New CSX car from Superformance

Awesome, I was on Club Cobra asking about CSX, Shelby, Kirkham's etc... WHo makes the Alum body/chassis??

Mike

 

I did some research on this and found out that Kirkham supplied Superperformance with the the 6 cars.

Mike

 

Tout:

I exchanged emails with David Kirkham and here is what he said:

Kirkham Motorsports sold 6 cars to Superformance some months ago. The
cars were sold directly to South Africa from our operation in Poland.
Jimmy Price told me personally he didn't want to invest a million
dollars (optimistic IMHO) to tool up to make aluminum cars, so I can
only imagine these are the same 6 cars. I would add Jimmy Price has
been an extremely nice man to deal with and has done everything he said
he would do--without exception. In fact, all of the people we have
dealt with from Superformance have been very nice to deal with. We are
very happy to sell frames, bodies, and parts to Shelby, Superformance,
or anyone else who wants to buy them.

David

David Kirkham, President

 

Tout:

No big deal, that's what this forum is for, to help one another find stuff, get information and share stories and pictures of the cars.

I just happen to be looking at CSX Cobras right now so I was in the middle of digging up information on them and happen to ask David about these new CSX cars and I sent him your post and he replied back.

Mike

 

I have the first glass CSX manufactured by Hi-Tech (Superformance) and am extremely pleased w/the fit and finish. If you can request where your CSX is produced, I would recommend purchasing one from the Hi-Tech folks.
HST makes a nice car, but they have had some trouble smoothing out their production schedules.

 

Hello all,

wasn't Kirkham producing the alu body in the 60's for shelby anywas?

cheers

Lisa

 

The cars in the 60's were made by AC Cars in the UK.

Kirkham Motorsports came about in the late 90's, building an aluminum recreation of the original body and an accurate frame... both made in Poland.

 

maybe i am messed sth up.

 

no, just misinformed.

 

I've owned a Kirkham car for 6 almost 7 years and can say the quality is second to none and the Kiirkhams are extremely accomidating people.Superperformance couldn't start with a better base/if its good enough for shelby should be good enough for them.Besides who else can claim thier car was built in a MIG plant!
steele

 

I understand that Shelbys fiberglass car is now made in South Africa also. If so is it a Superformance car? Or how does it differ from a Superformance car? I have been contemplating a Cobra replica. An ERA or Shelby fiberglass car is difficult to bring into Canada yet their are Superformance dealers here, go figure? Any info or advise is appreceated.

 

I own the first South African Hi-Tech produced CSX Shelby Cobra. These cars are produced to Shelby specs. They are not Superformance cars w/a CSX VIN.
You may want to contact your Canadian Superformance dealer and see if they can sell you a CSX Cobra chassis. It might also help to call Shelby Distribution in LA, Barry Block 949-900-1954.

 

As ChiCobra said... the South African cars are made by Hi-Tech, the company who ALSO makes the SPF cars. But they are two separate production lines; the CSX cars are built to SA specs.

Not all CSX 'glas cars are sourced in South Africa, though, they actually split the production in lots between Hi-Tech and another contractor, HST, whose factory is in Mexico.

 

Correct. In June 2005 I visited the Tijuana HST factory as they were just ramping up production of the Shelby Cobras. At that time, they also made graphite hunting arrows, surfboards, and graphite bicycle racing wheels in the same plant.

 

HST is a very big corp (US-based) in the OEM fab business. Since your visit, they have made quite a few cars.

I believe the Mexico operation is also now a Shelby dealer for Latin America.

 

Here is the Cobra 427 story from 2003 to date:
In August 2003 at Laguna Seca, Shelby introduced a painted fiberglass rolling CSX Cobra 427 chassis for $39,999. This series of chassis started with
CSX 4750. CAV in South Africa was to produce the rolling chassis. After a few months (and fewer chassis) CAV went bankrupt. Shelby continued to take $10,000 deposits. They produced a few chassis in Vegas while searching for a chassis manufacturer.
Given they were not set up to produce rolling chassis in quantity, in early 2004 Shelby contracted HST, Inc to build Shelby Cobra chassis to Shelby specs. The Tijuana plant was extremely slow to start production and rumors started around Shelby being unable to fill orders. In August of 2005, Shelby brought in Amy B from Mattel.
In December 2005 with built times reaching two years in some cases, Shelby licensed Hi-Tech of South Africa to build CSX chassis. Both HST and Hi-Tech continue to build fiberglass rolling chassis today. Hi-Tech is also building some aluminum body CSX rolling chassis w/bodies (I believe) from Kirkam. As of December 2007, CSX 4974 entered final assembly at HST. So, in 4 years and 4 months Shelby has produced roughly 224 rolling chassis (a little over 4 a month) for the American market.