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Originally posted by SJ351... 39 PH was rolled end over end at considerable speed and wrecked... there is more of the original Le Mans campaigned car present within 13 COB I would wager..Each aluminum Cobra body is different and all panels need to be specially gapped to the individual chassis superstructure. If Wilment had wanted to get a car race ready again in six weeks, which was achieved, then I find it fanciful that hundreds of hours would have been devoted to trying to unpick from the chassis, rivet by rivet, the existing bodywork, creating a complete mess for reassembly. Far more likely that a body-chassis unit was supplied and then modified by the Wilment team, probably incorporating many of the parts from the Le Mans incarnation. Perhaps some of its unique features that were salvageable were grafted on or copied...
Paddy McNally`s account of the car flipping end over end at 100mph is not credible. Probably related to him third hand by chinese-whisper-exagerated race fans.
This is what an AC Ace that flipped end over end (at
considerably less than 100mph) looks like:
(By the way, that was repaired without a replacement chassis...Click photo to see the full story.[8D])
According to Frank Gardner, 39PH flipped and landed over a ditch at relatively low speed, and the damage was relatively minor.
According to Jack Sears and his mechanic, Mike Brown, the damage was relatively minor. The original body was retained, with the addition of FiA-style rear wings & cutback doors. There is no way Willment would have gone to the time & trouble of recreating the unique Le Mans features on a new body. There is no record of any suspension parts being replaced. The engine would have needed a rebuild, but there is no record of that being replaced.
The flip-down split bootlid was used at the 'Black Flag' race straight after repair. The hardtop mounts were there.
The Bell and Colvill Cobra started life in 'stock' 289 guise, first appearing in the early-mid 70`s, presumably because it took that long to acquire all the parts to build it.
I don`t know about art, but I know what I like. [
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