The weather in the Windy City was unseasonably warm during the second week of last November when I had rediscovered these photos I had taken several years prior. Temperatures had reached around 70°F (21° C) for three consecutive days in the middle of November 2015…in Chicago. I might have confused it with spring if it wasn’t for the end of Daylight Savings Time, and the lack of natural light in the evening messing with my head. There were also all those dried leaves crunching underfoot.
It was also very sunny, midday. On really nice days, it is sometimes hard for me not to gaze out the windows of the manager’s office directly behind my cubicle on the 47th floor of our downtown skyscraper. Back when I was in school, I was pretty straight-laced. I skipped exactly one class, one time, when I was a senior…in college. Never mind that I was only a solid “B” student. My point is that I was far too afraid of punishment to rebel “properly”.
That last statement is the key to understanding the powerful draw the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” had and continues to have on me. I had spotted the subject car in late spring while it was sitting in line and waiting to be valet parked in front of Macy’s on State (formerly the flagship store of the famous Marshall Field’s department store). It immediately made me think of doing all kinds of bad things.
Before anyone points out the obvious fact that the car in the aforementioned movie was not a Shelby Cobra but a (replica of a) 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder (that just rolls off the tongue), I want to illustrate that there were parallels between this particular scenario and that movie’s plot. It was during the week, the weather was sunny and nice, and what looked to be a fast car was staring me in the face. There were two major complications, though: this car did not belong to a parent of a friend, and I am a law-abiding citizen. None of this meant I couldn’t, or didn’t, fantasize.
This car was too beat-up to be the real thing, and I am sure (and surely hope) some CC readers will be able to easily identify and list the various tells that peg this one as a fake. As pointed out to me by an acquaintance, the side pipes are cut, the wheels are off, and the roll bar hoop is missing. Some replicas are better than others, but to my eyes, this is still a very credible, cool-looking example. I actually like the fact that it looked a little busted, like it had actually been driven and enjoyed by someone.
I’d like to think that maybe its owner was playing hooky, or at least had peaced-out of the office early on account of the nice weather. Why else would this thing be here on a weekday around Five O’Clock PM? Sure, these cars are fast, but Loop traffic near State Street can be glacially slow, especially around evening rush hour. Driving a fast car in downtown Chicago around this time of day would seem to be an exercise in containing one’s utter and sheer frustration.
Some of these Cobra replicas are also crazy-expensive. I wonder what kind of job or position its owner held to be able to afford such a fun toy. Maybe I shouldn’t have skipped that one hour of Clinical Psychology back in undergrad to go to the beach, after all. My life could be so different today. I guess the world will never know.
Who am I kidding? School was never really my thing, and my decent but lackluster grades reflected that. I am thankful for my job which, to be honest and in some ways, probably ended up being my best-case employment scenario. Still, the thought did cross my mind: How much fun would it be to hop into this car and tear (okay – responsibly tear) up Lake Shore Drive with two of my specific friends (who actually resemble Sloane and Ferris!) and make a day of it?
I still daydream…pretty much all the time. One could say Walter Mitty is one of my “heroes” – though to be clear, I have put forth considerable effort to actually realize some of my dreams. Nothing’s wrong with a little, harmless fantasy from time to time, as long as it doesn’t keep one from getting one’s “life” done. Maybe its time to dust off the old slot car set…you know, just for fun. Oh, yeahhhh.
The subject car was as photographed by the author in Chicago’s Loop on Wednesday, June 8, 2011. The scene from “Slot Car Sunday” was photographed on February 22, 2015.
I completely understand the appeal of these, replica or genuine. But they’re just not to my taste. For some reason I equate them with unbuttoned hawaiian shirts and a gold medallion necklace buried in chest hair. Kudos to Carroll though, he really made the idea work to point that the (Pete Brock) coupes were showing up the Ferraris at Le Mans before the GT40 could get it’s stuff together.
First tell for replicas is a soft tap with a knuckle on the body; most ‘recreations’ are fibreglass (but not the very expensive ones). Not that I would presume to do that without the owner’s permission.
Save Ferris.
Agreed. Cobra replica owners mostly all seem to have come from the same mold, just like their cars. 🙂
Just check the thickness of a fender lip the same way to check on plastic 32 coupes, You can usually feel the fibres on the underside. AC Cobra replicas are quite common here I saw two parked nose to tail out side Maccas on Sunday they were replicas at a glance real ones simply arent that common or that perfect.
