The Albatross - memory lane

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Tom Wells
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The Albatross - memory lane

Post by Tom Wells »

In the mid to late 60s I wanted a Cobra but I'd have had to have another mortgage; a new Cobra cost about as much as my house back then.

So I decided to build something that would approximate the performance without being prohibitive. As an aside, all this was done in Spartanburg, SC.

The result was a completely home-built chassis with a 1969 Lincoln 460, a C6 automatic and a 9" posi rear. The front suspension was a Ford F150 Twin I-beam. Drum brakes all around because disk brakes weren't readily available at the time.

I bought some (approximately - don't recall) 3"x4" steel tubing, literally hacksawed it to size and acetylene welded the frame and all its various tabs and mounts for the driveline and suspension. Here are some pictures of the assembled chassis with driveline:

From the rear showing the 9" axle and swaybar. My 1970 Falcon wagon is on the left:
1972_June_Cars_0002_a.jpg
1972_June_Cars_0002_a.jpg (203.07 KiB) Viewed 16954 times

From above showing the three link rear suspension with coil springs and shocks not yet installed, short driveshaft fabricated by a local NASCAR racer, emergency brake cables:
1972_June_Cars_0003_a.jpg
1972_June_Cars_0003_a.jpg (201.81 KiB) Viewed 16954 times

From above the front showing the 460. The steering box is atop the frame rail and the radius arms for the front suspension below:
1972_June_Cars_0004_a.jpg
1972_June_Cars_0004_a.jpg (208.74 KiB) Viewed 16954 times


Passenger side:
1972_June_Cars_0006_a.jpg
1972_June_Cars_0006_a.jpg (228.68 KiB) Viewed 16954 times

From the front showing the Twin I-beam suspension, 1930 Model AA 1-ton in the background. All the fabrication was done in the garage shown behind the chassis. Coil springs for the front had not yet been installed:
1972_June_Cars_0007_a.jpg
1972_June_Cars_0007_a.jpg (194.78 KiB) Viewed 16954 times

Drivers side:
1972_June_Cars_0008_a.jpg
1972_June_Cars_0008_a.jpg (191.38 KiB) Viewed 16954 times

Three quarter view. Radius arms for the front suspension are also shown:
1972_June_Cars_0010_a.jpg
1972_June_Cars_0010_a.jpg (203.28 KiB) Viewed 16954 times

The chassis was finished not too much later and an Austin Healey Sprite (or MG Midget, same thing, can't recall!) body installed on top of the chassis with the intention of making it look like a kind of modern Deuce highboy. More photos later...
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