Heard any more about the Billet Alum Cobra?

Has anyone heard any more about the Kirkham Billet Alum. Cobra?

I've not seen any other articles than the original on Jalopnik and this one.

http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/book_aoe/

It doesn't seem to have materialized at any shows or at any tracks.

If you haven't already you really need to download and read the book. It is absolutely amazing.

The corner weighting blew my mind.

I didn't know rubbing soap over a surface would keep a file from clogging.

Yeah, I picked one up yesterday. I'll tell you this. I want my money back! This thing SUCKS in the snow.

Sorry, it's late and I'm tired

I had one, but my magnetic mount CB antenna kept falling off, so I turned it in and got a miata.

Meh, I'd rather have a Herb Adams backbone chassis and a bunch of downdraft carbs myself.

You'd think that either the prototype or the delivered car would show up someplace. I can't believe no magazine has done an article on it. I'd love to see some performance figures.

Having had a couple of Cobras and finding them nice to look at but terrible to drive and even worse, terrible to drive at speed with other cars on the track, I wouldn't mind having this one - but I was disappointed in 2 areas.

A carb on the engine! C'mon guys this is the 21st century and there needs to be some sort of cover for the transmission tunnel. Can you imagine how hot and uncomfortable that will be in the sun or after the car has sat on a sunny day?

So how do you top that? A Titanium Cobra? Solid Gold Cobra?

When I look through the online version of the book, I am amazed at the artistry, fabrication skills, and design of the car while at the same time I'm a little disgusted at the amount of money thrown into this. It is Larry Ellison's money - he made it and I have no business saying how he spends it I realize that - the man can do what he wants with his money, but I don't have to like it.

I figure that he will keep the car out of sight as long as the economy continues as it is. When people are losing their jobs and the government's response is to borrow more money, I wouldn't think it would be a good PR move to flaunt a multi-million dollar car.

It had to cost way more than his Verron did so he is probally driving that around to show that he hasn't lost touch with the common man.

Any guesses as to the cost of the car?

Uranium. /thread

Probally could make one out of titanium. Gold or Uranium not so much.

I bet it would be fun to hang out out with Larry for a weekend.

TJ wrote: I figure that he will keep the car out of sight as long as the economy continues as it is. When people are losing their jobs and the government's response is to borrow more money, I wouldn't think it would be a good PR move to flaunt a multi-million dollar car.

Larry careth not what anybody thinks. When I lived in the Bay Area his name popped up in arrogant shiny happy person wants his way no matter what sort of stories fairly often. Some of it is pretty funny.

"His entertainment system cost $1 million, and includes a rock concert-sized video projector at one end of a drained swimming pool, using the gaping hole as a giant subwoofer.[17]"

This house is 5 years old or so.. "Larry Ellison will get a $3 mllion tax break because his Japanese-style home in Woodside, California is "functionally obsolete.""

Larry says of one of his boats to his to his employees at the "company picnic": "It's a great boat, you should get one. but I guess you're probably pinching pennies, since unemployment is 10 percent, and your colleagues are getting laid off, and your mortgage is probably under water, and Oracle shares have been trading sideways for two years!?"

http://gawker.com/5383421/larry-ellison-struts-his-wealth-before-peons

http://www.luxist.com/2008/03/27/larry-ellisons-3-million-tax-rebate/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison

Yeah, that's the other reason I'm not excited about the Ellison Cobra, Larry Ellison.

Say what you will about the tenants of Larry Ellison-ism, at least he's patronizing some craftsmen who then build something truly wonderful. I say it's money well spent.

Think steampunk. Iron, copper, and brass for the hard parts. Mahogany for the body, leather for belts/straps.

Ok, so I don't want to hang out with him for a weekend....I just want to hang out in one of his garages for a weekend while he is away.

