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Factory Five Racing 1933 Ford - The Cobra In Henry's Clothes

Factory Five Racing Resurrected The Cobra As The Sportsman's Racecar. Recently It Transplanted That Car's Heart Into A '33 Ford Body.
By Chris Shelton
Photography by Chuck Vranas, Factory Five Racing
Factory Five Racing 1933 Ford Front Driver Side

Factory Five Racing 1933 Ford Internals
Even though the chassis narrows to accommodate the doors, note how great the chassis cross section is in comparison to a conventional box-section framerail. Also note how low the design places the floor. Hallmarks of good design include single components that serve multiple functions. The pedal assembly, for example, locates the steering column. Materials use is critical, too: while fiberglass is very strong, steel is more capable of bearing the hinge and latch loads without fatiguing. All of these objectives make a car both stronger and lighter.

Factory Five Racing 1933 Ford Chassis Design
The '33's chassis is more than just a frame; it's basically a truss as long, wide, and high as the car. Note how the tubes meet headlong at junctions. It's because a tube is considerably stronger in tension or compression than it is in shear. Also note how each tube meets more than one other. Arranging them that way causes force applied to any single tube to dissipate among many others. The design has an incredible amount of structural integrity, and while it looks massive, it is very light on account of relatively thin tubing walls.

Factory Five Racing 1933 Ford Chassis Design Front
The front suspension cannot trace its lineage to anything; it's a clean-sheet design with roll centers optimized specifically for the '33's center of gravity. Relocating the engine rearward improved the car's balance primarily, but it gave the engineers greater packaging latitude. For example, the upper control arms are actually cantilevers that link to coil-sprung Koni mono-tube dampers between the radiator and engine. Adjustments on the lower arms determine camber and caster since the upper arms rotate upon fixed pivots. Though not visible here, the design employs a rack-and-pinion steering gear (an electric-assist system is available as an option).

Factory Five Racing 1933 Ford Front Suspension
By moving the springs inboard, Factory Five Racing's engineers were able to keep the car's mass as close to its centerline as possible. While this improves handling marginally, it does wonders for the suspension's looks. The '33 includes brand-new spindles, hubs, front brakes, and brake lines as standard equipment.


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Factory Five Racing 1933 Ford Chassis Design Rear Factory Five Racing 1933 Ford Interior
 
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