1964 AC Cobra 289 Racecar

Lot details
Registration No: FPA 10B
Chassis No: COB6026
Mot Expiry: None

AC Cobra chassis number COB 6026 was built by AC Cars to righthand drive specification and sold new to G E Harper of Twickenham, the car being registered FPA 10B, the registration it still carries to this day. Other owners of this car over the years have included Alistair Todd in Scotland, J Brown, Cedric Briarly, Rod Leach of Nostalgia, David Duffy up to 1978, when it was acquired by Werner Oswald, during whose ownership the car was photographed and appeared in various reference works on the model - such as The Marque volume 2, and both Hazan's and Legate's AC Cobra books. The vendor acquired the car from Werner in the late 1990s.
When examined for the new owner by historic race car preparer Roger Dowson at his workshops at Silverstone, the car was found to be a thoroughly sound and completely genuine roadgoing Cobra that had been fitted with a Gurney-Weslake American Ford V8 from a GT40. When removed from the car and dismantled, this engine was found to be in excellent condition. However, the owner asked Dowson to fit an FIA event compliant 289 cu in motor on 48 IDA Webers that had been freshly-prepared for racing by CES and inspected by the FIA Historic Car Technical Delegate during the build. An oil cooler is fitted and the engine is said to be producing 360 bhp.
The aluminum bodywork was completely refurbished with floor and front inner wheelarches renewed. Absolutely no plastic body parts have been employed. Wheelarch extensions were added and a roll-cage installed in such a way so that it could be removed if a future owner were ever to wish to return the race car to a road car again. A GT-type hardtop, again superbly crafted in aluminum, was made so that it could be unbolted and the standard boot refitted if required. Sidescreens with air deflectors can be deployed. The coachwork has been painted red and, following a limited racing programme, the paintwork is reportedly still in very good condition.
The brakes are FIA regulations legal with cast iron discs all round and CR alloy calipers at the front and ORA calipers at the rear. The 98 litre capacity alloy fuel tank has been foam-filled and a plumbed-in fire system fitted. Racing bucket seats with full harness, air horns and a Stack tacho with shift light were fitted.
Where allowed, the suspension has been rose-jointed, front and rear anti-rollbars, and Koni shock absorbers, adjustable for bump and rebound, fitted. The wheels are genuine Hallibrand magnesium alloys shod with all-weather Dunlop M-section M15 600s at the front and M15 650s at the rear. A straight-through exhaust system has been used for racing, although additional silencing can always be added without too much difficulty where events may involve public highways. The transmission consists of a manual Ford top-loader 4-speed box and Dowson modified Salisbury limited slip differential.
Various spares come with the car, including spare front and rear wheels and standard-spec boot lid, and full details of these should be available from the auctioneers office during viewing. A successful bidder may then collect these items from the vendor's agents.
The 5 Sept 2000 dated FIA papers, correctly stamped by the Motor Sports Association, confirm that the competition 2-seater with hardtop has been correctly described and categorised as being eligible for Period F, Category GTS, Class GTS 12. During 2000, the car was raced by the vendor at Spa and in South Africa, and put on pole at Donington by Richard Attwood, who also finished strongly in the car during the 2001 Historic Racing Festival at Silverstone.. This fabulous Cobra would be absolutely ideal for such top car events as the Tour Auto. They don't come much better.