AC 289 video

[Mark IV]

How about this video with Hugh P.K. Dibley in a blue AC 289......
   http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1393168345775539215&q=BOAC+1967&total=1&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
   
   Rick[]

[runt]

Hi Rick, great stuff from a 'paradise lost'.. when a man walks quickly from his plane to his AC and rockets off, crossing the City past mini-skirted eye candy and not a speed cam in sight, that 289 is the same color as KPD 150C the factory demo 289, love that 'revvy' busy ness of the 289 noise!
   
   Paul/runt.[]

[TLegate]

Wonderful video - and I was there that day and remember it well, though AC Cars did not lend me its demonstrator to get there, as it was obviously blagged by Mr.Dibley - I recall arriving in a friends Austin Minivan. Ah the joys of poverty. Not that I had a driving licence then! I also note that it cost a substantial ten shillings (50p) to get in, which explains why I have trouble getting my head around the price of entry to todays Grand Prix and similar events.

[runt]

So it was KPD 150C; Trevor do you know whether this car survives?
   
   Paul/runt.[]

[TLegate]

Every Cobra survives!! (and the rest) COB6106 still exists but was seriously molested, having been converted to 427 spec with a 7-litre engine that it was never designed to use. The 27 289 Sports were (in my view) the best of the bunch and to make them into something else is a minor tragedy. (Ask Ned Scudder, the SAAC Cobra Registrar) Sadly, it was converted by Brian Angliss in the 70s - not his finest moment - and is currently in Switzerland. It was re-registered 11 COB and COB 27 and painted black.
   I recall visiting Thames Ditton on numerous occasions and lusting after that very car on display in the AC showroom, complete with its wire wheels and hardtop. I assured Keith Judd I was a serious potential (schoolboy) buyer, but he never fell for it. It was the car of my dreams and if I am ever blessed with unlimited funds, I would love to own it and restore it to its original glory. However....

[runt]

Thanks Trevor,as you say, one only has to read between the lines of the two 'Motor' tests of '67(KPD150C and GTM777F)to see which was nicer to steer;whatever,reading about those two made a massive impression as I was twelve at the time!
   
   Paul.[]

[cobham cobra]

Hi Trevor,
   I quite agree with your sentiments, but at least it was painted black [].
   Cheers - John.

[TLegate]

Hi John
   
   I agree black is good, but it did look the puppies privates in Guardsman Blue. I think repainting it is as sinful as if someone painted the very black, ex-John Woolfe 7-litre blue (and shoved a 289 under the lid). Anyone caught painting GTM777F blue should be culled on sight - same applies to KPD150C, in my worthless opinion. But come the revolution.... :-)

[SB7019]

I won't get involved in the blue versus black debate but am delighted to see this video for the first time.
   
   The BOAC 500 was my first experience of live motor racing at the tender age of 15.   I can still vividly remember the sight and sound of the cars - including the sheer beauty of the P4 Ferraris.  The most enduring memory is of the thundering noise of the Chaparal on overun going into Paddock with the wing flipping up to aid braking and flames shooting out the two huge drainpipes that acted as exhausts.  I must have made a promise to myself then to one day own a car with a similarly noisy V8 engine.   Sometimes your dreams come true.
   The icing on the cake was to make loads of noise on the same circuit prior to this year's A1 GP.  Thanks again John for arranging this - you are a great guy, even though your car is not blue.

[Mark IV]

I propose making Trevor the "Czar" of AC, he alone will decide what colors to paint cars, who may purchase them and what may be done with them! This will reduce the number of right w@nkers who have cut and butchered some of the most historic cars.
   
   I mean while a 427 Cobra is rare, an AC 289 is more than ten times rarer! A pity so many have been "improved"

[Emmanueld]

While the AC 289 is probably the best balanced AC built, it does not have the sheer wildness of its big brother or the sleek lines of the leaf spring cars. In addition, technically it is not a Cobra since Shelby had nothing to do with it. Esthetically, the narrow fenders make it look awkward, almost ugly. I don't blame some owners for wanting to improve their machine to fit their dreams. Most Cobras have been extensively restored or modified and no one seems to care if the modifications have been done to improve the cars.

[jbottini]

who has a pint available to wath the latest "I was only foolin" routine?

[TLegate]

Speaking as your new Czar (ah the power!) I don't normally give a to** who paints what which colo(u)r. Just seemed 'unfortunate' to shoehorn a 7-litre boat anchor into the ex-demo "non-Cobra" (which is why it was titled AC289 Sports :-) I've already had the 'best Cobra' discussion at some length on a certain other website and (maybe) proved my point since the Kirkhams dropped a 289 into a 427 just to check and were generous enough to agree, since the car turned in, handled and drove better and was barely any slower on an average Utah country road. And then Ned Scudder brought an AC289 to replace his 427 and, as he is all-knowing, the matter is settled. End of discussion.
   
   And in case anyone thinks I am biased towards one particular colour (why?) I think that black does suit the Cobra, as John's car proves - always looks good. But some days I do gravitate towards guardsman blue. I guess I should as my 'Cobra' is blue!! And I'll say the opposite next week - I'm a fickle old Czar...

[nikbj68]

quote:Originally posted by Trevor Legate
   
Speaking as your new Czar ...the matter is settled. End of discussion....

So... we won`t be needing these then?
   

[jbottini]

Those are some of nicest "mugs" I've seen in a bit. But arg...forgive me Czar but as my CSX 427 was some red from AC and my AK is Porsche Guards Red...I'm either partial, simply don't want to paint it or enjoy the driving part the best. As to the 289 v 427 issue...you are correct on almost all counts...the only area the 427 would best the 289 version might be raw acceleration power. At my age I fondly remember the 427 as awesome, but the 302 (nee 289 with less bhp) is no slouch. Some of the AK and AC 289 tests bear you out as well. I imagine a 306 or higher hp 289 "coiler" would be the cats PJ's.  JBottini