CRC in Germany

[nbracken]

I am about to move to live in Germany - anyone know any contacts in the CRC in Germany? I will be living in the Bonn area.

Thanks

Nigel Brackenbury

[Joker]

Nigel,

I can´t help you with any CRC contacts but nearly all cobra-enthusiasts here in Germany are members of a club called "Cobra-IG". You can find them on their hompepage "www.cobra-ig.de" (unfortunatly it´s in german only).
If you are located in the Bonn-area then you are a lucky man since nearly all Cobra-dealers are in your neighbourhood.
I am living in the Stuttgart-area and for me and my Cobra it´s always a long way to go to meet people or get parts.

hope you will find this useful
cheers Jens

[nbracken]

Jens, thanks for your note.

I managed to get in contact with Karl-Heinz Bieser who has been really helpful and has put me in touch with a couple of dealers who may be able to help with the TUV and also some advice on insurance.

I was not aware that the dealers were in the bonn area though - he mentioned Mario Malzhorn (www.cobra427.de) and Christan Nowak (www.cobra-cn.de). If yuou know of others in my area who are good please let me know.

Thanks.

[Joker]

Nigel,

finding a suitable dealer depends on what you are looking for. Christian Nowak for sure is a good address in your neighborhood. He has a bunch of experience on Street- and Race-Cobras. I bought mine there and think that he stands behind his work.
Another good one could be Martin Drengenberg under www.cobra-web.de. He is located in Dortmund (not far away from Bonn either), sells and builds the original CSX and replicas, has a lot of experience in all cobra-related questions, sells parts and personally met Caroll Shelby (not really important but funny to know...)
If you just need cheap engine-parts, check Mike&Franks (www.mnf.de) or KTS (www.kts.de).

What kind of Cobra are you driving ?

Jens

P.S. Maybe we´ll meet each other on one of the upcoming Cobra-events here in Germany

[nbracken]

Jens,

Again thanks for the follow up - I will follow up with Christian -and if necessary Martin too.

I have a Unique Autocraft Python - a good Jaguar based kit with a Chevy 350 engine - hopefully I wont't be needing too many engine parts - I put a new one straight from the crate in in 1999...fortunately the new bodyshell that was necessary after I hit a wall following a spin in Janaury 2000 is now being fitted and I will be bringing it to Germany late January/early February - hence the need to start to understand the TUV issue.

I have joined the German Replica Club so will hopefully get a list of German club meets and maybe see you there too.

What car do you have? Any other useful tips re insurance? Karl-Heinz suggested I try the Oldies company.

Regards, Nigel

>Nigel,
>
>finding a suitable dealer depends on
>what you are looking for.
>Christian Nowak for sure is
>a good address in your
>neighborhood. He has a bunch
>of experience on Street- and
>Race-Cobras. I bought mine there
>and think that he stands
>behind his work.
>Another good one could be Martin
>Drengenberg under www.cobra-web.de. He is
>located in Dortmund (not far
>away from Bonn either), sells
>and builds the original CSX
>and replicas, has a lot
>of experience in all cobra-related
>questions, sells parts and personally
>met Caroll Shelby (not really
>important but funny to know...)
>
>If you just need cheap engine-parts,
>check Mike&Franks (www.mnf.de) or KTS
>(www.kts.de).
>
>What kind of Cobra are you
>driving ?
>
>Jens
>
>P.S. Maybe we´ll meet each other
>on one of the upcoming
>Cobra-events here in Germany

[Joker]

Nigel,

glad to hear that you haven´t damaged yourself and your car too hard after the spin.
I have a Magnum Cobra (you probably know them, they are located in the U.K.), Jaguar-based and with a 350CUI Chevy-engine as well. As far as I know, it´s the only yellow car (with black stripes) in Germany, so it shouldn´t be too difficult to find it on one of the summer-meets.....
BTW, if you will visit Christian Nowak until beginning of march, you will see my car in his garage. I stored it there over winter-time.

Reg. Insurance, there are a couple of things you should probably know. To get this beast insured, you need a value-report of your car not older than 3 month (contact Christian Nowak, he has got some experts on hand). The value shown on this report is the basis for your insurance-calculation. As far as I know, they are only 3 companies in Germany insuring replicas. They are "Oldie Car Cover" under www.oldiecarcover.de, HDI under www.hdi.de and Wuerttembergische Versicherung under wwww.wuerttembergische.de.
Be prepared that you only get the car insured if there is another daily-driver in your garage and that some of the companies limit you down to 5000km per year as a max. Pick out the companies without such a limit.

Be prepared that insurance and tax is getting quite expensive if your car is titled and registered less than 30 years ago. If it´s older, than you are again a lucky man since the tax, which is measured based on your individual cubic capacity, is getting much cheaper. The german law allows to register your car, if it´s 30 years and older, as a historic car (must be approved by TUEV once again). Your license-plate then shows a "H" infront of all other letters and your tax is calculated with DM 375,- per year (instead of DM 900+) no matter your cubic capacity.

Let me know if you need further help.

rgds Jens

[Mike]

Jens,

Thanks for the info you were giving Nigel, I found it useful too. I have a GD Cobra running a Chevy 350 that should be ready for this summer. I am living in Bad Lipspringe and was looking for contacts. I have joined CRC in Germany and have my password. The Web site recognises me but I appear to be unable to send messages to the forum. I have checked my password and user name. Do you know of a company who tunes or rebuilds Chevy engines anywhere near me?

Regards
Mike

[Joker]

Mike,

I am not really aware of where Bad Lipspringe is, but my recommendation would be Mike & Franks (as stated above). They are located in various cities throughout Germany and practice actively Drag-Racing (beside selling US-car parts and maintain engines). You can find further information on their homepage www.mnf.de (unfortunatly german only but they do sell english catalogs).
My engine was rebuild there as well and I guess they really made a great job.

A second idea could be to contact one of the german Cobra-Dealers. Not sure if they do the rebuilds themselves but for sure they know the competent people.

hope you find this helpful

cheers Jens

Nigel. Have you had the new body fitted yet? I saw George F the other day who said it had arrived. Hope things go well. Gary W is close to fitting the engine in his GD, he's coming round to borrow my hoist at the weekend. I'm still being chased by AC to have a CRS but doubt if I could really love one - a genuine lightweight is still tempting though!