Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: V-8 Roadsters: Flyin' Miata Habu and Shelby American Cobra CSX8000

  1. #1
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone MRnewsBot's Avatar
    Drives
    Mazda News
    Location
    The Internet
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    1,350
    Thanks Given
    8
    Thanked 516 Times in 151 Posts

    V-8 Roadsters: Flyin' Miata Habu and Shelby American Cobra CSX8000

    V-8 Roadsters:
    Flyin' Miata Habu & Shelby American Cobra CSX8000

    By: Michael Jordan



    As we walk through the Shelby American Collection in Boulder, every Cobra in this museum of racing cars and racing memorabilia tells us an amazing story. It might seem like the story happened a very long time ago, but when we walk out into the sunlight and find a new Shelby American Cobra waiting for us, we understand why the Cobra never goes out of date.



    The Shelby Cobra is a tuner car, the kind of car that every American has in his imagination, a personal expression of speed that's been kludged together from whatever bits and pieces might be lying around. A tuner car is strong on imagination and maybe a little weak on thinking things through, but that's how we do it here in America.



    Shelby American built this car alongside a range of Cobra and Ford Mustang models in its own facility in Las Vegas. The Shelby Cobra is the most copied car on the planet, but this 50th Anniversary edition is the most unusual one we've ever driven. It very faithfully reproduces the simple body-on-frame chassis of the AC Ace and adds a cooking version of a small-block Ford V-8, just like the car that Carroll Shelby first hammered together overnight in the workshop of hot-rodder Dean Moon in 1962.



    As we drive into the Rocky Mountains along Boulder Creek, the cool, dry air whips around the Cobra's cockpit, and we feel like we're more outside the car than in. The big steering wheel's vibration-absorbing wooden rim is pretty easy to deal with, although the numb brake pedal feels as if it were connected to drums instead of discs. With buggy-style transverse leaf springs in its suspension, the Cobra will get to hopping if you lean on it too hard, yet as Shelby American's Vince LaViolette (a former NASCAR Winston West racer) tells us, you just brake in a straight line, roll easily into the corner, and then hammer the gas when the car is pointed straight.



    The Flyin' Miata Habu V-8 feels as if it's from a different century than the Shelby Cobra as it breezes through the corners of the Peak to Peak Scenic and Historic Byway. But really, this is a Cobra, too, only it's the kind of Cobra you'd put together if you had a late-model Mazda MX-5 Miata, a 430-hp Chevrolet LS3 V-8, a Tremec T-56 six-speed manual transmission, and a Ford 8.8-inch limited-slip differential.



    Just like the Cobra itself (and any tuner car, for that matter), the Habu sounds like a crime against physics. Yet, not only is the weight distribution in this Miata hardtop convertible balanced at 52/48 percent front/rear, but overall weight has gone up only 240 pounds, to 2831 pounds. Even better, the Habu doesn't scare you the way any Cobra does, giving you a composed ride as well as crisp handling. Colorado tuner Flyin' Miata has been doing this conversion thing for some time. It shows in this utterly modern automobile that has the friendly personality of a Miata, only with the dark soul of a V-8.



    If you've got your wallet out, see if you have the $69,995 it will take to get a rolling chassis of this Cobra with fiberglass bodywork from Shelby American ($134,995 for an aluminum body) and then look under the couch cushions to find the $10,000 to $20,000 or more it'll take to buy a Ford V-8 crate engine and get it installed. If you have $42,995, you can fly into Grand Junction, Colorado, go out to the Flyin' Miata shop in the middle of the peach orchard outside of town, and pick up your turnkey Habu V-8 from Keith Tanner, but only after you send him a used, third-generation Miata (Flyin' will also convert your first- or second-gen model).

    Either way, you'll be celebrating the Shelby Cobra, which defines the whole tuner-car thing, now as then.




    Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews...#ixzz2xAiuWnSi
    I am your Mazda News Bot!

  2. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to MRnewsBot For This Useful Post:

    Agent☣Orange (04-10-2014),Dandy (04-02-2014),Demon I Am (03-27-2014),The Driver (04-11-2014),WASABI (04-10-2014)

  3. #2
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here!
    Location
    Denton, Tx
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    170
    Thanks Given
    4
    Thanked 86 Times in 65 Posts
    Cool.
    93' LE - FM II and more
    253k miles
    Smile

  4. #3
    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! WASABI's Avatar
    Drives
    1991 British Racing Green
    Location
    Amesbury, MA
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    3,864
    Thanks Given
    6,206
    Thanked 1,464 Times in 795 Posts
    Great comparison, however, I think the NA is just a better platform to compare to the AC Cobra because the first generation Miata had the best lines... in my opinion.

  5. #4
    Mod Squad
    Drives
    2016 Ceramic GT
    Location
    Bentonville, Arkansas
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    9,295
    Thanks Given
    2,075
    Thanked 2,452 Times in 1,353 Posts
    This more of a modern vs. old school comparison rather than an old school vs. older school comparison

  6. #5
    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! WASABI's Avatar
    Drives
    1991 British Racing Green
    Location
    Amesbury, MA
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    3,864
    Thanks Given
    6,206
    Thanked 1,464 Times in 795 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Martin View Post
    This more of a modern vs. old school comparison rather than an old school vs. older school comparison
    I can't read...

  7. #6
    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! The Driver's Avatar
    Drives
    1996 Montego Blue Leather Package + 5 Speed = Torsen II
    Location
    Lakewood (Green Mountain), CO.
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    3,369
    Thanks Given
    933
    Thanked 483 Times in 283 Posts
    Bill Cardell told me that for a V8 conversion that feels and behaves like a factory job, the NC is the way to go.
    96 Montego, replacing a 95M... I miss: My running peeps in Tampa, running barefoot @ Clearwater Beach and First Choice BBQ, in Brandon. In So Cal I miss: The Malibu Canyons, CA 33 and In & Out Burgers ! I'm from Tampa, if I was from Tampa Bay, I'd be a fish!

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •