Road Crew Expansion: A “Real” Cobra, Back On The Track!

When it comes to the real car, there are probably 500 times as many Cobra replicas as there are real Cobras that were built in the 60’s by Carol Shelby’s shop in California. The ratio may not be as skewed for the slot models, but Johnny Lightning/Playing Mantis/Round 2 made a reproduction of the Aurora original which is almost identical to it save for lacking a driver, and it has been made in at least a dozen colors and is still in production today. As for the originals: they aren’t “rare,” exactly, but they are very desirable and command a high price on today’s market, which is why, up to this point, I’ve only acquired one, a very nice yellow one which-in spite of coming in what seems to be its original Aurora Jewel case-nonetheless appears to have had both a replacement windshield and driver installed.

A while ago I decided it was time to add another one to my fleet of Aurora originals I called “The Road Crew,” so I went looking. Its hard to find one of these for under $100 in good condition, and they are often more than that, but you know I always like to look for “dogs” to restore, and I found what I wanted in this tan one, which still had driver with a head, but was missing the windshield. Other than that it appeared to be in-tact, so for a “Buy In Now” price of $50, I thought it was fair.

Of course the tan T-Jets are often unloved, but I have no problem with them, and I thought this car looked pretty good in tan with red interior; it has a staid British attitude to it, very much like the AC Ace the real car was based on. Thankfully, Model Motoring has reproduced the windshields for these cars and they are readily available. With postage and tax included, however, that little piece of plastic cost just over $12, so while it wasn’t cheap, its great to be able to get replacement parts, and it fit perfectly, meaning all I really needed to do was clean the body up a little and install that windshield and she would be good as new!

Unlike the recently added white T-Bird, this one had a good chassis that just needed a little light cleaning and oiling to come back to life; no major disassembly or replacement parts needed: even the tires and the chrome on the wheels was good enough to reuse! I polished the pick-up shoes with 800 grit sandpaper and cleaned the original brushes and, with several generous doses of oil everywhere, she was up and running! The motor in this one is a “mean green,” and I retained its original black magnets, so who knows: could be the original chassis the car came with, but if not, its at least “period correct!” Now that she’s all cleaned up, she’s out of retirement and back on the road! Runs great!

For just a few hours of fun work at the workbench in the toy room this made a nice addition to Road Crew at price I think was reasonable! Now with a yellow and a tan one, I’m after a red or turquoise one next! That, no doubt, will cost a little more…