Off-the-shelf Speedster Club Car Badges

No they started with a 265 cu in, then when Shelby was able to truly  convince Ford they got the 289 cu in. Hey, I've been a Cobraphile for years...lol . The new in '65  redsigned Cobra with the 427 had a lot of teething problems with the Shelby team... Team drivers hated it as it was nose heavy...they preferred the 289 FIA...The 427 SC never finished a FIA international race... the engines were built for the NASCAR circuit...150-200 mph, roundy, rounder...on race circuits like Sebring, LeMans, Nurburgring, The Bahamas, the engines grenaded, they could not take the 1,500 to 8,000 rpm then back down used in FIA racing ...The vaunted 427 SC never finished a major international race... it was the 289 FIA that won the World Championship for Shelby. Though the 427 side oiler did fare well, after much engine tweaking, winning numerous FIA championships with the Ford Gt -40's in '69-70(Shelby and company took over the production from Ford Racing)

Just saying the 289 FIA Cobra was THE race car of the era.

While we're on the topic of badges...

What's the historical significance of the ADAC German Eagle grill badge? I'm guessing it's an auto club of some sort. I should just google it, but I figured Greg or Alan would know.

Edit: I googled it. Short story, it's the German equal to AAA.

Longer version:

The ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club e.V.) is an automobile club in Germany, founded on May 24, 1903 as German Motorbiker Association ("Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung"), and was renamed to its present name in 1911.

With more than 18 million members in May 2012,^[1] it is the largest automobile club in Europe. It is also the largest motorcyclist association in the world, with 1.5 million members.

Ted

I was close! Question- how can a plastic replica be "correct"? Some people put small block chevy's in those things! Is the attitude in the Cobra replica community that much different than here? And Gary, thanks for the history lesson. Al

Hey am I the only one who thought the "die" in those "Live fast, die young" badges was from the German?

I once configured a way to stuff a GM aluminum V6 and also a Harley Davidson big bike motor in the speedy them I woke from THAT nightmare I was having....

I think I'm with Alan on the badges.  Buy what appeals to you and use it. If you encounter someone who considers it 'incorrect' I say thats their problem.  Who ever said it was there to please anyone else other than the owner in the first place. 

The black Eagle goes way back in Germanic history to Roman times and Charlemagne (800 AD).  Always a symbol of strength and protection.  Always looking to viewer's left --- except by Hitler who made it face to right.  

Al, the Cobra community has it's share of people who scoff at replicas and even in the replica community there are those who nit-pick 'correctness' . Many of my Cobra owning friends have 427SC bodied cars with small blocks 302's to 351 Windsors and Clevelands, and they get grief from the 'correctness crowd' just because these guys have BB 427's or 428's in their cars.And it gets worse as they often make comments even about such things as the spacing of the hood rivets on some cars...lol. But even I scoff at the guys who drop in a Chevy engine in a Cobra...that is like dropping a Ford engine in a classic Chevelle or Tri-five...lol and if they ever go to sell a Chevy powered Cobra it always sells for way less than a similar Ford powered Cobra. One thing about Cobra and GT-40 replicas is the sanctioning bodies for some vintage races have added classes for replicas to run in...cheaper to run a $40-50K replica on a track than risk a 250k to 1 million collector car.

I do not yet know how the Speedster community is to make a comparison.

I have to admit, I never understood the guys who put chevy engines in the things, but the rest of it is a little too over the top...

I've always thought a Cobra replica with a 289 or 302 would be a sweet ride.  More HP just seems to melt rubber.

Remember this clip?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmbhWLcWew

Put a small block chevy engine in a 914 once, way bad p2w.

Run the engine you know and have spares for - I think.

My FIA is an almost perfect clone of a USSRCA Cobra sitting in a museum in Columbus, OH. Shelby with his racing team commitments internationally could not commit to racing in the US sanctioned events... so he sponsored, under the table, 'Privateers' to race Cobras. He contacted a Dentist from OH who raced successfully a Corvette, winning several USSRC regional events. Shelby then convinced him to buy a Cobra in '65...offering, off the books support, to win.

The Dr. took the mid-west regionals, the east and southern coast regionals and held them until until he retired from racing in '72.

The car is sitting in a museum just like it was when it was last raced, donated by the Dr. When I was there at a Cobra event I must've took 300 photographs of the 289 FIA.

When I finally found one I rebuilt it as a clone to that one...differences being, my rollbar is higher to meet SCCA regulations and since Goodyear Blue Streak WingFoots are no longer available I went with Dunlop tires...period correct but not true to the original 

Yep!Seen it. My engine in the Cobra is a 347(not original to the museum car that had a Weber inducted 289) , bored out 302, w/Weber stack induction. 4-spd top loader, Jag/Versailles rear end, SPP tuneable A arms front and rear, not original to the clone I was building yet works very well on the race track

It is loud, very fast,and a handful to drive...like a go-kart on steroids...475hp, 425hp at the rear end...It is very uncomfortable to drive for long distances, the drivers exhaust exits just about 2.5 ft below the door, without earplugs, even with them, you feel like you are deaf after 2 hours of seat time. In it's race trim it garners a lot of looks and kudos...

Since I quit racing the car, it has mostly sat, take it out once in awhile but...I like comfort now more than flat out HP...still like getting the thumbs up though 

My brother in-law had a Cobra, big ford engine, fat tires, and lots of rumble.  He'd drive down our tiny street and set off car alarms as he went. I'll always knew when he was coming!

Art, been there...done that...lol. Several of my Cobra friends and I in Washington drove up into a 5 story parking garage to the top in downtown Seattle, went and had lunch. When we got back to the cars and started down we must've set off every car alarm in the garage... Good Day...lol!