Before Christmas I was playing golf at a nice seaside course that has a single lane road running through it. At one point about 20 Cobra replicas came burbling (plus the odd mandatory throttle blip) through, they all – without exception – had trouble getting over the speed bumps resulting in much mirth from my playing partners at the sounds of underpinnings scraping on tarmac. hehehe
A little schadenfreude. Nice. LOL
I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who has difficulty keeping daydreams at bay while I try to get work done. I will also confess that I am kind of like Don – I understand the appeal of these, but it is not really my flavor. But that’s what’s great about this place, a little something for everyone. And had I found it parked like you did, I would have been snapping pictures too.
I’d venture to say that daydreaming is perhaps the bedrock of CC. It’s an endless diversion from what we should be doing.
And daydreamers naturally have ADD, which is why we’re not all hanging out at the Cobra 427 owner’s forum. Being tied down to the care and feeding of any one car would get old too fast. Better to just keep flirting with them all. 🙂
*This.* Nicely summarized, Paul.
To paraphrase: “Leave only fingerprints…take only pictures.”
Skip the first part, but it is still OK to dream.
Joseph, you strike me as someone more with Cameron’s sensibilities than Ferris’. Cameron did have a latent rebellious streak in him, though, as it turned out. As for our featured CC, it’s not a stretch at all to look out the window and imagine a parade led by Ferris floating down the street!
Scott, you are 100% right-on – I am definitely (way) more Cameron than Ferris. I remember liking seeing Cameron flash moments of being a troublemaker – like pretending to drown. That was great.
So of course you now reside hereabouts…
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/06/02/camerons-house-ferris-buellers-day-off-sold-1m-report-followup/
Congratulations!
I also spend billable hours dreaming of places I’d rather be and activities I’d like to undertake if given the chance.
Jim, I do live in Chicago, but not in the ‘burbs. Funny, though – that author does look a little like me. I was worried when that house was for sale that the new owner would demo it and rebuild. I underwrite homeowners insurance policies (including in this area), and people would be shocked at how often really nice houses get torn down just to rebuild on desired real estate. I’m a huge fan of mid-century modern architecture.
Call me a contrarian, but these haven’t had an appeal for me for a few decades at least. They’re too common, and almost everyone is totally overblown.
Now, if I could get a kit and build it up as an original AC Ace, I could get really interested. At least I’d have something rare.
An interesting one surfaced on a classic car page on FB V6 holden powered, the Ace was 6 cylinder before Shelby got to see one but yeah they arent something I bother taking pics of anymore.
Yeah, I’m trying to remember they either had a BMW or a Bristol engine?
If you had deep pockets you had a Bristol engine – which was a BMW copy. Otherwise you had the AC engine, which dated back to the 1920s, or in later years the option of the 2.6 litre Ford Zephyr pushrod 6.
Bristol/BMW then ford Zephyr then Ford V8.
I would rather have a 289 narrow body, but I totally agree. whenever there’s an all Ford car show in the summertime there’s always rows of 20 blue/white stripe or white/blue stripe 427 Cobras equipped differentiated only by the gaudy non original wheel choice by the owner and whatever Ford V8 they could find(I’ve seen everything from real deal 427s to modular 4.6s). They outnumber certain generations of Mustangs!
I would prefer a hardtop version.
AC Aceca
Not sure what I would want for a powerplant though. A small Rover aluminum V8 maybe?
There are replicas and there are replicas. Interestingly the best of the prebuilt cars were effectively 289 Cobra replicas since the Autokraft and Aurora both used 302 V8s. Autokraft in the UK was something of a continuation of AC and is noteworthy for making actual aluminum bodies, unlike the majority of replicas which use fiberglass. Aurora was Canadian and plastic, but had a reputation for better than average quality.
These days I think Factory 5 is the best but Cobras actually don’t interest me much. I’d sooner have a Lotus 7 replica with something interesting for power like a Westfied Megabusa, or for weird points a Locost homebrew powered by a BMC A series with a BMW K100 16V cylinder heard (yes this is a thing, mostly on Minis).
If I had to go for something like a Cobra, I’d want something they never made, a small block powered Aceca coupe. Riffing off of Syke’s idea, I wonder how an AC Ace with a BMW M50 6 would work out?
When I was a kid, my family went up to “The Triple Cities” of southern New York to visit my various aunts and uncles. For some reason (a beer run for 1 of my uncles?), 2 of my cousins and I went for a shortish “joy ride” that sunny saturday afternoon. At some point on the way to the store we realized we had just passed a near new, 289 Cobra. (It was a beautiful dark green with black interior and the top was down.) Unfortunately, traffic being quite heavy, we only got to see it for a few seconds before it turned off.
