This 1966 Shelby AC Cobra Kit Car is a Labor of Love
Words & Photos: Gary Rosier
Earl & Tanya Sault own this 1966 Shelby AC Cobra Streetbeast kit car. What started out as an interest in building his own dream car, turned out to be a 13 year odyssey of mishaps, personal set-backs and various surgeries (6 different surgeries including kidney cancer, tumor removal, and appendectomy), and the various stresses of life. Career, marriage responsibilities, kids, monies; all would come into play at one time or another.
It all started back when Earl was a bag boy at the local supermarket. He noticed an older couple who frequented the store and always seemed to have a cool car, usually a Corvette! Earl talked to the gentleman one day and was surprised to hear that they also owned a Shelby Cobra; a REAL ONE! Of course, this was in the ’60’s and who knew that these cars would become such legends and so valuable. The older gentleman even brought the Cobra by one day to show Earl and that was it. Earl fell instantly in love with the car and hoped to one day own one.
Life took its turn with career, marriage and 4 kids, but Earl managed to save up enough in 2000 to put a deposit ($1000) on a Classic Motor Carriages Cobra Kit car, but they went out of business before he could even get started. Purchased by new owners, a judge ordered them to allow the monies paid previously as deposits towards purchases with what would now be STREET BEASTS (still in Miami, unfortunately going out again in 2010). The quest was to be continued after all! They even offered a pay as-you-go plan which Earl quickly signed up for.
As parts of the car were paid for (chassis first, body next, etc) he would drive down to Miami and pick them up. Earl served over 21 years with the Daytona Police Dept, retiring from active duty but still maintaining part-time status to this day. He regularly works as a vendor liaison security officer for the world famous Daytona Turkey Run held every year at the Daytona Speedway. Before retiring from the police force, Earl signed up with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University for some aviation maintenance training schooling, going to classes by day and working his shifts at night for several years. He had always tinkered with various model RC aircraft and was interested in the aircraft maintenance industry as well. It turned out to be a perfect fit as upon retirement from the police department, Embry Riddle hired him to work in their aircraft maintenance division, from where he transferred to aircraft dispatch, and finally to the aircraft maintenance training division as a training and supply specialist. It gave him the resources in both equipment and friends/students to tackle a build like this.
The car is fitted with a Ford 5.0 engine (’89), bored .30 over, with forged pistons, rods and crank. A Ford Racing E303 cam, Y303 heads, and twin Garrett T3/T4 turbochargers with a custom intake, by Jason Bennitt of Cutting Edge Machine, boosts the power level. Dyno’d with only 8lbs of boost (and no body) it recorded 397 rwhp. All that power is transmitted thru a Tremec T5 trans and back to a Ford 8.8 posi rear, all monitored by a set of Autometer gauges. Steering wheel is a Lecarra. Exhaust gases are spent thru a set of custom exhausts handled by Richard Hedge of H&H Speed & Machine. While the set-up is capable of much more horsepower, he says he has plenty of go power but is in the process of upgrading the stopping power with much bigger disc brakes than are now on the car.
It’s painted a (03-07) Ford Red Fire Metallic and the silver stripes are an Eastwood color called smoke chrome. Paint was handled by Ormond Aircraft Builders. Special thanks to all his fellow co-workers at Embry Riddle and students. Also, members of the Cobra Registry, Club Cobra and First Coast Cobra Club for their support, both moral and physical. At one point, members from the First Coast Cobra Club came to Earl’s home when he was in the hospital and worked on the car (all in a two-car garage). Truly a labor of love, it couldn’t have been finished without the love of his life, Tanya. Perseverance, labor of love, dream build, whatever you want to call it, this car came together beautifully. Earl’s message is simply to take it one day at a time and he is blessed he says to have so many friends that made this project such a Labor of Love!
