302/5-speed, fully independent suspension, 4-wheel disc brakes,
leather interior, Smiths gauges. Professionally-built Shamrock
Cobra ready to enjoy.
Professionally built and showing just 1204 miles on the clock, this
is a great way to get into a Cobra right now, without the wait or
expense of building your own. You can’t argue with the color
combination, which is a lovely metallic Hunter Green with
traditional Wimbledon White stripes, and a Cobra without stripes
isn’t finished, I don’t care what you say. The heavy-duty
fiberglass bodywork is nicely finished with good prep, flat
surfaces, and panel gaps that are better than expected for a
hand-built machine. The doors open and close easily, the trunk
latches well, and you don’t have to slam the hood to get it close
and it elevates itself on a pair of gas-charged struts. The paint
is two-stage urethane that has a great shine, and while there are a
few signs of use, there’s nothing that needs attention. You’ll note
it’s got race-style jacking stubs instead of bumpers, correct
Lucas-style taillights, and a flip-up gas cap that should probably
be standard equipment on every Cobra replica. The chrome windshield
frame offers both wind wings and tinted Plexiglas sun visors and
the exposed rivets on the hood are a link to the aluminum bodies
that cost so many tens of thousands of dollars.
The tan leather interior (yes, it’s leather, not vinyl) is the
ideal complement to the Hunter Green bodywork. It’s tasteful but
functional, with wrap-around buckets that hold you in place without
being constricting, and the low-back profile works perfectly in the
low-slung Cobra bodywork. It’s finished for comfort as much as
speed, so you get full door panels, black carpets, and a lot of
rather nicely done French seams on the stitching. The dashboard is
wrapped in more tan leather and uses familiar Smiths gauges,
including the reverse-rotation speedometer. A set of warning lamps
for high beams, alternator, and turn signals are in their own neat
housing, while secondary controls for the wipers and headlights are
on stalks on the steering column. The fat steering wheel feels racy
and connects you directly to the front wheels, and the smaller
diameter actually makes it a lot easier to slide behind the wheel
than many replicas out there. Weather protection is, well, nil, but
you do get a full cockpit tonneau as well as a frame for the top
and a set of side curtains, so a top could probably be procured
easily to make this car functional for longer trips in inclement
weather. The trunk is also fully upholstered to hide the fuel cell
and the battery has its own heavy-duty aluminum box.
A good majority of replicas run small block motors and it’s
probably why there’s a stout 302 cubic inch Ford V8 living under
the hood today. Better known as the 5.0, it makes legendary torque
and offers bulletproof reliability in its current under-stressed
form. With a big Holley double-pumper carburetor and those
wonderful side pipes, it has immediate throttle response and a big
engine soundtrack to go along with it. The engine bay is quite
neatly finished with plenty of chrome and polished aluminum,
including the beautiful expansion tank for the cooling system. The
radiator is tucked in at the nose of the car and uses a big
electric fan to keep things cool and service access is awesome,
although with this setup, you’ll spend far more time behind the
wheel than under the hood. It starts easily with a bark from the
side pipes and it idles well after a few seconds of warming up.
There’s plenty of oil pressure, it doesn’t get fussy in traffic,
and, well, this is how you always dreamed your Cobra would run.
The transmission is a Tremec 5-speed manual feeding a Jaguar
independent rear end with inboard disc brakes, twin coil-over
shocks, and 3.73 gears inside, so acceleration is explosive at any
speed. The front suspension also appears to be from a Jaguar,
including A-arms and big vented brake discs, which brings us to
this Cobra’s most remarkable feature: the ride. For a lightweight
2-seat sports car with a giant V8 up front, you’d expect, even
welcome, a tooth-rattling ride. This Cobra is different, offering
crisp handling but a supple, comfortable ride that means you can
enjoy it regularly without a second thought, and, perhaps more
importantly, your significant other will never complain about how
rough it is. The brakes are firm and confidence-inspiring, and it
wears the right wheels: polished Halibrands with knock-offs wrapped
in BFGoodrich T/A radials.
So please, don’t look at this as a cut-rate Cobra substitute,
because that’s not giving it full credit. It’s a raw, elemental,
2-seat sports car with an all-American soundtrack, a huge wallop of
torque on tap at any speed, and it’s far more comfortable than
you’d ever expect. Come take it for a drive, we promise you’ll be
surprised by just how sophisticated this car really feels.
For more details and photos, please visit www.HarwoodMotors.com
