Original 1/25 AMT Cobra - A Retrospective

[Gramps46]

A couple of years ago I bought several built ups sight unseen from an estate collection of classics and sports cars.  It dawned on me this morning that I had this original AMT Cobra in my stash that I had bought for parts and never paid any attention to it.  I dug it out and with a little soap and water it cleaned up pretty well.  You can tell it is an original AMT issue by the wheels.  The Cobra was built and painted pretty well so I decided to keep it as a survivor.

[afx]

That is a nice build Gary, I would have left it as is as well.

Edited July 19, 2020 by afx

[afx]

My take on the '63 Le Mans hardtop using HRM's trans-kit

[Gramps46]

The Le Mans coupe does build up very well with Brad's transkit.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Gramps46 said:

A couple of years ago I bought several built ups sight unseen from an estate collection of classics and sports cars.  It dawned on me this morning that I had this original AMT Cobra in my stash that I had bought for parts and never paid any attention to it.  I dug it out and with a little soap and water it cleaned up pretty well.  You can tell it is an original AMT issue by the wheels.  The Cobra was built and painted pretty well so I decided to keep it as a survivor.

Oh, you KNOW what I would have done with it! 

[randyc]

Dang you guys have some nice stuff.  

[Ralph Henderson]

I am always watching ebay, etc, for AMT 1/25 Cobras and their derivatives, like the Sunny's etc, and I am always amused when somebody describes them as "rare" in one fashion or another.  I don't think this kit has been out of AMT's catalog for one season since it's creation.

Sure, it's the pre rack and pinion CSX2000 series, but it, as a kit, still holds up very well.  Add to that the IMC Cougar II with the poseable steering, and we as early Cobra fans are really lucky.

And Folks like HRM, etc, that have produced and sold trans kits and updates for the old kits, (And folks like afx/JC doing masters, etc) have helped keep it relevant for over 55 years..

Still a fun kit!

Edited July 21, 2020 by Ralph Henderson

[afx]

'64 Tour de France - in progress.  I took artistic license with the shape of the hard top.

Edited July 21, 2020 by afx

[cobraman]

Oh, I like that !  Did you modify the AMT hardtop ?

[Ralph Henderson]

I like that too!..  Does anybody make the Breadvan body for the AMT/Sunny?? or a roof?

[afx]

8 hours ago, cobraman said:

Oh, I like that !  Did you modify the AMT hardtop ?

Thanks Ray and yes the hardtop started life as the AMT custom unit.

[afx]

8 hours ago, Ralph Henderson said:

I like that too!..  Does anybody make the Breadvan body for the AMT/Sunny?? or a roof?

Thanks Ralph.  No breadvan that I am aware of.  HRM has (3) different hardtops styles in his trans-kit line (Le Mans, big window, small window).  Not sure if he would sell the hardtops on their own but you could certainly ask. 

Big window:

Small window:

Edited July 21, 2020 by afx

[cobraman]

Does anyone have a photo of the rear of the Cobra breadvan top ? I can only find a 3/4 front view something like the photo above. 

[afx]

14 minutes ago, cobraman said:

Does anyone have a photo of the rear of the Cobra breadvan top ? I can only find a 3/4 front view something like the photo above. 

[cobraman]

Somehow I knew you would have one . For some reason I thought the back would be much different. I guess I was thinking it would be more like the Ferrari.  Thank you.

[Gramps46]

I am a little slow on the draw on this one Ray.  What is interesting is the chassis number which is CSX 2001 which was assembled in Pittsburgh by Ed Hugus for Shelby, raced briefly by a Dr Milo in PA, sold to Europe and competed there with its unique top.  It ended up with Bruce Meyer who restored it to his own specification.

[Snake45]

What was the point or goal of that roof? 

[vamach1]

30 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

What was the point or goal of that roof? 

Obviously it was not styling. ?   I would guess to help aerodynamics since the Daytona Coupes had a much higher top speed this looks like an attempt to pick up a little speed and perhaps keep the driver from getting soaked in a sudden rainstorm on the track.  It was entered in the GT class in the 64 Tour De France along with the Daytona Coupes and GTO’s.

Edited July 21, 2020 by vamach1

[cobraman]

Was there only that one ?  Red ?

[afx]

It was a one-off, the hardtop was later removed.  The car was originally red but not sure if it remained that color when it received FIA style body panels. Looks like they may have just beat out the original fenders to widen them.

This is what the car looks like today.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2012/05/08/first-production-shelby-cobra-to-appear-at-dana-point-concours

Edited July 22, 2020 by afx

[randyc]

Since watching Ford v Ferrari, I have read a couple books.  One on Dan Gurney, now I'm reading about Phil Remington.   I do wish that some of these one-offs were covered, but so far they haven't.   And the books are actually collections of articles.  Phil Remington was a bog part of Shelby history, so it would seem that he would have at least known of these things, if he didn't help construct them.   I'm still loving all the stuff you guys are coming up with - keep it coming.   

[Gramps46]

Back to original AMT Cobras.  While scrounging around in my Cobra parts box, I found this Cobra patch. It is 2 inches in diameter and I think it came in one of the AMT Cobra releases.  Does anyone remember which issue it come in?

 

 

[afx]

Looks like the Monogram 427 kit

[vamach1]

1 hour ago, randyc said:

Since watching Ford v Ferrari, I have read a couple books.  One on Dan Gurney, now I'm reading about Phil Remington.   I do wish that some of these one-offs were covered, but so far they haven't.   And the books are actually collections of articles.  Phil Remington was a bog part of Shelby history, so it would seem that he would have at least known of these things, if he didn't help construct them.   I'm still loving all the stuff you guys are coming up with - keep it coming.   

Remember that AC Cars was still very much interested in their bodies and chassis and made a few variations of their own.  The European races always had private entrants and teams using Ford and Ferraris under that country banner (France, UK etc). So it’s not unusual to see one-off versions for maybe just one race.  I digress but In later years there was a 73 Mustang Mach raced at SPA which is the last car I would expect to see in a European road race.  Now there’s a car that would not need any aero help from the windshield back.

[Gramps46]

30 minutes ago, afx said:

Looks like the Monogram 427 kit

 

Thanks JC, that must have been the kit.