Superformance MKIII SP03627

The build in detail.

Somebody looked at a car that has worn racing stripes for sixty years and said no.

That is a harder call than it sounds. Stripes on a Cobra are not decoration, they are shorthand. They tell everyone in the parking lot what the car is descended from before you have said a word. Taking them off means the car has to work on its shape alone, and it means every single person who sees it will assume you simply have not got around to it yet.

Solid black, no stripe. It is a quieter car for it, and a considerably harder one to photograph. The proportions have nowhere to hide. You notice the width across the rear haunches, the way the front wings fall away, the fact that the whole thing sits about as high as a kitchen counter.

The mechanical work was the same discipline as every MKIII we finish. A crate V8 installed and tuned in our shop, a Tremec five speed, adjustable electric power steering, the ignition, wiring and cooling built as a system rather than assembled as parts, and a full custom air conditioning installation. Fitted leather buckets and roll bar padding. Alignment, road test, Arizona title.

Restraint is not a cheaper specification. It is the same car with fewer places to look, which means the panel gaps, the shut lines and the finish have to carry it. Nobody orders a Cobra in solid black because they want less attention. They order it because they would rather the attention arrive on the car’s terms.

If that reads like your kind of decision, tell us what you are planning. We will give you a straight answer about what it takes.