KIRKHAM COBRA , anyone here got one?

They are.
You will not find a better Cobra anywhere,neither replica nor original.
They really do top quality job, the aluminum bodies have aircraft standard quality.

 

But in reality you have to paint it or spend your life polishing. If its to drive paint. It still suffers from the flexi cobra frame. But yes its a more accurate representation of the origional than the origional. BTW the Shelby new aluminum ones are Kirkhams, the differences are that the hubs on Kirkhams are cnc forged and the Shelby's are as pre the 60's.

 

nsxer on this site has a Kirkham.

lew ledyard on this site also has one. both owners rave about them. they are a spectacular machine!!!

I wanted to buy lew's but some of my deals have been slow to pay...soon though.

 

How much is a good one these days?

 

secondary market...between $80-110k. these are asking prices. not sure where they transact at but they are very, very nice machines.

 

I've been to their factory here in Utah and it's awesome. It's cool to see all the body shells waiting to be assembled. Back when I was in high school they even had an original GT 40 in their shop.

 

I thoroughly enjoy my Kirkham...absolute blast to drive. I have the brushed finish, no stripe with white roundels and dark gray wheels. Shelby 427 side-oiler with a TK0600. I had a 4spd top-loader but the 1:1 ratio was a no-go for highway use...especially with race pipes.

Brian

 

Amazing car! I have the whole pdf file of it's construction and every sector of the car separately with amazing pictures!

I'm talking about a lot of pages! Definitely worths owning one.

 

As a matter of interest, under what constructor name is it registered on the log book?

A Kirkham? a Shelby? and AC ?

 

I own Kirkham 001 prototype. 99.99% as a original 427CSX.

 

Pending build quality . . . but WAY better than original, imo

Mine was FIA289 body on 427 frame/suspension. 550hp/2200lbs, corner weighted, etc. WAY too much for the street!

Several pages of pics here: FIA 289 album | The_Pope | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

Why did I sell? sigh . . . . .

 

The polished finish isn't bad as long as you keep it garaged between runs and don't drive it on a salty beach.

IF you treat it like a nice paint job by keeping it clean and don't scratch the surface with dirt and grime and you are fine. If you do get a slight scratch you get a soft cloth and some of the polish and wipe it out. If it gets really bad, you can hit it with a buffer and some polish but I have not seen "white rust" or corrosion form on a polished Kirkham.

The brushed finish is more difficult to keep perfect than the polished car. If you don't mind some patina/variation in the finish, the brushed car is an option but to keep it perfect is a lot of work.

I would do a polished car if I was going to keep it in bare aluminum.

The Kirkhams have continually updated the car and their manufacturing capabilities and engineering is nothing short of amazing.

There are very, very few cars that provide as much pure, raw, mechanical driving enjoyment as a well sorted Kirkham. They are crude, they are brutal, they are loud, they smell of exhaust and fuel. The driving position is a little odd. They don't have traction control or power steering or power brakes. They will oversteer and snap spin so fast that you will have no chance of recovery. Babies and hippies cry when one drives by. Women get a little weak in the knees and start to tousle their hair and bite their bottom lip. The juxtaposition of the hand-made body against the high tech CNC'd bits underneath qualifies as high art.

Certainly not a car for everyone and certainly not going to keep up with a modern performance car on a road course but, when the mission profile is taken into consideration it is really tough to beat one of these cars for pure driving enjoyment.

 

top notch stuff.

plus they hold their value.

 

Other Makes Shelby Kirkham Shelby Cobra rwd Sports Coupe Replica | eBay