In the beginning....

Steve's AK Cobra Build

Hi, this is my personal record of building an AK Cobra Replica. I'll share my progress, issues and whatever I learn in the process and hopefully it will benefit those who follow.

So, what started this all? Well, I trained as an engineer many years ago but have worked in the IT business ever since. I'm reasonably handy mechanically but I know my limitations! I've always fancied doing a replica build and looked seriously at a GT40, however, my wife Sara vetoed that notion as nowhere to put the shopping!
Sara is a member of the Midlands Automobile Club at Shelsley Walsh and we happened to be at a breakfast club meeting one Sunday when a guy started a Cobra. That was it - sold! That's what I want she says.
So I started my research and looked at the usual suspects: AK, Dax, Gardner Douglas and Pilgrim. We visited the 2014 Stoneleigh show and had a good look round, more importantly we spent a lot of time in the paddock talking to various friendly owners and got lots of differing views. In the end we narrowed it down to AK and Dax, then dismissed Dax as their status looked suspect. We had a good chat with Wendi and co on the AK stand and booked a factory tour/test drive.

As anyone who has been to the AK factory will tell you, its always entertaining and we were made to feel very welcome by Jon and Wendi. The test drive in the supercharged demo car was rather impressive so we placed our order.
While Jon and I discussed technical matters, Sara spent an age telling Wendi why she didn't want any stripes on the finished car and could she have underfloor exhausts!
I vetoed the underfloor exhausts idea and decided to go for a Gen II chassis suitable for a traditional Chevy 350 motor with carburettor.
So that was that, kit ordered with a delivery date of February 2015!