AC Cobra,Early Arntz 427/4-speed, Unrestored Pristine Original, Titled 1964
Description
Steve Arntz was the Pioneer Cobra replica builder and considered the "Godfather" by many. Here's a little published Documentation:
"Steve Arntz started building replica cars in 1972 in South San Francisco. Steve is and always will be an R&D man. He'd build a car, drive it for an hour, and then tear it apart again. This went on consistently. Each model became more refined. Steve's goal was to build the best and more importantly, the safest cars available."
The engine was moved back 10" from the specs of the original Cobra so now 56% of the weight is now on the rear wheels...Also, the frame was designed to be more than twice as strong as the original cars.
"The Arntz Cobra has a unique steel structure that separates it from all other Cobra replicas. One of these features is the steel door beams and hinge designs that are fiber glassed into the doors during construction. There were dozens of jig fixtures that were included with the tooling and fixturing of the body mold "package" that insured the proper location of all these components. You might have a similar "body" mold (the body is easy enough to splash), but without all the other components and the knowledge that it takes to put it all together in order to duplicate the Arntz design, you don't have anything any better than 90% of the rest of the junk out there. These were some of the primary things that made (makes) the Arntz so different and so much better that most (if not all) others. Giving credit where credit is due, the Arntz was originally designed to be a Cobra that one could drive every day, as a daily driver. I saw a demo that Steve Arntz had which had well over 100K mi. on it. It was in better condition that a lot of production cars of today."
"The one thing that everybody agrees on, is that Steve was light years ahead of any other replica builders. He never sacrificed quality for price. If you could see a Arntz car, next to pretty much any other manufacturer, you would see the difference in quality and safety features, many of which are incorporated in other cars today. These cars have become "classic and collectible" in their own right."
The last photo here in this ad is the Hot Rod Magazine cover article dated 1980 where the Arntz(steve driving) was tested against a REAL 427 Shelby..very cool...
So....Here is a Unique opportunity to own an Early Artnz Cobra... !978 Car virtually unmolested and is in close to pristine condition in my opinion.. Built in 1978 and Has been in a private Southern California collection for the last 27 years.It has 5,720 miles.Nothing has been added or changed from the original Artnz plans from what I can tell.. The Chevrolet Big Block,as Steve Artnz routinely fitted his Cars, is mated to a Muncie 4 speed transmission. The motor has Holley double pump Carburetor and it has period GM aluminum heads with the "snowflake". I might assume that they are L88 heads. To those inquiring, I will investigate all the Numbers on block heads etc. and supply that info. Very nice custom radiator shrouding make it runs super cool. There are really no issues whatsoever with the car. The Carburetor has just been rebuilt. Manual brakes work fine along with the E-brake. The Jaguar rear end feels tight in corners and under acceleration.It has 4 coil over rear shocks and rear sway bar. Very large(42 gallon!) Aluminum fuel cell is fitted in the trunk along with the battery. The wheels are French made Gotti's. The Dunlop GT/Qualifier tires have been mounted for some time but in fine condition. Rears are R295/50 SR15's and Fronts are R265/50 SR15's. The dash is very rich Mahogany with correct lucas switches and SW gauges. Tail lights are Lucas.. Genuine Nardi steering wheel. This is a very fine example, Never advertised before and... in great condition..sounds good,runs and drives good and best of all..looks good, Please call with any questions, Jay 360-852-0589 100% since 1999.
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