Not mine------and no relation to the seller. For as long as the link remains active I guess....
Not really my cup of tea but sounds as though it is pretty well done~
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/5321739634.html
I really don't get the MG-to-Cobra styling thing. Why be a wanna-be when you already have a better car that can be modded to your own likes and which has character and looks quite the equal to the Cobra?
Jim
How about just kind of ugly?
QuoteWhy be a wanna-be when you already have a better car that can be modded to your own likes and which has character and looks quite the equal to the Cobra?
Not IMO. The Cobra has very alluring lines. It's a Ginger & Mary Ann combined. The MGB is not even on the same stage. I lusted after a Cobra for many years. I was going to build one & paint it Brandywine Candy. Then, I finally got to sit in a Factory Five that my friend was building. Poof, it was over. I much prefer the ergonomics of my MGB even if it's not nearly as sexy as a '59 Les Paul.
Gawd, I hate stuff like this......"customized to look like a Cobra".......yeah, right.....more like a 12yr old's vision of a Hot Wheels car. At least, according to the ad, it is "smoke exempt" and has new "break lines".
You know why scoops, flares, wings, and other stuff like that look right on a real race car? Because they are needed to go faster - form follows function. Adding stuff like that when it has no real function just looks stupid.
Same here Carl. Had a ride in one a couple of years ago. Very fast with a 400+HP 427, very loud and rode a bit rough but the ergonomics were terrible. Wouldn't want to put a 5-7 hour day in the cockpit.
The MGA has such elegant lines; it is a shame that this one was butchered. The cobra has great lines also. This car is some kind of hybrid that is in between the two and it does not look very good.
Cheers
Byron
Not to denigrate the Cobra, it was a truly ground breaking achievement at the time. But it would never have made it on it's looks.
How many people remember the AC Ace? And would you even know what it was if not for the Cobra? I seem to recall the company was near bankruptcy when Carrol Shelby approached them about putting a V8 in the Ace and the rest is history of course, but the Ace did not save the company or bring them to any kind of prominence.
MG did not survive either, but enough MGAs were made and sold that they are still well known, to say nothing of their later cars, all of which were more refined than the Ace/Cobra.
The reason the Cobra became an icon was because of that massive American V8 engine. There were plenty of cars with the looks, the light weight, and the handling. It was the engine that made all the difference.
So trying to make the MGA look more like a basically inferior car (although admittedly attractive), without that huge V8 that made it what it was makes it the worst kind of poser. With the engine there is no need for the copywork which only says,"I wannabe like them guys only I can't."
Much better to make body modifications in keeping with the enhanced potential of the upgraded MGA and retain the styling cues that make it recognizable for what it is. You like wide swoopy rear fenders and a wasp waist? Yes, you can also do that with an MGA and still have it say MGA. And look VERY good doing it.
Jim
Apparently YOU can do it to a B, as well. :)
Gotta disagree Jimbo....do agree that the Shelby Cobra put that original AC on the map...where my thinking is slightly different is I always admired the styling and looks of the original car ...subjective thing for sure...in particular, I always like the Aceca version of that car...kind of the precursor to the Pete Brock coupe that set the automotive world on it's ear at the time..
I have no problem putting V8's in MGA's , or making them look similar to the Cobra...but the featured car is an abomination...I can not find one line on that car that I like....
And, one other thing while I'm on the negative side of things...although I have always admired the Cobra styling...And know the current copies are in most cases much better cars than the originals..I think the market is saturated with these things...nothing worse than going to the local cruise in and seeing a Superformance with a bright yellow metal flake paint job...and the owner knows nothing about original history of the car.....only that it is associated with Carol Shelby...ok..my sunshine has been spread...
QuoteCobra..... would never have made it on it's looks.....
Are you kidding me - you must have drunk some bad well water on Gunpowder Rd!
It's the styling that always elevated the Cobra to the top of my list - check my garage wall - pictures of Cobras abound (No E-types tho)!
(http://cdn.techgyd.com/smiley-big.jpg)
Guys, I agree with you, the looks were fantastic. But the point is, if that were good enough the company would have been succeeding, not failing in the days before the Cobra, and then even when combined with the big engine afterwards did it save the company?
So the car could not get by on it's looks alone. That's all I'm saying. The marketplace clearly decided the MGA was the better car because it was a success. Either one could have had the big engine, and still could.
Jim
too funny!
I agree the MGA has beautiful looks but it does not make it a better car then the Cobra; just different if not more dated. It's kind of like a Deusenburg is georgeous but hard to compare to a corvette.
