When we last left you, Tom Cobbs had just lost the first ever legal drag race to Fran Hernandez. In doing so, he became the first to race a blown flathead Ford and the first to race against a nitro fueled car. Of course, we went on to tell you about ... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
Holy Shit!!! This is like the Atlantis of Hot Rodding finds. How lucky does one have to be to study this stuff first hand straight out of the garage of Cobbs. He really was a remarkable man with a story that NEEDS to be shared. Damn it, I am pumped to see that roadster.
Awesome! So nobody ever got the chance to ask him why he left hotrodding? I guess he probably never left it just by the fact that he kept all his stuff.
Great read! I had heard Cobbs name at Bonneville over the years, but didn't know anything about the man. Thanks for doing the digging Ryan. I love this kind of history.
Wow. What a wonderful piece of written history. This series has been just as good and just as exciting as the Bob Roddick story. I can't wait to see more and can only hope the roadster is as fresh in appearance as those engines. Incredible.
The "relieved" engine is very interesting for its time...it is the sort of relief advocated at various times by Navarro, Kloth, and Holleran, not a wall-to-wall bulldozing but an enhancement of the existing bowls in the Ford casting...this example seems to slightly break the edge between cylinder and valve area, other examples leave the edge untouched...seems like a more logical response to moving air then the step type.
This is such important stuff. I can't wait to hear more. If I found all that stuff i would lock myself in the storage unit for a year and geek-out. I'd come out looking like a mad man.
I can barely think of the words I want to say. so I'll just state what I said as I read the article through the first time. "Holy Crap!" Almost as impressive was the fact that, Ryan says in there he gave a call to Xydias! LOL
I will save all my "thank yous" for the final post, but I will say that Xydias is one of the nicest most gentle men I've ever talked to. He's just so down to earth and matter of fact. I can't put into words the amount of respect I have for that man... He's an absolute national treasure. Talking to him makes you realize why the hot rodding world is full of such good people - we've had incredible guys like him to look up to for so long.
Wow! ... I thought the first installment was one of Ryan's best Blogs ... but the Tom Cobbs story only got better in this second installment ... how ever will Ryan top the first two installments? ... and do we really have to wait another whole week for the third & final installment? What a great find for Ralph Whitworth ... I wonder what his plans are for all those engines ... they're pieces of great historical value that need to be shared with the masses ... does Ralph have a museum open to the public?
Very cool..........if this "is ahead of it's time" for your next installment feel free to edit this post.....I found this in Hotrod magazine last week and thought......Tom Cobbs......cool. Chris Nelson Kansas
WOW! This is the best post yet, and the HAMB is just that much better for it! Ryan you are the Indy Jones of the hot rod kingdom! Fantastic post! Absolutely freakin' awesome!!!!!!!
Awesome job Ryan. This is the fun stuff. The story will be told now, its just to bad Cobbs isnt around to see what a historical hot rod icon he was. cant wait for part three.
Ryan.....I gotta say, if Mr Cobbs 'excellence/uniqueness' was his ability to get all his 'windows of opportunity to align (ie money/opportunity/passion/skill/ability/contacts), then, without wanting to sound offensive, you sir must be from a similar mould. Whilst I'm not suggesting that you 'have it all', but rather that i find it outstanding that you have not only found a great leader to celibrate, but also that the resources are 'falling into place' to be able to be able to do the job so well. Again, the above is not intended to be a 'slur', but rather a celibration of such a great article, as well as affirmation of what I believe you can be, and what the HAMB offers hot rodding. Any more shots of those alloy bits, or, in particular, that AWESOME crank driven blower arrangement.....I can't but think how awesome it would look in my rpu......now where's a blower...got some fabrication to do... Cheers, Drewfus
Great story Ryan. How many period race motors like those flatheads survived intact? This is truely amazing! Here is the Tom Cobbs blown SBC in the ex-Pierson coupe
Thanks Ryan, this is why I check the HAMB every day. to me this is what it's all about. I LOVE HOT RODS!!!
It is so good to know the stuff is still around and went to someone who will properly maintain it all. Incredible finds. Why can't that shit happen to me?