I remember him trying to buy a Mig-29 at some point. Apparently the defense department didn't think it was a good idea for a civilian to have a front line fighter in the hands of a civilian. I think he does have a Mig-21 though:

From: http://www.minyanville.com/articles/ORCL-ceos-ellison-yachts-architecture-taxes/index/a/18703

There’s an old joke in Silicon Valley about Oracle (ORCL) CEO and founder Larry Ellison:

Q: What’s the difference between God and Larry Ellison? A: God doesn’t think he’s Larry Ellison.

So, a guy with a God complex becomes one of the richest men in the world. Or, one of the richest men in the world develops a God complex. Only his therapist knows for sure.

What is for sure is that all that wealth and power can create resentment. Which is why Oracle preemptively bought the domain names larryellisonsux.com, larryellisonblows.com, ihatelarryellison.com, larryellisonsonofabitch.com, and larryellisonbites.com.

At least the guy’s having fun with the spoils of his success. Ellison flies an SIAI-Marchetti S.211 fighter plane, used by the Italian Air Force. He owns the second-largest private yacht in the world: The 454-foot Rising Sun, a boat so big that it can’t be docked at most ports. Instead, it has to be tied up alongside marine rabble like oil tankers and container shops.

Minyanville's CEOS Gone Wild Ellison also tried to import a decommissioned Russian MiG-29, but the U.S. government stopped him. “It's considered a firearm, even though that's not my intention. It is disarmed, but theoretically you could rearm it and take out a couple of cities,” he said.

But if Larry Ellison is actually God, he could “take out a couple of cities” with nothing more than a wave of his hand.

And, like all gods, Ellison’s sure he can corner the market on immortality. His biographer, Mark Wilson, believes that “part of Larry... is saying if he’s smart enough, he should be able to beat [death]. Death is just another kind of corporate opponent that he can outfox.”

In Ellison’s own words: ``Death has never made any sense to me. How can a person be there and then just vanish, just not be there? Clearly the reason they're not there is they're off doing something else... Death makes me very angry.”

And he’s not just angry, he’s putting his money where his mouth is.

Ever hear of the Methuselah Mouse competition?

Created by Aubrey de Grey, a researcher in the Department of Genetics at Cambridge University, the contest awards a large cash prize to the first person able to extend a mouse’s lifespan from 3 years to 5.

A major sponsor is the Ellison Medical Foundation - not surprising, since Ellison is now the single largest private supporter of aging research in the world.

If Larry Ellison doesn’t believe in death, does he believe in taxes, as the old cliché goes?

Don’t be ridiculous - he’s got taxes licked.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Ellison managed to convince the San Mateo assessment appeals board that his 23-acre estate modeled on a Japanese emperor's country residence suffered from “significant functional obsolescence,” given the “finite market for high-end luxury homes, limited appeal for 16th-century Japanese architecture” and costly to maintain “over improvements.”

For a man who is God, a 5-acre man-made lake, 2 waterfalls, 2 bridges, a guest residence, 3 cottages and a barn aren’t over-improvements: They’re absolute necessities.

Nevertheless, the board agreed with Ellison, slicing the valuation of his home by around $100 million for each of the last 3 years, for a tax savings of more than $3 million.

Not bad, for a guy worth $25 billion.

Now, if Larry Ellison happens to be wrong about living forever, at least he doesn’t have to worry about dying a violent death. An analysis conducted by James F. Reda & Associates for the Wall Street Journal, showed that Oracle spent $1.7 million on security last year for Ellison.

Regardless of whether or not the God of Oracle lives forever, he’ll certainly have the money to do it. He earned $61.2 million in pay in Oracle's 2007 fiscal year, which included $11.1 million in salary and bonus, and $50.1 million in profit from stock sales.

Additionally, over the past two years, Oracle has awarded Ellison an additional 13 million options, on top of the 1.15 billion shares he already owns.

God, that’s a lot of money.

Reminds me of a jerkoff who showed me his wallet and said 'this is my toolbox'. I don't see anything wrong with paying people to do what you can't do but there's a limit to asinine actions.