/C model she picked out a while back...
Ah! The very model that adorns the top of my work station, I'm sure.
It's the only assemblable 289 model I'm aware of. I occasionally see
them in drug and toy stores to this day. The first time I ever saw one
was in the home of a fellow Cobra owner by the name of Dodge Olmstead of
Fairfax Virginia in the late '60s. Being into model cars at the time I
picked up a kit but didn't get to it right away. Then I kind of lost
interest in models and such; you know, got married and all that stuff.
A few years ago my son got tired of looking at the box on the closet
shelf and put it together for me.
There are other 289 models available but all of them are of the pre
assembled die cast variety. I have one of those too.
>By '65, even the Daytona Coupes were falling behind to the mid-engined
>prototype cars such as the Chaparral and the Ford GT-40, which ran away
>with the race in '65. But shortly before dusk, a tropical storm hit
Shelby's plan for '65 was to use the brute force power of the 427s to
beat Ferraris mid-engined cars. But neither Ferrari nor Shelby could
get enough cars assembled for homologation so they both fell back to
previous models and Shelby went on to win the World Manufacturer's title
that year. By '66 rule changes and technology made the 427s
superfluous and Shelby was so involved with other Ford racing project
(such as the GT40) that he pretty much lost interest in the Cobra. In
fact, he never campaigned a 427 Cobra team.
>It must be the only time in history that a Sprite passed a Cobra.
>
>One of the Sebring Sprite coupes (which were highly developed little
>cars themselves; the '67 version sent to Le Mans would hit 147 mph on
>the Mulsanne) can be clearly seen motoring by the Daytona as they
>negotiate what had earlier been a very fast sweeping right-hander.
I still remember the hair raising experience of driving my Cobra for the
first time in the rain on Goodyear bias-play Bluestreaks. I traded them
in on Pirelli radials right quick.
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