CSX3359 article: Real or replica?

[SunDude]

I just came across an article in a French magazine -- AutoRetro (Dec 2010 issue) -- which features a blue+white 427 Cobra.  The feature car is owned by François Duret and wears the French registration 6929 PX 11.
   
   The article states that this is an original 427 Cobra, specifically CSX3359, but the car details and ownership description don't match the latest SAAC registry whatsoever.
   
   Does anybody recognize the Duret car?  Can you confirm whether it's really CSX3359?  Thanks.
   
   ###
   
   Here's a link to the entire AutoRetro article in PDF form: http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/104/vhccobra1010articleauto.pdf
   
   Here are image links to the article, but some of the pages are missing.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

[French Frie]

yep... CSX3359 (second to last 427 built) is supposed to be red and is in California ... here's a 1998 auction report :
   
   http://www.americancarcollector.com/auctions/1967-shelby-cobra_3818

[French Frie]

some infos regarding the french car... it was said by the owner to be found in 1996 in Switzerland in bad shape... here's a picture of the supposed CSX3359 during its restoration, given by the owner (found on a french forum):
   
   
   
   the owner said in the AutoRetro article that he also owns a Bardhal Trophy Ram Cobra, and the funny thing is that this pic shows the Ram replica... with the same registration that the supposed CSX3359 ! it is simply impossible in France to have the same registration for two different cars, and the registration can't be transfered,  even if the car is wrecked !
   
   

[Mark IV]

Notice the vinyl covered tunnel instead of carpet.

[TLegate]

Life was so simple before the BBC invented the Tardis - now we have all these cars coming back from the future....or is that the other way around?

[jrlucke]

Keith Martin's Sports Car Market shows CSX3359 at the RM Auctions in Monterey in 1998.

[aaron]

quote:Originally posted by TLegate
   
Life was so simple before the BBC invented the Tardis - now we have all these cars coming back from the future....or is that the other way around?
   

   
   Trevor , I am sure many Cobras were built in the Tardis, makes me wonder how they managed in such a small place !

[Mark IV]

The great cartoon of the Dalek at the bottom of a staircase "Well this buggers ours plans for world domination!"

[Cobra Ned]

Sorry, Francois, but your car is a clone. Yes, the real 3359 is still in California.

[Laurence Kent]

The French car in the magazine is a "narrow hip" style big block Cobra. The real Shelby AC Cobra whose identity it is trying to coast off, is a "wide hip" version...and they just don't look alike. The French fake Cobra looks like a Kirkham to me. Why would someone restore the penultimate CSX Cobra and bring down its value by adopting an unoriginal horizontal row of toggle switches on the dash, and also change the car's configuration from wide rear wings to the narrower ones as found on an AC 289 Sports?  It tends to go the other way around, as the wide hip version allows for the really wide tyres that help the handling and also help the car from turning in the opposite direction, especially in the rain...  If you can read French, the article starts out with someone saying that the car is a replica--only to be corrected and be told that it's the genuine article. The person who uttered that it's a replica was right! It's a faux Cobra!

[rstainer]

The Register replica appendix (see members' area) lists this car as date Mid 00s and Origin unknown. Can anyone give me better detail?
   
   Thanks
   RS

[rstainer]

As per the Register :
   

The original CSX 3359 is in the US

The AC Cobra-type vehicle in France claiming to have the identity CSX 3359 is a Replica reportedly constructed in Belgium some ten years ago.

   Following additional claims last month regarding this France-based vehicle further information supporting ACOC and SAAC published register entries is set out in ‘François Duret’s AC Cobra-type Vehicle’ (16 Apr 14), a public-domain document that concludes:
   
   ‘Mr Duret has not provided any material that draws into question the CSX 3359 information held by the ACOC and SAAC, and to date has not responded to requests to provide such material; his claims are implausible and are not endorsed by any recognised authority.
   
   The ACOC and SAAC classification of Mr Duret’s Cobra-type vehicle as a recently-constructed Replica is correct. The US-located Cobra is the original continuous history CSX 3359.’
   
   A copy of this public-domain document is available by email request to rstainer@radcothouse.co.uk.
   Robin Stainer

[SunDude]

Well, it looks like the real CSX3359 is going to be offered for sale at RM Auctions Monterey, Aug 15-16, 2014.
   
   The catalogue description has yet to be filled out: http://rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1068376.  However, this is what the RM website has to say about the car so far:
   
   With only 1,819 original miles, this second-to-last Shelby 427 Cobra made has documentation from new, was owned by noted collectors, and remains incredibly authentic. When's the last time you saw original "sunburst" wheels and blue dot tires?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

[rstainer]

3359 sold for $1,550,000 ($1,700,000 inc commission) at R&M on Friday.
   
   The owner of the Autoretro vehicle classed as a France-based Replica has corresponded since March but has yet to provide material in support of his claims. His attorney confirmed on Thursday that 'on the basis of the coming results' of the owners further researches the owner 'will consider or not' providing such material at some unspecified time in the future.
   
   In the event of the receipt of authoritative material, the register may or may not be amended.
   
   RS

[Cobra Ned]

I'm going to go with the "not" vote.