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Shelby AC Cobra Unrestored British factory built RHD (NOT A KIT CAR!) replica

Sale price: $31,216.00 make an offer

Car location: Northwest, United States

Sale type: Fixed price listing

Technical specifications, photos and description:

Year:
1977
Mileage:
53,500
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Shelby AC Cobra Unrestored British factory built RHD (NOT A KIT CAR!) replica for sale

Current customer rating: current rating for this car(2.05) based on 493 votes
 

1977 Shelby Cobra. Original Unrestored replica. Patina. ratty. distressed. whatever  you want to call it. but it's genuine and authentic – reflective of  36 years and over 50. 00 miles. Yes. it's a replica . but not a kit car! This car was factory built in 1977 and is titled and registered as a 1977 Pilgrim*. not a “kit car” or “special construction” or any of the other designations that will cause you problems and heart ache when you try to register. smog or insure the typical homemade kit car! As you know. or should know if you're doing your homework. Cobra kit cars can be almost impossible to insure. and for good reason!! Many are poorly built. over-powered. under-engineered with cobbled together mis-matched brakes. suspension and questionable steering. That's not what my car is. Rather it's a 1977 Pilgrim. you simply call your insurance agent and say “I need to insure my 1977 Pilgrim” and when they say “What's that? We've never heard of that one before” you reply that it's  very rare limited production British sports car. likely the only one in America”  and you should have no problems. During my ownership. State Farm. Safeco and Hagerty have all insured it with no questions or issues.

 

I personally imported it from England 8 years ago and have driven it over 50. 00 - it's ready to be driven anywhere in the country right now! It's been to Scottsdale and Phoenix. Arizona. Santa Fe. New Mexico. all across  California. Oregon. Washington and Nevada. Yes. you can drive this home across the country today! I'm 5'10” and was once up to 250 lbs. this car fits and is comfortable enough to do 14 hours a day in. A 6+ foot tall guy can drive it comfortably too. (Again. this is not always true with so many ‘kit cars' – just look at the funny steering wheel positions guys build them with – steering columns poking through the dash at high angles. putting the wheel up high. awkwardly out of reach. or positioned too far back so it's right in your chest. ) To repeat. this is a car that a 5' 10” 250 lbs. guy has regularly driven for up to 14 hours and 1. 00 miles in a single day! You can't do that in a homemade car.

 

Apparently one of only 12 Pilgrims factory  built with the full Ford ‘Colgne' drivetrain – 2. 8 Liter V6. T-9 five speed. brakes. steering and suspension. basically it's all Capri or Cortina bits -  all parts are quickly available today and it's as fast as any car reasonably needs to be. With the lighter weight of the V6 motor. the cornering and handling is absolutely fantastic. as is the mileage!

 

 Looks quite good with authentic Smiths gauges. genuine Lucas switches & mirrors.   Euro H4 headlamps with integral parking light bulbs. Original UK registration number plates. (But car is properly registered and has Oregon plate as well. )

 

 

A year ago the engine and transmission were professionally rebuilt. Bored to 2900cc. hotter cam from Blitz. ported heads. Offenhauser intake manifold with Holley 390 four-barrel. custom headers.  When driven reasonably will return up to 32 mpg on the highway. Once you hit 3500 rpm it just comes alive! The power slams you in the back of the seat. when the secondaries open the tires break loose and the sound. oh the sound of that screaming V6 – I've had people swear it sounds like a classic Ferrari V12! It is exotic. it is primal. it's unlike any other car you've experienced! This is FUN!

 

As you can see. cosmetically the car is a heavily ‘patinated' original – the paint is micro-blistered. peeling and chipped and flaking. span >  there is some minor delamination to the windshield and the Plexiglas wind wings are heavily sun crazed and cracked. one is broken. Original glass Lucas tail lights are sun faded - how cool is that?? Thirty Six (36) years of genuine wear and proud of it! This car is not a pretender. not a poseur!

 

The carpets are worn but surprisingly. the seats are very good. the gauges appropriately weathered.

 

The overall effect is people don't recognize this as a replica – they have to be convinced that it's not a rare. unrestored original RHD Cobra – the authenticity is enhanced by the lack of the typical “Boy Racer Parts” one usually sees on kit car Cobras such as side pipes and ridiculously wide wheels and tires under rear quarter panels jacked up riding high in the sky. No. this car's got the right look and stance.

