Washout! The finest rain hit Chung Ku on Cars and Coffee Liverpool’s darkest day.
The monthly meet was hit for the first time ever by a down pour - wetting all those
precious metals and what’s left of the high spirits. Amazingly - we’ve had two whole
years of dry weather. Luckily, it didn’t dampen the gathering with a surprise full
house on the day! As the saying goes...” The show must go on” for C&C Liverpool,
meaning that regardless of what happens, us petrolheads will still play out as
planned.
We sincerely thank our local 125 Field Company REME regiment (who kindly
brought a 4 tonner with a built-in crane) for participating, especially when all
military were posted towards the River Festival that morning.
Three vehicles stood out this month: one was Mr E’s highly polished ‘aluminium
finish’ AC Cobra, loud and proud, thundering through the streets of Liverpool.
Did you know AC Cobra were originally built with British Bristol engines in it’s
small-volume production, two-seater roadster open top with muscular bulbous
arches. This was hand-built with a steel tube frame, and aluminium body panels
that were made using English wheel machines. They were sold as the Shelby Cobra
in the United States of America, is an Anglo-American sports car with a Ford V8
engine, produced intermittently in both the UK and USA since 1962.
In September 1961, American automotive designer Carroll Shelby wrote to AC
asking if they would build him a car modified to accept a V8 engine. AC agreed,
providing a suitable engine could be found. Shelby went to Chevrolet to see if
they would provide him with engines, but not wanting to add competition to the
Corvette they said no. However, Ford wanted a car that could compete with the
Corvette and they happened to have a brand new engine - the Windsor (3.6 L)
a new lightweight, thin-wall cast small-block V8.
Our second choice car was Mark Radder’s limited Edition Ford Mustang Shelby
GT350R. Not only is it a mouthful to name but the only one in the UK! Yet another
special vehicle that resides in the heart of Liverpool. This rare Mustang was shipped
into Liverpool with the help of the Ford’s bosses. Let’s just say that these cars are
bought by avid car fanatics such as Jay Leno (American TV Chat host). What you
may not know about Mark, (a somewhat quiet visitor, that blends into the crowd)
he’s a race driver on the F1 circuit in the Porsche Supercup Championship. Mark’s
Mustang Shelby GT350 Rs is not only rare worldwide, its number matches up
exactly with the production run of the even more rare 1965 GT350 Competition
Mustang put together by Carroll Shelby.
And the last car of our choice is Alan Scragg’s Kermit green 1980s Porsche 911 RUF
recreation with its fine short hips, shaved rain gutters - no trim, no frills beauty.
The 1980’s were all about big turbos, large spoilers, and rudimentary traction
control. Not this car! This 911 was a velociraptor in sheeps clothing with its 469 HP
and 408 lb-ft from Porsche tuner RUF. With a top speed of 211 MPH, not even the
Ferrari F40 could catch it. This was definitely on the top of your Top Trumps pile
of supercar elite cards.
Until next time, we must thank our chosen Charity Benjamin Gautrey Foundation,
Richy from 125 Field Company REME, Matty from BMW Williams, David G
from Lamborghini HR Owen, and our new supporter Jed M from McLaren, Jenni
& Carly H from Tesla, Alan - Change Beverages, Lavazza, Charalene Lee, Simon
L from Autorenew, Impact Solutions and especially to our hardworking and
dedicated Cars and Coffee Liverpool Crew.
See you on the next exciting meet on the 30th July.
Please get in touch with [email protected] for any help or
interesting projects you have coming up.
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