Shelby Cobra!

This Shelby Cobra replica was spotted at the local Bountiful, Utah Car Show a couple of years ago. I remember when I first spotted it. It left a big impression. The color is gorgeous! The shape of this car is beautiful! 

I knew it looked slightly different than the standard Shelby Cobra 427. After doing some research online, I'm pretty sure this is the FIA 289 version of the Cobra. To get a good explanation of the 289 vs 427, check out this link from ERAREPLICAS website.

Some of the tell-tale signs to look for are the front radiator and oil cooler scoops, side pipes (or lack there of), both front and rear fender shapes, Driver side roll bar and taillights and molded in hood scoop (as opposed to the 427's riveted scoop). Geez, after reviewing the ERA Replicas website page, the differences really stand out now. haha 

Even the gauge layout in the dash is different and seen from this angle here. Notice as well the trunk shape. That is to allow the "suitcase" which was part of the regulations of the race class. It actually would work well to add a little flat angled rear spoiler. ;)

"JOY RDE", what a perfect license plate!!! I love it!

The FIA 289 car is more sleek looking to me! If I were to build a Factory Five Racing Cobra, it would probably have to be the 289 variant. What I can find is that this light blue color is Viking Blue (Viking Blue code "E", Ford Alphanumeric M1448, PPG 12494) according to what looks to be the same exact color on a Factory Five Forum post. 

I did get to see the owner drive it away later that day. It was an older gentleman and his wife and it sounded stout and just looked killer driving away! 

I will be very honest, while building a Factory Five Cobra kit car is very much doable (cost and skill), I don't think I could do it because of the convertible, open top design of the car. It seems very dangerous, especially knowing this car can go very fast. I'm sure the roll bar will do its job, but I don't trust the windscreen and being tall, that combination does not go well in my mind in a roll over crash. I know you can buy bolt on hard tops, but that's not going to do enough in a crash. The obvious solution to this problem is.....

The 1965 Shelby Cobra Dayton Coupe!!! A quick search online brings up this beautiful example being sold by Hillbank USA for $170k in what appears to be the same Viking Blue! This car is stunning!

To quote Rosita the Tiki-Room bird, "Your profile is out of this world!" haha Just look at it! You can easily pick out the Shelby Cobra body lines. I love the additional features that the Daytona Coupe brings, the more aerodynamic nose, the roof line and big spoiler...

The Kammback rear end design was one of the key aerodynamic features of the car that improve high speed stability. Apparently Pete Brock and company scrounged up some old german aerodynamacist theories and applied it to the Shelby Cobra and boom, the prototype Cobra Coupe went 3.5 seconds faster than the previous track record set by a Cobra at Riverside. 

Photo credit: Hillbank

The Daytona Coupe is a beautiful car and Factory Five Racing just so happens to sell a kit. FFR is now on their Mark 3 version of the Coupe and this latest model increased interior room for us tall guys! 

The other obvious answer to the open top issues of a Cobra is the GT40! While we're loving on Shelby today, this green GT40 from SuperFormance and Lemanscoupes.com is one of my favorite!

A couple key points on building a replica GT40. Its considerably more expensive to do than a Cobra and Daytona Coupe. Factory Five Racing does not (yet?) offer a GT40 kit, so you have to go through the small number of other kit builders, SuperFormance, CAV or RCR. The other issue is the mid engine transaxle. There just aren't many options and the options that do exist are very expensive nowadays. Hence, I do lean towards the Daytona Coupe as the most likely option for me personally. I think a Daytona Coupe in this light green would be a killer combo! A boy can dream!

Photo credit: Lemanscoupes.com

Ultimate Street Car Challenge comes to Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC)

 A few Friday nights ago, I was doing my usual Instagram surfing. I came across a post by @utahmotorsportscampus page that the Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car was coming to Utah. I don't think it clicked when I first saw it. I didn't have any plans on Saturday, but the neurons didn't connect that I should try and go. I got up at my usual 630am on Saturday and tried to go back to sleep. I picked up my phone and saw another post about the USCC event. I think it was seeing the bright orange 1970 Camaro of bdhobaugh, it finally clicked. I started thinking that I could get out there in 45 minutes and be there for a few hours. I figured everyone would be sleeping for a few more hours and so they wouldn't miss me or be annoyed that I ruined their Saturday. This was a chance to see many of my hero cars. Here's some photos of cars I've only seen on YouTube or Instagram.

I should mention that the previous 2 weeks before I would be driving out to Grantsville-Tooele area to the Utah Motorsports Campus, I was dealing with a clutch issue on my 2002 WRX. I got the clutch working properly like 1 or 2 days before I would make the 100 mi roundtrip drive. So, I was a little nervous to be driving so far from home. The Suby drove great and had 0 issues. I rolled the windows down, cranked up the Beach Boys music, which is a Saturday tradition and enjoyed the 50 mile drive west. Here's a picture I grabbed of the UMC sign before exiting Tooele. You can see the Great Salt Lake out the window.

This photo was taken as I was leaving the campus. It really is a campus. They have the big road course, a go-kart track, a couple off-road tracks for stadium trucks and motoX and a couple parking lots where they had AutoX for the Drive Optima event and a local drift event on the other side of the property. 

The suby is a good lookin' car eh? I love the simple silver on silver look! I love the Enkei NT-03M wheels too! Those "Falken" tire letters are holding on tight... hhhhhhhh :( Can't wait when they start to peel or I replace them with new tires.

Let's start off with the most recognizable car for me, Brian Hobaugh's 1973 monster Camaro. Just google this car and you will find feature articles for it going back to 2012. It has continued to evolve. It's a seriously cool machine! It sounds and looks aggressive. 

Hard to pick which one to go with next, but I'm going with this 1970 C3 Corvette nicknamed "Rambo"!

Rambo Pro-Touring C2 Vette article.

Read that article for more details and watch the video. The highlights include a 450hp LS6, T56 6 speed and JRI coilovers (best in the biz)! I love the green paint and fender flares. Serious cool grip machine!

Continuing with the 1970's Chevy theme, check out this 1969 K5 Blazer.

Laid-Back K5 Pro-Touring Blazer article.

Thank you to AutoXandTrack.com for putting up this article and for all the great YouTube video content from many autox and track events in the Southwest/California area. I'm a huge fan!

This Blazer is actually from Idaho and had its engine done at JDP Motorsports, which is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. How about a SpeedTech frame, 560hp LS3 and 315/335mm wide tires front and rear! Beautiful hot rod!

OK, time for a Ford. John McKissack's 1966 Ford Fairlane is rad! He's nicknamed it "Riverside Spec" and you can find "RS" decals in a few places. Check out AutoXandTrack.com's YouTube video here: In The Paddock Ep.6 Video

Here's the highlights: 427 Dart block, T56 6 speed, JRI shocks with Mike Maier cantilever torque arm suspension, 18x12 wheels and 315/30/18 stickies! Nuff said! I love the flares and aggressive stance!

This S197 Shelby GT500 was very fast and finished in the top 5 for the entire event! I don't have any details, but it stood out and was one of the many modern Mustangs. 

What was odd was there was 0 Mustangs pre-Fox body. And there was only 1 Fox body Mustang. I found that kind of odd. I feel like there are way more 60's Mustangs (especially 64-66 model years) driving around the streets compared to 67-73 Camaros, but on track, there seems to be the opposite scenario. Not sure why that is?

Here are a few more hot rods that I was diggin. I'm not sure what it is, but I love Pro-touring hot rod trucks from the 60-70's. I'm also a big fan of the modern Camaros, especially the 2016 and newer with the newer chassis (aka lighter chassis).