Taxonomy
Roadsters
7 entries
-
Book I
Shelby Cobra
The word that arrived before the car did
A Texan with a bad heart put an American engine into an English roadster and then, according to the only witness, dreamt its name at three in the…
-
Book I
Shelby 427 Cobra Super Snake
Two built. One of them ate its owner.
Shelby took the most frightening car he had ever sold, bolted two superchargers to it, and built exactly two. He kept one. The other one is the…
-
Book I
Ford Shelby Cobra Concept
A resurrection performed at a motor show, then quietly abandoned
Ford built a running aluminium Cobra with a 6.4-litre V10, showed it in Detroit in 2004 to an audience that made a noise like a congregation, and…
-
Book II
Dodge Viper
Ten cylinders, no apology, side pipes that burned the calf of every passenger
In 1989 Chrysler showed a red concept roadster with a V10 out of a truck. In 1992 it sold that car, essentially unaltered, to the public — without…
-
Book II
Dodge Copperhead Concept
The Viper’s smaller, cheaper, more survivable cousin, killed in committee
Dodge showed a low orange roadster in 1997 with a modest V6, the idea being a Viper you could survive owning. It was beautiful. It was sensible. It…
-
Book IV
TVR Chimaera
Lion at the front, goat in the middle, serpent at the back — which is the end you have to watch
Homer describes the Chimera as lion in front, goat in the middle and serpent behind. TVR built a Rover V8 roadster with no traction control, no…
-
Book VI
Wiesmann — the Gecko
The closest miss in the entire book. A genuine cousin, refused at the door on a technicality.
Wiesmann puts a gecko on every car it builds, because a gecko sticks to things. Geckos are squamates. Snakes are squamates. This is the nearest…