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Published on 27 August 2019

I've owned a Buchanan Cobra, the red one in the pics with the number plate and white rag top, and although it was originally fitted with Standard 10 mechanicals, mine had a 1600 crossflow Cortina motor with twin Webers and a hot cam plus porting and bigger valves. It also had an MG front end with what I was told was a "Donnington" steering box which gave it just a 3/4 turn to either full lock. At just 45cwt, I think, it had amazing acceleration and it handled with a lot of tail hanging which suited me fine. I once worked at a car sale yard and we had a Purvis Eureka on the lot with a 13B rotary in the back mated to the original VW gearbox. It was fantastically fast and for $9k at the time was excellent value for money. Interestingly, it had two Morris 1100 radiators mounted in opposite rear quarters behind the tail lights. Very neat. Interestingly, we Australians had a Cobra 10 years or so before the Yanks, although they won't hear about it of course. You can learn more about the Buchanan Cobra at this link: http://www.buchananmotorcompany.com/Buchanan%20Cobra.htm