Shelby was shady. Many of the Cobra's he sold were actually kit cars other built when he could not fulfill orders. You never know what you really got with him but he did hit a niche.
I also like V8 MG's (A,B) but when they try to copy a Cobra my first response would be, why not buy a Cobra Kit car instead of trying to copy one. It ends up looking like a Volkswaggon with a RR grill.
(http://www.oldbug.com/061604%20146.jpg)
Superformance sells one of the better Cobra's. Shelby left the country for 7 years to get away from the people he owed money to and the orders he could not fulfill. When he left he told the Cobra makers, "good luck caus' I didn't". When Shelby returned he sued most of the companies for making copies. Most were small companies who did not have the capital to fight.
Superformance had the money to fight and was I think the only one to win their case against Shelby. Peter Brock ended up building the Daytona Coupe for Superformance. It was NOT a coppy but a continuation.
You see when it was time to race, the cars were not really finished. After they were raced and won they were already behind the times. Shelby tried to dump the cars in the ocean returning from Europe but the dumping fees were more then bringing them back.
Peter Brock took the car as built and finished designing it. The SF Coupe was the Brock coupe and was not a re-creation but a continuation of the design. Then Shelby wormed in and got his name on it which makes me sick. But the Super Formance cars became the liscensed Shelby vehicles.
It was actually better before Shelby wormed his way in.
If you want a Cobra, build a Cobra. If you want a MGA supercar build a Supercar that does not copy a cobra, a Lambo, a porsche.....
If you like that MGA, you will love this MGB....
http://spacecoast.craigslist.org/cto/5349140381.html
Teal colored garage, car and seat belts. I think I know this individuals favourite color.
Ken
He did great job with the gauge pods, at least.
I guess that is an "MGB Highboy".
Cheers
Byron
>He did great job with the gauge pods, at least.
Unless you are the passenger. (Now where was that seat belt?)
Jim
Me, the passenger?!
(http://images.all-free-download.com/images/graphiclarge/laughing_and_pointing_emoticon_312207.jpg)
Gary W, as I recall Pete Brock was up against severe time constraints when he designed the original Cobra coupe and simply did the best he could to get the car race worthy..still a beautiful car...but agree the coupe revision with Superformance was a much, much better car and arguably much better looking too..
The original Cobra and Cobra kit cars are favorites of mine. I like the styling and blistering performance.
People (who know no better) approach me and ask if I was trying to get the "Cobra" look with my custom MGA. My response is that I tried everything I knew how to do and not to look like a Cobra. I tell them I cannot afford an original Cobra and if I'd wanted a kit Cobra I could have bought two given the sucking sound from my wallet once I'd completed my MGA.
I find something to admire in every modified car. Modifieds are almost always a labor of love for the owner and a reflection of their tastes. I may not particularly care for some of the components but I never criticize. Who are we to judge?
Right there with ya Jeb.
If we all built the same car, what would that be like?
It may not be to your personal taste.
But you have to respect the effort.
Cheers
Fred
'Gary W, as I recall Pete Brock was up against severe time constraints when he designed the original Cobra coupe and simply did the best he could to get the car race worthy..still a beautiful car...but agree the coupe revision with Superformance was a much, much better car and arguably much better looking too..'
Yes I probably did not make that clear. Problem with racing is before the car is completed...it's outdated technology.
Shelby let Brock get a car together but everyone else in the shop avoided it. They thought Brock didn't know what he was doing. When the car shaved several seconds of the Cobra time on a track first time out everyone got behind it.
When Supeerformance aproached Brock, Brock originally said no I don't do kit cars. When they showed him the money & R&D they were going to put into it they got his attention. When they discussed it they told Brock, the car does not go into production until you say you are done with it. Brock agreed.
Superformance allowed Brock to finish building the car the way he wanted. The car was never meant to be a "replica". The first time out in street trim and airconditioning the car did 200mph.
Ironically, some time back Shelby was making some speed runs at Boniville. The car they were working on was having issues but it was their track time. If they could not race anything they could not keep the track slot.
They sent one of Shelby's drivers out in a Daytona coupe to tie up the track till the other car was ready was ready to run. He broke record after record in his class I think for 2 days in the Coupe. When he was done Shelby offered to sell it to the race car driver for a few hundred bucks. The car was wore out. The race car driver said "Hell no, I never want to sit in that car again!" The car went at an auction a couple years ago for a couple million!