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Cobra

jalopnik decides

Muscle Car Wars Of 1978: Hood Decals Strike Back

It's a Friday, and it's the week before our most patriotic of U.S. holidays. What better time to take a look back at the best of American muscle machinery? Aha, but there's a catch: We're only going to go back 30 years. That's right, 1978. The Malaise era was striking back with a new breed of muscle cars. While not as legendary as some of the "true" muscle iron of the '60s, these creations traded raw power for cocaine-fueled, taped-on vinyl style. In the middle of an infamous era, we give you three cars that represented the best of red-blooded American spirit. But only one will be declared most awesome, and that's for you to decide. More »

carroll shelby

Carroll Shelby Buys A Replica, Will He Sue Himself?

Just about every time Carroll Shelby smells merely a whiff of somebody using the name "Shelby" or "Cobra" or "Automobile" without paying through the nose for it his permission, ol' Shel' slaps em' with a good old 'merican-style lawsuit. Remember the case against Wilhelm Motor Works? There was even a suit against the Shelby American Automobile Club. So between all the replica Shelby Mustangs and Cobras out there, Carroll must be too busy taking people to court to even consider buying any of their lesser re-creations, right? Well, apparently not, as Shelby has just recently acquired a Superformance Brock Coupe, a car that's essentially a fake Shelby Cobra 'Daytona' Coupe. Ok, to be fair, the Superformance Coupe was designed by the same Peter Brock that penned the original '60s special, but we still can't help but find this ironic. Maybe it happened because the guy is getting old. We say that because this Daytona was fitted with a paddle-shift automatic transmission designed by MasterShift, which means 85-year old Carroll doesn't have to use a heavy clutch pedal to swap cogs now. Press release from Shelby below the jump.

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engine of the day

Fighting Fascism With a Sheet-Metal Block: Crosley COBRA

What has 44 cubic inches, weighs just 133 pounds (including all accessories and flywheel), a block made of copper-brazed sheet steel, and joined with the Willys Go Devil to help plant a big steel-toed boot in the asses of Adolf Hitler and Hideki Tojo? The Crosley COBRA! Yes, UDMan, your suggestion has been heeded (in spite of the fact that I had a childhood of anti-Crosley propaganda from my grandfather, who bought one new in '46 and considered it the dumbest decision of his entire life). To be fair, however, an engine designed for stationary, fixed-RPM operation as a military generator powerplant can't be expected to hold up well under the temperature fluctuations and stop-start demands of a motor vehicle. By '49, Crosley had switched to a cast-iron block, which was more reliable but nowhere near as cool. [Crosley Auto Club]

alternative energy

Mustang or Cobra, Now Available In All-Electric Forms

There's something distinctly bizarre about the idea of an all-electric Ford Mustang, even more so with a battery powered Shelby Cobra. Isn't part of the allure the throaty grumble of the exhaust, the fire and noise and fury of acceleration? Where's the passion when you simply press the go pedal in these HST International modified sports cars and you're fired from a silent slingshot to 60 MPH in only 3.9 seconds for the Stang, and 3.2 seconds for the Cobra. Sure that's damn fast, and you can get a 100 miles on an 8 hour charge at 120V, or a three hour charge at 220V, but still, we'd prefer to keep our E-cars separate from our muscle cars. Unless of course we roll like Fisker and just play that tune from the loud speakers. [MotorAuthority]

new york auto show

The Iconic GTR Roadster: All About The Details

At a glance, the Iconic GTR looks like just another Cobra replica. But taking a closer look you realize it's the bespoke details that make it special. Shiny toggle switches, plush leather, jewel-like gauges, a roll-bar that conceals LED turn signals with a full spectrum of color adjustment; it all makes the GTR feel like a creation made for winning the Riddler Award. But don't think that it's all show and no go — the body is all carbon-fiber with ground effects that help make over 500 pounds of downforce. Open the power-operated bonnet you'll find a F1-style front suspension and the heart of the beast, a 800 HP naturally-aspirated 6.9-liter V8. And that's not just some crate motor, it's a hand-assembled custom with a unique fuel-injection system.