 

As one guy said – “That's not a replica. it's so good looking. it's a COUNTERFEIT – you could probably pass it off as the real thing” and at a recent car show I heard a man exclaim “ My god son. don't touch it – that car's worth a half a million dollars!”

 

And talk about FUN!! Last summer was the 50th anniversary of the Cobra. Both Pebble Beach and Laguna Seca celebrated the Cobra and I was there. Everywhere we went. this car with it's worn and weathered (well. actually ‘ratty' but real and genuine) appearance attracted more attention than anything else. in spite of the town being overrun with immaculately restored ‘trailer queen' Cobras! At one point in Carmel Valley we saw a rare $30+ million Ferrari 250 GTO driving down the highway so we followed it! Talk about a genuinely once in a lifetime experience.  the Ferrari driver thinking he saw a rare unrestored RHD Cobra pulled over in front of a high end collector car auction so we parked and talked – the crowds emptied the auction tent while we just sat back amused at the comments such as “My god. a GTO AND an unrestored Cobra side-by-side. span >  we'll never see that again” These were sophisticated. knowledgeable collectors thinking they were seeing an unrestored million dollar Cobra and an extremely rare Ferrari 250 GTO – well at least they were half right! ­­­

 

As a car – this is perhaps the best sports car I've ever owned! That's a pretty strong statement. especially when you consider that I've owned Alfa. Aston Martin. Austin Healey. BMW. Bentley. Fiat. Ferrari. Jaguar. MG. Mercedes. Porsche and Triumph sports cars but I'll stand by it! My little Cobra always starts. gets me where I'm going. more importantly. gets me home again. doesn't overheat or leak oil like a typical British car and is comfortable enough that I've driven it 14 hours non-stop from Portland to Los Angeles in a single day more than once! It has a top but I never use it – it doesn't do that much good and the side curtains are miserable so I generally just store it winters. I am absolutely serious when I say you can fly here and drive it home – I don't care where you're going – if there's a road. this will get you there right now – no work needed to make the trip! But no. the car isn't perfect – the fuel gauge is terribly inaccurate – I had the sending unit rebuilt last spring but when I installed it. I found the problem still wasn't corrected but I didn't want to remove it again and miss the summer driving season.  The engine runs strong (it should -  it's less than 6. 00 miles since a ‘blue-print' rebuild. new brakes with special vented rotors. span >  all the lights and accessories work. the rebuilt five-speed transmission shifts properly with a high performance ‘Kevlar' clutch.  Just get in and DRIVE IT!!

 

No. it's not for everyone. especially if you're looking for a silly looking dangerously overpowered Cobra parody (which is what far too many kit cars are rather than ‘replicas. )  this is not for you.  But if you appreciate the wear and patina. this is your car!  You understand. to paint it is to ruin it and I realize that not everyone ‘gets ‘ it. likes it or wants it. But don't confuse it for the ‘faux patina' and artificially ‘distressed' look common to recently constructed rat rods and the like – this is genuine and has taken decades to get this way!

 

I've done track days. rallies. tours and vacations with it. taken my girlfriend out to dinner and away for the weekend with it. I've driven it cross country. made multi-state trips with it.  At shows and cruise-ins crowds gather around this one and ignore the perfect looking trailer queens – it's that magical romance of the unrestored car and you either get it and love it or you don't. Thirty Six Years -  36 years of genuine patina – you can't fake that. Nor can you be inconspicuous when driving this car – people always are taking photos and videos with their cell phones all the time. and it has literally stopped traffic in downtown Portland.

 

I'm in Oregon. My phone number is 971-998-2703. Call me. come see and drive it – I'm not your typical Ebay seller trying to hide behind an email curtain. But -  please don't email if you want to discuss price – I'm of the opinion that real buyers call. but time wasters. scammers and dishonest sellers email!

 

You can drive it home anywhere. right now!

 

 

To European and UK buyers – I will drive the car to the Port of Tacoma for shipping to either UK or Europe - the cost from Tacoma to Southampton. UK is about $2. 00 or Bremerhaven or Zeebruge $2500. (quoted in US dollars). This is shipping via Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines per my customs/freight broker in Tacoma. Can furnish further details upon request. Will pass M. O. T. or T. U. V. right off the boat!

 

971-998-2703

 

*The Pilgrim name still exists but now they sell kit cars. not complete automobiles. This is one of the rare factory built cars. not a kit.

 

Also published at eBay.com

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