Cobras - by Robert Walker (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Uncover the origins and assembly of the 1962-64 leaf spring Cobras in England and the United States.

Cobras: The Building of the Leaf Spring Cars is a road map to how the 1962-64 leaf spring Cobras originated and were put together by AC Cars in England. This book also details how the cars were completed in the United States by European Cars in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and by Shelby American in Venice, California.

The thirteen chapters of this volume cover all major Cobra components consisting of chassis construction, aluminum body forming, engine development, driveline components, upholstery, and finishing techniques. Each chapter is illustrated with dozens of rare original black-and-white factory photographs and background material, such as component illustrations and parts numbers. The research information included in these pages is the product of over a dozen of the most knowledgeable Cobra researchers, historians, and restorers in both the United States and the United Kingdom. This comprehensive reference is an ideal restoration resource for anyone restoring a 1962-64 leaf spring Cobra and for fans, collectors, and automotive historians.

About the Author

Robert Walker grew up in Hayward, California. He taught vocational education and journalism at both the secondary and junior college level for twenty years. His enthusiasm for convertibles and sports cars was cemented in the late 1980s, and in 1998 he purchased the remains of a wrecked 1963 Cobra that had been totaled and abandoned in the late 1970s. He spent over ten years collecting original parts and fifteen years putting the car back together as a competition Cobra in period correct racing form, as the car would have competed in the 1960s. He is the author of Cobra Pilote: The Ed Hugus Story and the two-volume series Shelby Cobras, also published by Dalton Watson.