About Cobra Automotive
Cobra Automotive is America's leading high performance center and race car construction shop for vintage Shelbys, Cobras and Mustangs. We're an authority on vintage racing and vintage Ford race engines. We are a high performance parts manufacturer and race shop, specializing in Ford race engines, racing brakes, suspensions and other parts for early Shelby Mustangs, Cobras, and Cobra replicas. We also travel to most SVRA and HSR vintage race events to compete and provide track support for our customers.
We custom build Ford 9-inch rear ends, toploader 4 speed transmissions, and Jerico Winston Cup road racing 4-speed transmissions (we're the New England area distributor). We are also a dealer for multi-disc Tilton clutches and all drivetrain parts, including custom made Shelby and Mustang driveshafts for vintage racing and other Ford high performance cars.
In addition to our passion for racing, we are also experts at restorations of vintage high performance Fords. Our enthusiastic and motivated technicians can apply their skills to restore, repair or maintain your classic Shelby, Cobra or Mustang. Our specialties are 1965-1970 Shelby GT350’s, GT500’s, Cobras, and Mustangs. No one knows more about early Ford Mustang and Shelby Cobra performance than Cobra Automotive does.
Shelby Mustangs and Cobras isn’t just our business…
…it's our passion.
History
Cobra Automotive, the world leader in the vintage racing industry, is a natural outgrowth of Curt Vogt’s lifelong love affair with cars and his innate talents for tinkering, inventing, and manufacturing. From engine building to sheet metal restoration, Cobra Automotive does it all. “Somebody will bring in his car, either a shell or a rolling wreck, and we’ll hand him back a beautiful, well-oiled machine,” says Curt.
The foundation for Cobra Automotive was laid in the 1970’s when teenagers Carl and Curt Vogt started buying and reselling car parts, and buying, fixing up, and reselling cars. Curt discovered that there was a demand for rare, hard to find car parts, so in 1979 he and a friend took out a $2000 bank loan and started manufacturing car parts in the basement of a rented house in Orange, Connecticut. Thus, Cobra Automotive was born.
Initially Curt ran Cobra Automotive as a side business as he worked full time jobs. In 1984, determined to take the business to the next level, Curt began building Cobra Automotive up into a viable, full time business enterprise. Two years later he moved the business in with an existing tool and die company and greatly increased the volume and variety of parts he manufactured. In 1989 Curt hired an employee and began restoring cars out of a garage in New Haven, Connecticut.
Now, Cobra Automotive owns a 12,000 square foot location in Wallingford, Connecticut and employs a staff of twenty.
Cobra Automotive offers a complete line of parts and technical services for both the open track racer and the high performance street enthusiast.
Management
Thirty-five years of rebuilding, restoring, racing, and manufacturing parts for Shelby Mustangs and Cobras has made Curt Vogt the world’s foremost expert on vintage racing Fords and a highly sought after source of information for fellow enthusiasts.
In 1979 Curt founded Cobra Automotive, a full performance and restoration shop that has since become the leader in the vintage racing industry and has garnered praise from countless Shelby Mustang and Cobra aficionados around the world. Cobra Automotive has enabled Curt to do what he enjoys the most – racing, and being involved with high performance Ford products. Curt is an accomplished, front-of-the-pack racer with extensive behind-the-wheel experience that includes drag racing, road racing, and NASCAR racing. Curt is also President of the Shelby American Automobile Club.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to offer a complete line of products and state-of-the-art technical services for both the open track racer and the high performance street enthusiast. From the highest quality parts on the market, to engine rebuilds and complete restorations, to driver training and trackside support, Cobra Automotive is a haven of high performance for those Shelby Mustang and Cobra enthusiasts worldwide who are serious enough to want only the very, very best.
Testimonials