eBay Find of the Day: Copperhead Cobra
If you thought 50 Cent was crazy for taking his Lamborghini to Alsa Corp to be painted with a chrome finish, you will flip when you see this. For about 17,500,000 pennies, you can own this Cobra replica that's been skinned in copper. The aptly titled Copperhead Cobra is an example of the roadsters that Kirkham Motorsports has hand-built in a former Polish jet factory. Kirkham Motorsports' claim to fame is its aluminum bodied cars, which utilize the same skills necessary to create an aluminum skin on a Mach 2 capable aircraft. The factory in Poland used their expertise to apply sheets of formed copper over the steel chassis. David Kirkham et al also created a '40 Ford convertible based on the Ford GT with sheets of this brilliant material. Copper certainly is taking off as a fashionable material for the home, but this special Cobra is truly one of a kind.
Thanks for the tip Mike.
We took the liberty to snags some more photos from the seller's gallery, you will find them after the jump.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
autoblog reader 11:39AM (9/20/2006)
utterly beautiful!
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Doogs 11:38AM (9/20/2006)
In other news...Poland has (had) a jet factory?
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Boss Mustang 11:56AM (9/20/2006)
I wouldn't want my personal car to be copper plated, but all in all it's a pretty cool car.
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menice 11:40AM (9/20/2006)
poor guy, has no bids. sale over.
maybe I'll email him and make an offer.
'roll of quarters for all those pennies?'
pretty cool car, looks great but it must be a nightmare to noxon that thing every week.
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Tim UF 11:49AM (9/20/2006)
beautiful car, however if you've ever owned a piece of pure copper jewelery, you know that copper oxidizes into a nice sickly green color. (it took a week or so for my finger to not look green).
is this clear coated a lot to mitigate that?
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Adam 11:52AM (9/20/2006)
I would rock that in a heart beat. I think it would look even cooler oxidized. Mmmmm..... If I had the cash....
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rwdmtparkingonly 11:57AM (9/20/2006)
The e-bay post does not mention how it's protected, but there must be some kind of coating unless they're insane. For $175K this is a ONLY A ROLLER.
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Mal Fuller 12:13PM (9/20/2006)
"The aptly titled Copper Head Corba....."
What's a Corba?
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required 12:28PM (9/20/2006)
CORBA - Common Object Request Broker Architecture
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Will 12:39PM (9/20/2006)
Man what an awesome paint job and a perfect car to put it on (the copper on the 40 Ford convertible didn't really do it for me).
Also, I wonder if this Cobras just a replica or the real thing?
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gkz 1:03PM (9/20/2006)
10 - the article clearly states it is a replica and that the body IS copper, not paint. Did you even bother to glance at the article before asking this?
Also, to those who wondered about the copper oxidzing... it is fairly straightforward to clearcoat the metal to protect its finish. from the pics it appears that this company does pretty good work; i'd be very surprised if they didn't take the time to clear it. compared to the work it must have taken to make the copper panels, clearing it would be quite inexpensive and easy.
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03trdblack 1:33PM (9/20/2006)
Can you imagine the temperature that car must get sitting in the sun all day!?! It's like sitting inside of a copper cooking pan.
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TSW 1:49PM (9/20/2006)
@03trdblack:
Dunno, that car must have an insanely high albedo, I'm sure the interior wouldn't be that bad at all. Besides, it's not like the greenhouse effect will occur on the interior - it's an open car!
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Geekmorgan 2:56PM (9/20/2006)
Nice of them to dust it off for the pictures huh... no wonder no one bid!
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CptMystic 6:20PM (9/20/2006)
I suspect 03trdblack is correct - it would not be like a convection oven, unless you got a top for it, but could definitely be like being in a frying pan. You'd have to be VERY careful getting in and out on sunny days. You already have to watch out for the side exhaust on these cars (although this one, being a roller, doesn't have any yet)...now you'd have to watch out for the side, period.
It's actually not quite a roller...seems like the engine itself is the only missing piece. The electrical system and differential system are already there, for instance. I wonder how much it weighs?
And yes, Poland had a jet factory. They manufactured MiGs there. The aluminum bodies that Kirkham makes are damn nice also, you can get them either brushed or polished and both look good on this body style.
This is a replica, but if I remember correctly Kirkham does make the bodies for the official Shelby Continuation Cobras.
I want this very much!
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Pinkerton 4:21PM (9/20/2006)
Beauty! I would love to take this car on trips to Copper Harbor, Michigan. On the downside, it would be heartbreaking when some some a**hole opens his door and dents it.
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Will 7:59PM (9/20/2006)
11. 10 - the article clearly states it is a replica and that the body IS copper, not paint. Did you even bother to glance at the article before asking this?
No, actually I was just skimming through Autoblog and looked over this article rather quickly in my free time at work. So yes, it probaly was a pretty stupid comment and I excuse myself for not reading the article so thoroughly.
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ptooey 9:19AM (1/16/2007)
Segment from Australian TV Show 'Beyond Tomorrow', covering this very car company. In fact, I believe this Copper Cobra can be seen in the segment itself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQQQxAyH87U
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moa 6:26AM (10/02/2006)
#8 "What's a Corba?" well, korba in polish means crank. maybe car is crank started? ;]
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Ryan 7:10AM (9/25/2006)
i think the car is great copperhead cobra after the copper head snake good thinkin and yes like the other gentlmen said they have to have clear coat on it or somethin to that effect to prevenmt oxidizing which im sure it has .overall original to say the least like it alot i open the bidding at 50k lol
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