quote:
Originally posted by TLegate
Correction - we don't know that Autokraft had access to the 427 body bucks. The reason is simple - they went into a skip many years prior to that. Ask Gerry Hawkridge who was at AC at the time when he was a student on work placement. He would have kept them himself but he couldn't get them into the back of a Mini! Autokraft did have the 289 bucks.
To Sundude and Trevor and French Frie....very interesting about the 427 body bucks. I was under the impression that the Mk IV cars were produced on these same body bucks as the 60's 427 cars. I have collected a number of "period" articles in various car magazines from the U.S. and Europe re. the MK IV. and the impression from reading the articles is that Brian Angliss acquired the original body bucks from AC and used them for production of the Mk IV. Sounds like he definitely acquired the body bucks for the 289 cars per Trevor. I was able to purchase a large multi-page Autokraft brochure from the 80's which states...
"Autokraft is the only company in the world that owns the original chassis assembly jigs and fixtures, the original drop forging dies, bodywork formers and specialized tooling as used by A.C. Cars during the 1960s for the construction of each and every A.C. Cobra manufactured.
It is by using these very same jigs, fixtures, formers, tools and equipment that the Mk IV variants are produced. Over 2500 highly skilled man hours go into the manufacture of each car, retaining to this day the traditional coachbuilding methods used by A.C. Cars and perpetuated by the craftsmen of Autokraft Limited."
Trevor, your book states regarding Brian Angliss..."Original moulds for assorted parts were tracked down and purchased from various ex-AC contractors and later even the original body formers were acquired from AC. Cobra Parts could now supply body panels and these were sent to a company in the USA, Cobra Performance of Sacramento, in exchange for gearbox and engine items."
Based on all I have read, including the Autokraft literature and magazine articles, my assumption was that the Mk IV was built on the original 427 chassis jigs and body bucks. I am sorry if I have mis-stated the situation concerning the body work of the Mk IV and stand corrected. Thank you Trevor. As French Frie asks...what happened to the original 427 body bucks and do we know where they are now?