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autorama

Street Legal Cheetah Replicas To Hunt Cobras

There's no question that Cobras are cool, even in fiberglass kit form. But you've got to admit that the fiberglass snakes are becoming somewhat common now with all the companies being sued by Carroll Shelby making their own versions of the V8 roadster. So for those seeking an alternative, Ruth Engineering & Racing will be producing kits for streetable Cheetah replicas. The coupes can be fitted with any Chevy powertrain of your choice; this particular one with a 383 stroker. Suspension bits come from a donor C4 Corvette, but the leaf springs have been replaced by independent coil-overs. That means the new Cheetah should be able to tear up a road course, making this not just a cool cruiser, but a tactical trackday toy too. We'll take ours with an LS9. [RER - AmericanCheetahRacing.com]

retro

Ford Falcon Cobra, Now That's A Knife

In honor of the Melbourne International Motor Show and the best Australian cars QOTD, our good friend Vintage_Racer has shared some photos of the Ford Falcon Cobra. This particular model is #349 of only 400 produced. How did the Cobra brand make it all the way to Australia? That's a funny story.

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iron man

Full Iron Man Trailer Debuts, Makes Us Want One of Those Suits

After months of Ironman teaser shots and Ironman Super Bowl commercials and all kinds of other nonsense, the full trailer is now live and it's looking pretty good. Convenient for our Leap Day Celebration, Ironman appears to be able to jump right into the suit with some sort of Jetsons style automatic clothes putter-onner then bound around from explosion to explosion. It also looks like the evil-doers get a hold of... oh, we don't want to be a spoiler - watch it yourself. Be forewarned though, the destruction of the Cobra is explained here so be sure you can stomach it after lunch. [also playing at Gizmodo and io9]

classic ad watch

It Can Roar As Well As Whisper: 1969 Ford Torino!

So Ford grabbed the same incredibly wholesome dancers they used to sell the '69 Mustangs when it came time to try to move some '69 Torinos off the showroom floors. Compare the nauseating perkiness of this ad to the worldly white-collar hoon in the '68 Torino ad. But look at all the engine choices you got! Make ours a 428 Cobra Jet fastback with 4-speed, please.

iron man

Iron Man Crushes Cobra, We Cry

Poor little Cobra. From what we can tell from this one screen shot found on the official Iron Man web site, the 427 we saw in the teaser shot of the Iron Man Super Bowl commercial — and then in the full commercial itself — doesn't quite make it out of the film in one piece. Ok, so it's probably obviously just a replica (It may be a big-budget flick, but nobody is THAT careless). Either way, we're saddened by the loss. Maybe Iron Man is just placing old supercars on notice, seeing as he does also have that Audi R8. Whatever the reason and despite it more than likely being a kit car, we lament the need to destroy one for the Coliseum crowds coming to watch this comic book cinematic spectacle. (Hat tip to Earl!)

retro

World's Only 1967 GT500 Super Snake Could Be Yours... For $3 Million

With all this Barrett-Jackson brouhaha around here, we mustn't forget that there are other places to spend torrents of money on a vintage car. Say, on eBay Motors, where $3,000,000 will buy you the only GT500 Super Snake that Carroll Shelby ever made. You get the 520-horse 427, the rights to the SuperSnake.org website, and about a million tons of history with the deal. But still, we can't help wondering how many Omni GLHSs you could buy with 3 megabucks and still have enough left over for a mansion and a couple of Zimmer Golden Spirits- probably all of them! [eBay Motors]


A Shelby Cobra 427 frame-up, concours quality restoration with a sideoiler 427 engine. 11,000 original miles. Never raced. Has the Sunburst wheels with original Blue Dot tires and a spare set of wheels and tires — and it just sold for $625,000 at the Barrett-Jackson to some guy on the interwebs. No, it wasn't us.

gt500kr

Ford GT500KR Goes Into Production, Happy Birthday Carroll

What better way to celebrate the 85th birthday of Carroll Shelby, the man responsible for some of the best American muscle (and the Omni GLH), than with the production of the mean GT500KR? A King of the Road for a King of American Muscle. Works for me. 540 horsepower and 510 ft-lbs of torque for the first 79 years and a six-speed Tremec manual tranny for the last six. Only 1,000 of these sexy beasts will be available, so expect to pay a king's ransom for the privilege. Press release below the jump.

