powertvmark
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<div>How much do you love aluminum? How about the famous Cobra? Can you imagine what the result of an extreme project combining those two infatuations might look like? Well, imagine no longer. After two and a half years and boatloads of cash, Larry Ellison has such a car. It's a manufactured dream that is classically beautiful and equipped with modern conveniences. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://jalopnik.com/5385797/how-to-build-an-all+billet-aluminum-cobra" target="_blank">Jalopnik</a> broke the story about the build by <a href="http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/index.html" target="_blank">Kirkham Motorsports</a>. A billet aluminum book documenting the build is also available for purchase.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.streetlegaltv.com/photos/data/547/kcobra2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />
<i><font color="darkorange">Photos courtesy of Kirkham Motorsports.</font></i><br />
<br />
The car came about after a conversation between Ellison and David Kirkham, co-owner of Kirkham Motorsports. Kirkham is known for its aluminum body Cobra kit cars. Larry wanted something unique, so he commissioned them to build an all-aluminum chassis and body. This had never been done before, so there were a lot of learning experiences along the way. Rather than put the car together with unseemly welds, a system of dowels was used to hold everything together, to preserve the aluminum's strength. The car was built to show and drive, and retaining the classic shape of the Cobra was paramount.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.streetlegaltv.com/photos/data/547/kcobra3.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />
<br />
The entire car had to be designed on a CAD computer program before such an expensive build could be attempted. Only one aluminum chassis car has ever been built, the 1971-73 Porsche 917, and it was prone to cracking. However, Kirkham managed to pull off this build successfully, even replacing the plastic knobs in the interior with machined aluminum pieces.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.streetlegaltv.com/photos/data/547/kcobra1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />
<br />
A car this ambitious deserves an angry aluminum engine, so they gave it an aluminum block 427 motor with 645 horsepower and 600 ft/lbs of torque. You can read the entire documentation of the build, from beginning to end, for no charge at Kirkham's website (in the form of PDF's). Or you can shell out $4,500 for an engraved aluminum copy. Christmas is coming, after all.<br />
<br />
<a href='http://www2.powertvonline.com/digitalads/www/delivery/ck.php?n=ac3bc7b9' target='_blank'><img src='http://www2.powertvonline.com/digitalads/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=261&n=ac3bc7b9' border='0' alt='' /></a></div>
<div>How much do you love aluminum? How about the famous Cobra? Can you imagine what the result of an extreme project combining those two infatuations might look like? Well, imagine no longer. After two and a half years and boatloads of cash, Larry Ellison has such a car. It's a manufactured dream that is classically beautiful and equipped with modern conveniences. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://jalopnik.com/5385797/how-to-build-an-all+billet-aluminum-cobra" target="_blank">Jalopnik</a> broke the story about the build by <a href="http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/index.html" target="_blank">Kirkham Motorsports</a>. A billet aluminum book documenting the build is also available for purchase.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.streetlegaltv.com/photos/data/547/kcobra2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />
<i><font color="darkorange">Photos courtesy of Kirkham Motorsports.</font></i><br />
<br />
The car came about after a conversation between Ellison and David Kirkham, co-owner of Kirkham Motorsports. Kirkham is known for its aluminum body Cobra kit cars. Larry wanted something unique, so he commissioned them to build an all-aluminum chassis and body. This had never been done before, so there were a lot of learning experiences along the way. Rather than put the car together with unseemly welds, a system of dowels was used to hold everything together, to preserve the aluminum's strength. The car was built to show and drive, and retaining the classic shape of the Cobra was paramount.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.streetlegaltv.com/photos/data/547/kcobra3.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />
<br />
The entire car had to be designed on a CAD computer program before such an expensive build could be attempted. Only one aluminum chassis car has ever been built, the 1971-73 Porsche 917, and it was prone to cracking. However, Kirkham managed to pull off this build successfully, even replacing the plastic knobs in the interior with machined aluminum pieces.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.streetlegaltv.com/photos/data/547/kcobra1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />
<br />
A car this ambitious deserves an angry aluminum engine, so they gave it an aluminum block 427 motor with 645 horsepower and 600 ft/lbs of torque. You can read the entire documentation of the build, from beginning to end, for no charge at Kirkham's website (in the form of PDF's). Or you can shell out $4,500 for an engraved aluminum copy. Christmas is coming, after all.<br />
<br />
<a href='http://www2.powertvonline.com/digitalads/www/delivery/ck.php?n=ac3bc7b9' target='_blank'><img src='http://www2.powertvonline.com/digitalads/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=261&n=ac3bc7b9' border='0' alt='' /></a></div>