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Physician, doctor, give us one more shot of that horsepower magic.
From the October 1983 Issue of Automobile and DriverIt’;s 1965. You ease down into the low-slung monster, sliding your penny loafers deep into the footwells. You slip on your wraparound shades and roll up the sleeves of your white oxford shirt. Depressing the heavy clutch with a grunt, you bring the engine to life. The deep, thumping rumpa-rumpa can be heard lengthy right after you disappear down the road.
But something’;s wrong. It’;s the other cars. They are distinct from something you’;ve ever seen—so sleek and tiny and none of them have tail fins! Then you see it, the license plate on the odd-looking 4-door job up ahead: it really is dated 1983. Gulp.
Rod Serling would have understood the ERA 427SC: it is not just a car, it really is a trip via the Twilight Zone. Here’;s a vehicle so effective it can spin its tires all the way back to the sizzling Sixties, when actual men tried to look like Troy Donahue and raw horsepower ruled at A&Ws around the country. Those had been the glory days for American iron, when the acrid odor of rubber smoke hung more than such infamous roads as the Connecting Highway in New York, Woodward Avenue in Motown, and Van Nuys Boulevard outdoors L.A.
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The vehicle standing triumphantly at the prime of the higher-performance mountain in 1965 was none other than the Shelby Cobra 427, a wispy English roadster from the Fifties, stuffed complete of Ford’;s largest V-8. In C/D’;s Cobra 427 test in the November 1965 concern, Brock Yates wrote that the Cobra’;s overall performance “may possibly have to stand as a high-water mark in efficiency automobiles that are readily available to the public” and that “we think the 427 Cobra is perhaps the toughest-looking automobile on the road.”
Now, thanks to the magic of replication, you also can ride back, back, all the way back to the halcyon days of horsepower, behind the wheel of an ERA 427SC. Be forewarned that it’;s not at all easy, although. Lots of blood, sweat, and cuss words will be extracted along the way. And you will shell out a hefty bag of cash for the privilege. The initial installment will amount to $ 14,800, the expense of a 427SC kit from Era Replica Automobiles (608-612 East Primary Street, New Britain, Connecticut 06051), from which you will have to develop your dream car with your own hands.
Replicars—kits or prepared-made—are nothing new, of course. Unfortunately, most of them are the progeny of opportunistic makers with much more chutzpah than very good taste, who cater to the nostalgic tendencies of back-yard tinkerers or slightly askew vehicle nuts. The replicar list runs the gamut, with garish, custom-constructed mega-dollar creations such as ersatz Thirties Mercedes at the one end and do-it-oneself MG TC appear-alikes on Beetle chassis at the other. Most are tiny much more than crowd pleasers.
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The ERA 427SC, even so, is not that type of replicar at all. Given the Cobra’;s legendary status, it is not surprising that it’;s a single of a handful of Cobra kits at the moment available—and it may be the best. The ERA is not intended just to evoke the previous it really is an truthful try at a accurate reproduction. The SC is to Shelby’;s original what a piece of modern day-day Chippendale furnishings is to the true point: even an professional cannot tell the difference without having a close inspection. From the voluptuous curves of the bodywork to such minutiae as the graphics on the gauges, the ERA 427 is dead-nuts correct.
Like any kit automobile, the 427SC is a grown-up’;s version of a Revell car model. The ERA kit involves the body (predrilled to accept all the needed hardware), an Era-designed chassis, and virtually every thing else you need—including a full interior and a telephone-book-size instruction manual. You are accountable for supplying the powertrain, the brakes, a Jaguar XK-E rear-axle assembly, and paint.
Continued…
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A Specialty File from the C/D Archives: ERA Cobra 427SC Tested!
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