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barret-jackson

Carroll Shelby's Personal GT-500 to Be Auctioned Off

With Shelby-mania still at a fever pitch, we can imagine it's getting harder and harder for the uber-wealthy car collector to show up fellow affluent auto aficionados. Thus, we present Carroll Shelby's own 1969 Shelby GT500 convertible. Mr. Shelby apparently drove it extensively, putting nearly 69,725 miles on the 428 Cobra Jet-powered beauty. The car was recently renovated and even comes with an AM-FM stereo radio! The car goes up at the Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson event next January with no reserve, so make sure to bring a checkbook and an extra kidney. Full release after the jump
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choose your eternity

PCH, Personal Dilemma Edition: 1968 Ford Torino GT

Since I decided against buying my friend's '65 Falcon Wagon in my first Personal Project Hell Dilemma, I've had to keep my eyes open for a project suitably cool/hellish enough. Fellow Jalop Ben Wojdyla went ahead and solved his personal dilemma- well, at least the initial part- by buying the '64 Continental of his dreams, Bumbeck has a project Starion and Starlet, and I'm still driving the ol' '97 Crown Vic and '92 Civic hatch. The peer pressure builds. Something must be done! But now my dilemma gets all the more tantalizing, because I have been offered a numbers-matching 428 Cobra Jet '68 Torino GT... for free! Thing is, it's a little far away, and it needs some work... More »

jalopnik fantasy garage

Ferrari 250 GTO

"You can't give one without the other." My mother repeated these words every time my father would buy a new bicycle for me but neglect to do the same for my sister. Fair, after all, is fair. I mention this because after researching last week's Fantasy Garage superstar, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, not including the 250 GTO would be sacrilege. We can't have one without the other. After all, the reason the Daytona is so breathtakingly fantastic is because it had to compete with this Ferrari. Put another way, without the Ferrari 250 GTO, the Daytona Coupe wouldn't exist. Was Muhammad Ali any less of a fighter because he lost one to Ken Norton? [Ed Note: oops!] Of course not. And there is no doubt that when the 250 GTO debuted in 1962, it was the greatest car in the world. More »

jalopnik fantasy garage

Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe

Last week we asked you to name your favorite automotive legends. While the answers were (of course) stellar – Smokey Yunick rules – we're a little disappointed that no one mentioned the genesis of this week's Fantasy Garage candidate, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. Though, it is worth mentioning that almost everything Carol Shelby does eventually winds up as someone's favorite anecdote (let's just forget the Shelby GLHS). For instance, Carroll used to place a $100 bill on the Cobra's dashboard while demoing the car to potential customers. If a customer could reach forward and snatch the Franklin before the Cobra could hit 100 mph, he could keep it. No one ever got the cash. But we're not here to talk about the Cobra. More »

glick in the haus

Big Daddy Glickenhaus On The Ford/Ferrari War

Ah, Jim Glickenhaus. Ah, to be Jim Glickenhaus, the only man ever to produce a Basket Case movie and have Pininfarina scan his body for a perfect fit in a custom Enzo-based car. We met him briefly in Paris last fall and he turned out to be a very nice, personable dude, always willing and ready to drop some science. Here he tells the story of the battle of wills contested between two titans of the automotive world: Hank The Deuce and Enzo Ferrari. Part I above, click the link for part II. We can practically guarantee you'll learn something you didn't know. [Thanks to Haller for the tip] More »