Sidchrome Project Car Cobra Begins

Photography by: Cam Inniss

Date: 19.08.2016

Sidchrome is building a custom-made AC Cobra replica and we are following the build - plus, you could win it!

Sidchrome has a project car build underway and we - along with our mates over at Street Machine magazine - will be following the progress along the way. Plus, there’s a chance you could end up with the keys to it. What is it exactly? A custom-made Cobra tribute car, lovingly fabricated by Python Vehicles in South Melbourne and powered by a variant of the Ford five-litre Coyote V8.

We’ll let Street Machine take up the story: Last year, we worked with Sidchrome to support their Project Kombi initiative. Working with the kids from Chisholm TAFE and the Australian VW Performance Centre, we followed along as they turned a very sad Kombi into a super-cool cruiser, with a big horsepower injection and a total restoration. The car was then won by a lucky Sidchrome customer, who has been spotted driving the thing all over WA.

It was so much fun, it had to be done again, but this time the team have opted for something with a little more horsepower than the VW could offer. But what? Something Australian? Something American? Maybe even something British?

After much debate, they settled on a mix of all three, namely an AC Cobra replica. The original Cobra started life as a pukka British sports car (the AC Ace), before American legend Carroll Shelby got involved and started pumping Ford V8s into them. The Aussie connection is that the Sidchrome car is being built by Python Vehicles Australia.

George Vidovic and his team have been building Cobras since 1979, and the Sidchrome car will be the 102nd to roll out of their South Melbourne workshop. Python is a unique place; as well as the Cobras, the crew also builds some very cool bikes, and you’ll always find bad-arse hot rods and some cool muscle cars getting fettled.

Each Cobra the crew makes is different, to suit each individual owner, with a variety of driveline combos on the menu. While LS-based motors are currently a popular choice, we decided to go with a brand-spanking 5.0L Ford Coyote V8, to keep the project purely all-Ford. Behind the big mill is a Tremec six-speed with an 8.8-inch Ford diff and IRS out back. This is the first time the Python crew have worked with a Coyote donk, and the sheer width of the engine means there has been a fair bit of engineering work to get it all fitting nicely.

Chassis-wise, the car runs a set-up based on Python’s successful two-car race team. The body is fibreglass, with a Sidchrome spanner set into each front guard for posterity! The whole deal will have a tough race vibe, with Halibrand-style knock-off rims and gnarly sidepipes.

While the Coyote mill, big brakes and race-bred suspension means that it will drive like a dream, there will be precious little in the way of creature comforts – we’re talking manual steering, no stereo and ‘natural’ a/c.

This baby is going to be a hairy-chested sports car, just the way Carroll Shelby intended! The competition is open – visit winwithsidchrome.com.au for everything you need to know stay tuned here for more videos.

See more photos below and you can view part two of the Sidchrome Project Cobra here

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