Rick Saccone lives the gearhead dream. As owner of Flashback Unlimited Inc.—an antique and classic car restoration shop in Akron, OH—he gets to build and restore vintage automobiles using other people’s money. And makes a darn good living at it too.
Whenever he gets tired of working on other people’s cars, Rick has the shop, tools, and talent to work on his own projects. Over the years, he has built a 1966 Plymouth GTX, a 1970 El Camino, a 1923 T-Bucket, and a 1976 Chevy stepside pickup among others.
Armed with a fiberglass replica body and a bunch of mild steel box tubing, Rick began work in 1998. The gang at Flashback Unlimited fabricated a custom frame, TIG welding the entire assembly to ensure smooth, clean welds. They covered the frame with a special urethane coating, which the shop uses on all of its projects.
The frame is home to a custom-made four-link rear suspension with Koni coil-over shocks and a custom rear stabilizer bar. Up front is an A-arm setup with two more Koni coil-overs. A Ford power rack-and-pinion unit and four-wheel disc brakes allow the Cobra to take the twists and turns with ease.
To complement the Cobra’s body lines, Rick custom designed a Haartz cloth convertible top, which incorporates a third bow for a more rounded appearance.
“Normally the tops came with two bows that you took apart and put in the trunk,” Rick said. “But that made the roof look square even though the rest of the body was kind of round.”
The rear quarter panels were widened to complement the new top, giving the Cobra a broader, more muscular stance. Rick also lengthened the front nose, built a custom hood and hood scoop, and sprayed the car black with silver and purple stripes.
“The body was the worst,” Rick said. “It was time consuming, because it’s fiberglass and we had to re-gelcoat the whole car. There was a lot of processing and sanding to get it smooth.”
The Cobra has the big block muscle to back up its looks, too. The Ford Racing 514 cube crate engine features a forged reciprocating assembly, a Ford SVO solid roller camshaft, and SVO aluminum cylinder heads and valvetrain. The engine is fed by a dual-quad intake manifold and with Holley 600 cfm carburetors.
Once inside the engine, the air and fuel is lit by a Mallory HyFire ignition, Pro Master ignition coil, and Unilite distributor. A set of custom-made, side-exit stainless headers gets rid of the exhaust. The big block’s 600 horsepower and 590 foot-pounds of torque passes through a C-6 transmission on its way to a Ford 9-inch rear axle with 3.73 gears, a ratchet locker, and 35-spline axles.
In the Cobra’s cockpit, you’ll find—well, cobras. The burled elm and leather dashboard is embroidered with snakes. Black Connolly leather with embroidered cobras covers the Jaz bucket seats. The Cobra theme is carried over to the underside of the hood. A custom painted mural depicts a cobra putting the squeeze on its helpless prey, which just happens to be a rat. Or is that Rat?
Even for a seasoned pro like Rick Saccone, the satisfaction of finishing a project car never gets old.
“It was a lot of work,” he said. “Once you start, it always gets blown out of proportion. You think to yourself, ‘for a little more work I can do this or this.’ Two and a half years later you’re like, ‘Wow what did I do?”
Well Rick, you built one of the nicest 1966 427 Shelby Cobra replicas on the planet. And that is truly living the gearhead dream.
FAST SPECS
Chassis
Frame: Mild steel box tubing, TIG-welded and smoothed, stainless steel roll bar
Rear Suspension: Custom-made four link with Koni coil-over shocks
Front Suspension: Custom-made A-arm with Koni coil-over shocks
Rear Axle: Ford 9-inch with 3.73 gears, ratchet locker differential, 35-spline axles,
Brakes: Four-wheel disc
Wheels and Tires: Budnik wheels (17 x 8 front, 17 x 14 rear), Michelin Pilot tires (255/40-ZR17 front, 335/35-ZR17 rear)
Chassis Work: Flashback Unlimited, Inc.
Engine and Transmission
Type: Ford Racing crate engine, 514 cubic inches
Bottom End: Forged crankshaft and connecting rods 9.8:1 compression forged pistons
Camshaft: Ford SVO solid roller
Cylinder Heads: Ford Racing aluminum
Valvetrain: 2.200-inch intake/1.760-inch exhaust valves, dual valve springs, roller rockers
Induction: Dual-quad intake manifold, 600 cfm Holley carburetors with jet and power valve upgrades
Ignition: Mallory HyFire ignition, Mallory Unilite distributor, Mallory ProMaster coil
Exhaust: Custom made stainless steel side-exit headers, Spiral mufflers
Transmission: Ford C-6 with Pro Super shift kit, B&M Holeshot 3000 torque converter
Other Modifications: Ford Racing aluminum valve covers, dual quad Cobra air cleaner with K&N air filter, March underdrive pulleys, Flow Kooler water pump, Perma-Cool electric fan
Engine Work: Ford Racing/Flashback Unlimited
Body
Type: Fiberglass
Modifications: Custom made Haartz cloth retractable top, widened rear quarter panels, lengthened nose, custom hood, and hood scoop
Paint and Graphics: Black with purple and silver stripes
Bodywork and Paint: Flashback Unlimited
Interior
Upholstery: Black Connolly leather with embroidered Cobra snakes
Dash: Burled elm and leather with embroidered Cobra snake
Gauges: VDO Cockpit gauges
Other: Kenwood stereo system, air conditioning, B&M Hammer shifter
Interior Work: Danny at Flashback Unlimited
Special Thanks To: Everybody at Flashback Unlimited including Paul “Lead Foot Pauly” Drennan, Holly “Cool Cat” Drennan, Rodd “Rudd” Sutton, and Denny “Red Neck” Thayer
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