THE only time I’ve seen a real Cobra that was being street driven outside of movies or magazine pictures
And the early 289s look so much better than the later cars or the many replicas.
A “tell” on many replicas is the instrument panel. Really bad replicas I’ve seen had instrument panels that would make owners of “bug-eyed” Sprites laugh at the crudeness.
There’s a fellow in my department at work who has a replica, bright orange with black stripes. Mustang running gear, including black powdercoated alloys. It’s nicely finished, but not so much to my taste.
One of the veterinarians at the teaching hospital I used to support had another replica, much more faithful to the original. Blue with white stripes, and he told me the engine was an actual 427. I was inclined to believe him considering his other cars (’79 Ferrari 308 GTB, ’62 and ’67 Corvettes, and a ’53 Chevy pickup resto-mod in progress. And a MINI Cooper S as his daily driver, though he’d show up in the Cobra or the Ferrari on nice days.)
Great read, Joseph! And funny you mentioned a slotcar set…I first became aware of the Cobra by way of my hand me down Aurora and AFX slotcars that were my uncles. In it was a well thrashed AC Cobra that was one of my favorites.
And Im right there with you daydreaming (mostly about cars) while at work. Matter of fact, this very site is what keeps me somewhat on track and motivated while stuck at work. Making money is all well and good, but once your bills are paid you gotta have dreams…thats what motivates.
I like the idea of a car like this having a few battle scars. Most of them are far to perfect and pretty…and these are REPLICAS, not the multi-million dollar originals! A fast, loud hellraiser like this should be enjoyed.
I grew so bored of these at an early age they’re practically invisible, these days I like looking at Fox Mustangs more than Cobras, even if it’s a real one. Plus I’m a big stickler when it comes to fakes, I only approve if they are dead on accurate, from the bodyshape to the screws that hold the steering wheel on(including thread pitch!), at least that kind of attention to detail requires a certain devotion and love for the original, just lacking the one percenter pocketbook to buy one. I feel that way about everything. So when I see Cobras like this, I just think to myself the builder/owner was only willing to shell out the substantial portion of the budget in acquiring the body, and then just raiding the local U pull it to finish it, I mean I’m ok with work in progresses, but when it comes to kit Cobras it’s rarely the case. The body on this one looks really ‘off’, especially the rear wheel openings (flaired flares???)
Unless you’re a CEO or rock star a replica’s the nearest most of us at CC will get to owning a Cobra.
Actually, even the rich folks probably have to settle for a replica.
Even Jay Leno’s Cobra is a replica, and I am SURE he can afford a real one….
http://www.nbc.com/jay-lenos-garage/photos/ac-cobra-427-replica/309586
…that may just speak to how exceedingly rare these cars are.
Really cars like that seem burdensome to own. When values exceed the quarter million mark, let alone the 7-8 figure stratosphere, and only exist in a handful, the cars may as well be tombstones. You’re so invested, so into them, but all you can ever do without desecrating them is park them and pay your respects occasionally.
Agree. As cool as it seems to have an ultra rare high dollar car tucked away, its likely to be a museum piece when the rarity/value reach a point. What good is that? Its the same reason that as much as Id love a HemiCuda, a 340 Duster would be a much more fulfilling purchase.
A panther pink 340 Duster is on my wish list of classic cars.
The owner of the building I used to run a cafe in had a real Shelby 289 I think back in the early nineties. One day he went out to start it up and the battery died. I was having a good chuckle as even back then they were worth ridiculous money. He came in and asked me to give him a ride home to get a spare. Into my old vw van we went, he was giving the gears about what a piece of crap my van was when I pointed out that despite costing less than his spare tire at least it starts. He got the battery in and then proceeded to lay a strip about a block and a half long. I had an irate customer come in and I pretended to call the local constabulary on him to make her happy.
For myself if I was going to have a kit car a 356 Porsche clone with a souped up beetle engine would be more to my tastes…
In the winter of 1970/71, a friend of mine and I took his Alfa to Wisconsin to go ice racing on the lakes. Running in the races was a ratty looking 427 Cobra. It was the daily driver of a college student from Madison. Didn’t do too well ice racing, as it spent most of the day spinning across the lake. Was still a blast hearing it (try) to tear things up. Wonder what happened to it. Probably, if it still exists, it’s been restored to better than new, sitting in a garage.