1966 Cobra Dream Machine - BIG MUSCLE

It's a 1966 Shelby Cobra replica that was built by a Father and his two sons more than 10 years ago. It's faded fiberglass shell is chipped and spider-webbed. The stainless trim is pitted and tarnished and the wheels are coated in a thick layer of brake dust. The carpet is also coming up and every now and then it blows flames from its side-pipes due to it running a little rich. Some may think these are problems. Me personally - I think it's one of the coolest cars I've ever driven. This episode of "Big Muscle" is about the drive, those project cars that we work on, and the exhilaration we get when we wring them out for the first time on the open road.

• Category

  Autos & Vehicles

[TheWierdFish]

Not so much when they're yapping, more the "OHMYFUCKINGGODI'MSOHAPPYTOSEE­YOUWHENAREWEGOINGWALKIES" raw joy side of an excited terrier. A good, well sorted 4 pot always sounds eager, like it wants nothing more in the world but to take you the next mile, and the next, as fast as it's little pistons can carry you.

A 'pimped' Civic with a natty exhaust bears no similarity to a GOOD 4 pot at all. The contented rasp of an MGB is such a pleasing sound.

I couldn't think of music less tuneless than rap.

[TheWatzitooya]

And excited terriers are fucking annoying. Yappy little bastards. Older 4-cylinders are ok, like on Beetles and classic sports cars. The Civics with big exhaust tips are the annoying ones.

The most obnoxious V8s are typically found on drag-racers, the occasional hot rod. Most classic muscle cars purr along quite nicely until you floor it.

Oh, and no engines should ever be compared to rap. That's an insult to motor vehicles everywhere.

[TheWierdFish]

I'd say a V8 was more like rap, but there you go.

The thing with a V12 is that, yes, they do the mental ear bleeding stuff very, very well. But when you've got a headache, or you're pottering round town, they just make a sort of contented thrum. A purr, if you will. They only get going past 4000rpm, which is fine when you have a redline of 7k, and means that normal driving is ok. A big, performance tuned V8 is noisy and obnoxious ALL the time.

A good 4 pot sounds happy, like an excited terrier.

[TheWatzitooya]

Well, "the better noise" is subjective. There's your problem. You can never say that a sound is objectively better than another sound.

V8 = Punk Rock

V12 = Orchestra

Makes sense. Although I think V12s are a little more versatile. Some of them sound just as shouty and obnoxious as V8s, riddled with the same aimless aggression. Lamborghini's V12s, for instance.

4-Cylinders still sound horrible, though. It's just a constant hum. Almost like the noise is being produced by something electrical.

[TheWierdFish]

I thought up a good metaphor at work today.

A big V8 is like a very large man shouting through a rock concert rig. Very loud, very impressive and, some would say, awesome.

A V12 is a full size pipe organ. Very loud, very impressive... but tuneful, and certainly the better noise. For those able to appreciate such things, nothing else in the world will do.

Of course, the big, white noise effect can be just as impressive, but when I want that, I turn to turbojet engines. A Vulcan will do that well.

[TheWatzitooya]

To each his own, I guess.

You're right that old V8s are really sloppy. V8s are so common in America, especially in the pickup trucks. But I hear a classic big-block with side pipes comin' down the road, that's amazing. It's like hell is boiling over, and Zeus is bringing the thunder. That's what it is! Thunderous. That kinda unsteady grumble. Seriously, it sounds like B-17 rolling down the road.

[TheWierdFish]

I dunno. A V12 tugs something deep inside of me. It makes me stop and listen every time. Even a straight six, or, rarely, an inline five. V6s, do too and a good V10 never fails. But a V8? I could take it or leave it to be honest. Nothing about the sound makes me feel... anything. And that's a good engine. One that's been tuned to the point it's about to kill itself through hideous loping is just an annoyance.

[TheWatzitooya]

And then you're sayin' that V8s sound like they don't even wanna idle. You're insane if you don't think a big-block V8 doesn't sound at-home while running through the gears.

I think that every good car has a certain appeal. A Toyota Supra has a reasonable amount of appeal. Not all that much appeal to me, but I can see how it would appeal to other people.

Little British sports cars a great. They're pretty and fun. But, in their own ways, so are Italian Supercars or classic muscle cars.

[TheWierdFish]

Does depend what exhaust is on it really, stock pipes are a little restrictive to keep the noise down, also, the Aventador does definitely lack a certain depth of character in its new engine. The old Lambo V12 was irreplaceable really.

It sounds fairly good in need for speed I thought..

V12s don't sound as good just revving though, you've got to get them under load, pulling hard, screaming their guts out.. They seem to like that.

[TheWatzitooya]

In terms of the sound? It might be the all-new V12 they put in the Aventador. The Previous V12 had been around since the Miura, I think.

I have heard V12s in person. My neighbor's got an LP640. Funnily enough, it sounds exactly like how it does in Need for Speed, which really says something about the game developers.

He's also a 427 Cobra, which sounds just as good.