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Jack Mugan
63 articles

Building the Shelby Cobra 427 S/C

May 12, 2016 · in Automotive · · 21 · 3.3K

Arguably the best-known American sports car in the world, the Shelby Cobra appeared on the race circuit and the rest is legend. The Cobra and the Corvette Grand Sport rivalry entertained and excited race fans all over the world.

The Cobra roadster is probably the most produced kit car even today.

has produced several kits of the Cobra over the years. I bought my kit from an estate sale along with the Cobra Daytona coupe. A friend suggested that I use the chassis from the roadster under the coupe to replace the more or less scratch built frame that comes with the coupe. Although the wheel bases matched, the suspension setup were different, so that wasn't going to work out. Nonetheless, as I had already gotten a good start on the roadster, I decided to continue with the build.

Built straight out of the box, construction was straightforward without any surprises. I did add plug wires and wire looms, as I can't seem to build a car without at least add that detail. I stripped all of the kit chrome and re-chromed the parts using Alclad paint. The body was painted with Metallic Blue which I thought was pretty close to Guardsman Blue used on the actual car. I included a shot of my Danbury Mint die-cast along side of the finished model.

Reader reactions:
6  Awesome

9 additional images. Click to enlarge.


21 responses

  1. A real stunner. great job.

  2. Beautiful work as always Jack!

  3. Outstanding build, Jack...very nice work!

  4. Jack, thanks for posting this, it is indeed a classic, but not sure that it's 100% American (you know what I mean). You've done a superb job with this Revell kit and that Tamiya blue does seem like a good match. I think the Corvette is maybe the more well known, but, I know which one I'd rather have in my garage! I seem to recall having a Revell Daytona Coupe slot car at some stage in my youth, and, more recently, had a T-shirt with the slogan "I thought Carroll was a girls' name!".

    • Thanks George... you are correct that the Cobra isn't 100% American when it was born, but became so by the time it evolved into the 427. The Corvette had tremendous straight line speed and was difficult to keep the front end planted, but the Cobra handled much better.

  5. One of those "looks fast standing still cars". Nice work on this Jack.

  6. 🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
    Very nice work on that one Jack, good paint job.

  7. Your models are always very neat, it's a pleasure Jack.

  8. Sweet. Great looking as well as performing sports car. American classic iron.

  9. Another fine build Jack, the classic muscle car.

  10. Clean build as usual Jack. Nice work laying out those stripes.

  11. As always great build! And as always why the only car in my stash remains in my stash I can never get such a beautiful finish!

  12. Jack, not only is she a beauty, but it's from Archway, in my native city. (on the door!)I used to get in there to appraise mangled vehicles, once upon a time. The folks in the shop were a lot of fun, not always the case in other places, particularly in that neighborhood. No small arms fire, either.
    Nice trip down memory lane!
    Thanks!

  13. You never know where the motivation will come from to build a model, and it never ceases to surprise me how a model can bring back great memories.

  14. Looks exactly like the one Jay Leno used to bring to the Glendale Crusin' Night show.

  15. Nice work on the looms, Jack. You're right I think - that extra detail really sets it apart from a standard build.

  16. Very nice! One of my favs in the auto world.

  17. Profile Photo
    said on May 17, 2016

    Great stuff.

  18. Awesome cobra Jack! Looks the business!

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