Bob Peeples cobras at GSL

[vamach1]

I saw pictures of three cobras in progress on the GSL news section of the website.  Anyone know who he is and are these going to available as kits or is it a personal project.

[Bill J]

I believe that Bob's Cobras were made from standard kits but highly modified to be exactly like the real cars. Pretty certain it was personal projects.

[afx]

Bob passed away a few years ago and his family donated his Cobra projects the the Model Car Museum.

Edited April 10, 2017 by afx

[mike 51]

Wow!  thanks for sharing the pics JC...very impressive.

[Bill J]

Sadly, yes that is the case. I had the pleasure of seeing and handling Bob's Cobras just before the Cactus Modelers Club hand delivered them to the GSL Museum. Bob had access to a !:! Daytona Coupe for a few days and took extensive measurements and pictures of the car. He kept a large notebook on the Cobras for reference and his intent was to replicate the cars as accurately as possible. The notebook would really be an excellent source of Cobra information. The notebook and the cars all went to the museum, courtesy of Bob's family.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Bill J

[afx]

Wow!  thanks for sharing the pics JC...very impressive.

Mike those are RancheroSteve pictures.  I've never seen these impressive projects in person.

The Coupe and the "Flip-Top" appear to be based on the Gunze kit.   The roadster appears to be based on the Revellogram 427. The builds are mis-labeled as the "Flip-Top" was chassis CSX2196 and the roadster appears to be a  427 based on the coil over suspension that was only used on these cars.  The 427 chassis were designated as 3000 series i.e. CSX3002.  I understand the Museum was notified of their error and they have corrected the labels since these photos were taken.

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by afx

[vamach1]

Thanks everyone for the info and additional pictures.

[Zoom Zoom]

These are a real treat to see in person at the museum, amazing work and it's great that they're being kept as-is as permanently in-progress vs. being built and finished.

[Danno]

A couple of clarifications about the Bob Peeples Cobras. 

Bob was a member of the Moonlight Modelers Club here in Phoenix.  He was also a friend of mine.  He died in 2011.

Bob's family did not donate the Cobras to the International Model Car Builders' Museum. 

They were about to sell them on eBay in late 2014 when the club heard about the plan.  We contacted Mark S. Gustavson at the museum and secured his pledge that the Cobras would have a permanent home.  The club - and some of us individually - pooled money (more than the family planned to ask for the Cobras at auction) in order to acquire the incomplete and unassembled models, along with Bob's notes, photos, and drawings.  We wanted to save them from eBay and disappearing forever. 

Once we had them in hand, the display you now see at the museum was prepared with the individual components positioned as if a 3D exploded illustration.  Then, at GSL XXV in 2015, the Moonlight Modelers Club of Phoenix presented and donated the Cobras for permanent preservation and proud public display.

The Cobras appear exactly as Bob last saw them.

[Danno]

Mike those are RancheroSteve pictures.  

 

That is correct.  Steve shot these views at GSL when the Cobras and display were previewed for Mark S. Gustavson prior to the donation ceremony.  That's his hands on the right, mine at the top of the third image. 

The labeling was based on the packaging as obtained from Bob's family, 3-1/2 years after his passing.  The Cobras had some "adventures" during the interim, and we - frankly - were not the Cobra experts we needed to be.  The display was prepared in short order as there wasn't much time between acquiring and donating the models.  Many of the parts bags were separated from the cars and intermixed.  We literally matched chassis with body and engine and chassis components by dry-assembling them.  Bob's craftsmanship was so superb that each component fit uniquely in only one place!  We were able to get all the components together with the correct cars, but there was some confusion between the two roadsters. 

I'm glad some truly expert Cobra-files were able to clear up the misidentification.  Like I said, the Cobras had some "adventures" between Bob's bench and our hands.

Please, by all means, go to Salt Lake City and view these cars in person!   They are captivating.  They show us all what we are capable of if we just apply ourselves.

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2017 by Danno

[afx]

A couple of clarifications about the Bob Peeples Cobras. 

Bob was a member of the Moonlight Modelers Club here in Phoenix.  He was also a friend of mine.  He died in 2011.

Bob's family did not donate the Cobras to the International Model Car Builders' Museum. 

They were about to sell them on eBay in late 2014 when the club heard about the plan.  We contacted Mark S. Gustavson at the museum and secured his pledge that the Cobras would have a permanent home.  The club - and some of us individually - pooled money (more than the family planned to ask for the Cobras at auction) in order to acquire the incomplete and unassembled models, along with Bob's notes, photos, and drawings.  We wanted to save them from eBay and disappearing forever. 

Once we had them in hand, the display you now see at the museum was prepared with the individual components positioned as if a 3D exploded illustration.  Then, at GSL XXV in 2015, the Moonlight Modelers Club of Phoenix presented and donated the Cobras for permanent preservation and proud public display.

The Cobras appear exactly as Bob last saw them.

Thanks for the additional information and for preserving these Cobra projects Danno.  If there is any chance I for one would love to have copies of his drawing and notes.  As you can see I am a bit of a Cobra-fanatic.

Edited April 11, 2017 by afx

[peter31a]

Thanks Danno for the additional information about Bob's Cobras and how they got to the museum. I look forward to seeing them in person in a couple of weeks.

[Bill J]

I am curious as to the whereabouts of Bob's notebook. I do not see it in the photos from the museum. Has that been lost? That would be a real tragedy, losing all the comprehensive measurements and photos that were compiled. Someone should turn that all into a pdf file that modelers can download, perhaps for a small fee. 

[Exotics_Builder]

A couple of clarifications about the Bob Peeples Cobras. 

Bob was a member of the Moonlight Modelers Club here in Phoenix.  He was also a friend of mine.  He died in 2011.

Bob's family did not donate the Cobras to the International Model Car Builders' Museum. 

They were about to sell them on eBay in late 2014 when the club heard about the plan.  We contacted Mark S. Gustavson at the museum and secured his pledge that the Cobras would have a permanent home.  The club - and some of us individually - pooled money (more than the family planned to ask for the Cobras at auction) in order to acquire the incomplete and unassembled models, along with Bob's notes, photos, and drawings.  We wanted to save them from eBay and disappearing forever. 

Once we had them in hand, the display you now see at the museum was prepared with the individual components positioned as if a 3D exploded illustration.  Then, at GSL XXV in 2015, the Moonlight Modelers Club of Phoenix presented and donated the Cobras for permanent preservation and proud public display.

The Cobras appear exactly as Bob last saw them.

What an OUTSTANDING tribute to Bob!  WELL DONE!

[vamach1]

It is great these models were saved.  If I were a resin caster I would probably be drooling at the chance to make copies of these works of art.  I can only JC cannot help himself and he starts to work on recreating these on his own. :-)

Edited April 11, 2017 by vamach1
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