The engineering on this car is nothing short of stunning:stunned:
How To Build An All-Billet Aluminum Cobra - Cobra - Jalopnik
How To Build An All-Billet Aluminum Cobra - Cobra - Jalopnik
The most beautiful Cobra you will EVER see
- Thread starter darksideguy
- Start date
Sorry, but I have the typical Kirkham Cobra that's polished with two brushed center stripes. The Kirkham Cobra in the link was a very special BILLET aluminum Cobra built for Mr. Larry Ellison, of Oracle fame.
Here's a 75-page link to the build:
Million Dollar Skunksworks Kirkham - Club Cobra
There's even a book about this special car.
Brian Hamilton
I'm on the verge of touching myself inappropriatel
Here's the step by step build book. Absolutely stunning work!!!
Kirkham Motorsports - Leading manufacturer of aluminum bodied 427 and 289 replicas
Kirkham Motorsports - Leading manufacturer of aluminum bodied 427 and 289 replicas
It certainly is!
I had a Kirkham for a short time. The body is pure art....
I had a Kirkham for a short time. The body is pure art....
Jim Rosenthal
Supporter
What is really interesting to me is the quality of the comments in the thread- a lot of very negative stuff that I read as envy, frankly. I think the car is stunning. They built two of them- the prototype chassis is still there and I suspect for sale. I have one of their (nonbillet!) cars and these guys are friends of mine- they thought the car's handling was significantly improved over a standard steel-frame car, interestingly.
One of the people commenting on the thread asked why they didn't build a billet motor block to go with the car...actually, they have prototyped a 427 FE block made on a CNC machine which weighs about 75 lbs. I saw the machining proof for it a couple of years ago.
KMS is a great place to visit. They do a yearly event for their friends and customers and potential customers. Their backup of their cars has been terrific. I have had a lot of fun with my KMS Cobra, the only problem is no top so I can't drive it in bad weather.
That's why I need to finish my GT40. Everyone knows they seal perfectly and don't leak.
One of the people commenting on the thread asked why they didn't build a billet motor block to go with the car...actually, they have prototyped a 427 FE block made on a CNC machine which weighs about 75 lbs. I saw the machining proof for it a couple of years ago.
KMS is a great place to visit. They do a yearly event for their friends and customers and potential customers. Their backup of their cars has been terrific. I have had a lot of fun with my KMS Cobra, the only problem is no top so I can't drive it in bad weather.
That's why I need to finish my GT40. Everyone knows they seal perfectly and don't leak.
Beautiful work. Somebody spent a LOT of time on the CNC machine and the CAD software.
Guys like Larry Ellison always have to be different - it's more about showing everyone that they're in a class by themselves than anything else. Larry is also a big time sail boat racer and it's the same except about 100X more extreme. Of course, they really are in a class by themselves....
Guys like Larry Ellison always have to be different - it's more about showing everyone that they're in a class by themselves than anything else. Larry is also a big time sail boat racer and it's the same except about 100X more extreme. Of course, they really are in a class by themselves....
Larry must be a sensible guy for all the money he spent on this thing he still didn't spend any on having Shelby written on it!
The thing is a work of art! But I still don't like the bending loads in the bottom outer TRE holding on the upright. At least the ball is held captive though if it failed. And did the budget run out for new tyres?
The thing is a work of art! But I still don't like the bending loads in the bottom outer TRE holding on the upright. At least the ball is held captive though if it failed. And did the budget run out for new tyres?
I don't think that I would track this car, however, it is really a thing of art and is truly beautiful. What did it cost to build this thing?
I agree, this must be the reason behind this, IMO, otherwise pointless car, beautiful craftmanship or not. (Better replace craftmanship with cnc-programming).
A couple quotes from the Club Cobra thread:
"Larry gave us complete freedom of design with the car. We knew handling was the most important part of the car to us because we knew Larry was going to drive his car--not just look at it."
"My favorite comment came from the head of the Miller Motorsports Driving School. After several hot laps, he said, “You know, with a Cobra you run out of chassis long before you run out of motor. With this car, I just kept pushing it harder and harder. I ran out of motor before I ran out of chassis. This has potential for a serious race car."
The title of thread may give you some clue as to the cost of the car...$1MM +/-.
"Larry gave us complete freedom of design with the car. We knew handling was the most important part of the car to us because we knew Larry was going to drive his car--not just look at it."
"My favorite comment came from the head of the Miller Motorsports Driving School. After several hot laps, he said, “You know, with a Cobra you run out of chassis long before you run out of motor. With this car, I just kept pushing it harder and harder. I ran out of motor before I ran out of chassis. This has potential for a serious race car."
The title of thread may give you some clue as to the cost of the car...$1MM +/-.
From page 66 of the Club Cobra thread:
"Final weight was 2034 pounds. With our new flywheel and clutch, we would be knocking on the door of 2000 pounds with a BIG BLOCK!"
For reference, my Kirkham weighed in at 2128 lbs.
