AdamC YouTuber shows his Personal car of - Dax Tojeiro - AC Cobra replica

Mame AdamC

Dax Tojeiro - AC Cobra Replica

Instagram: @AdamC3046

Personal Instagram: @adamcnumbers

YouTube Channel: AdamC3046

Inside AdamC's V8-Powered Dream Car

My name's AdamC, and I run an automotive YouTube channel, Instagram and Facebook page under the name @AdamC3046. I used to work in car storage, but after losing that job to the 2020 pandemic, I'm now 100% dedicated to YouTube as my career.

I've always been a little too obsessed with cars — that crazy car-crazed kid at school. So I was always going to spend my life around them. I love cars as pieces of art: the visuals, the smells, the feelings they give you.

Why a Cobra? Blame the Initials

The car I'll be mostly talking about, my Dax Tojeiro AC Cobra replica, was my third car. I part-exchanged my 1987 TVR 350i for it, and owning one had been a goal of mine for years. When I was a kid, I incorrectly thought every Cobra out there was a kit car, so a kit car became the thing I always aimed to own. I think it stemmed partly from the fact that my initials are AC — a childish obsession if there ever was one. But I've always been drawn to small, British-designed sports cars with big engines and long bonnets.

My first car was a 1972 MGB GT, which I bought during my second year at university and still own to this day. It's currently in the final stages of a two-year restoration.

The Build Itself

My daily is a Nissan 350Z convertible, but my flagship is the Cobra replica. It was built in 2005 by Dax themselves, so it avoids the risk of poor workmanship you sometimes get from a one-off build in someone's shed. Under the bonnet is a 1974 Chevrolet 350 — a 5.7-litre V8. Original 427 Cobras run Ford 427s, but the Chevy 350 is a far more accessible engine, so it's a common alternative for replicas. I'm not sure of its exact top speed or 0-60, but it puts out roughly 300bhp, and with a fibreglass body it doesn't weigh much either.

Chasing the Perfect Cobra Look

My aim with the car was to recreate the image of the perfect Cobra I had in my head as a kid: blue with white stripes and a cream leather interior, with side-pipe exhausts. Since buying it, that's meant applying custom graphics to the sides, spraying the wheels black, and swapping the front and rear bumpers for quick-jacks.

One more item on the list to finish the look would be spacing out the rear wheels slightly, but that needs extended struts, which is apparently a horrible job on the Jaguar hubs fitted to the car. So I haven't got round to sorting that one out yet.

I'd love to say I do all the work myself, but my mechanical knowledge and capabilities are extremely limited — whenever I try something, it very often goes wrong. I'm also limited to a crowded, sloped driveway in front of my house. So most of the work goes to professionals, which gives me peace of mind too. What I do handle myself is applying the stickers and giving the car a full detail, thanks to training from a previous career of mine.

Build & Care Team

• Universal Classic Cars — most of the work on the Cobra, including the ongoing battle with a slight oil leak that's been running for the last year
• Universal Classic Cars — also restoring my MGB and sorting my MOTs

Engine

• 1974 Chevrolet 350 (5.7L V8)
• Roughly 300bhp
• Lightweight fibreglass body

Exterior

• Blue paint with white stripes
• Custom side graphics, applied by me
• Black-sprayed wheels
• Quick-jack front and rear bumpers
• Side-pipe exhausts
• Cream leather interior

Life on the Show Circuit

My life revolves around car shows and meets. Whether it's an evening meet, a Sunday show or a three-day event, I take an appropriate car of mine out most weekends, Covid permitting. Last year I hit over 100 shows, and this year might get close to that figure despite the restrictions. I use the MGB for classic meets, the Cobra for classic, muscle or supercar shows, and the 350Z for Japanese, modified and evening meets.

I've entered a few online competitions, which the Cobra tends to do well in, and it's also picked up a couple of show & shine trophies at events I've taken it to. It's definitely a crowd-pleaser.

I'm waiting for car shows to properly come back once the weather warms up, so I can get the Cobra out again. I'm also looking forward to finishing the MGB's restoration so I can drive that one too. The Cobra's lack of a roof gets pretty cold in winter, so it's mostly a fair-weather car for me right now.

What's Next

A Cobra replica has always been my accessible dream car since I was very young. A McLaren F1 GTR is another one, thanks to my fondness for 1990s Le Mans cars, and I'd love to own a Dodge Viper GTS one day too — though a house deposit will probably take priority over that one for a while yet.

Builds like mine are exactly the kind of thing Stance Auto loves featuring — real cars, real stories, no fluff. If you want more builds like this delivered straight to your door, check out our Mag store on Amazon.