 |
|
|
Story and
Photos By Sharon Marberry
visitation
odometer for Unique Motorcars Homecoming 2000 photo
feature article |
|
|
This is the eighth year for the Unique Motorcars annual
open house and track day - and it just gets better each year. This has
always been a family event, with something for everyone to do. This year
a Poker Run was added for Thursday, turning this into a three-day event
with Friday being Open House at the plant and Saturday Track Day at the
Talladega Gran Prix Track. Since
1976, Unique Motorcars have been in the business of building Cobra* Replicas.
They started in Arizona, but moved the business to Gadsden, Alabama (just
an hour north of Birmingham) in 1981. In the past 25 years the company
has produced somewhere around 950 cars. The company started as a family
business with Jean and Jim Weaver and their sons, Alan, Maurice and Rick.
Jean and her sons Alan and Maurice now manage the business. Jim retired
several years ago and Rick went back to teaching. Now Jean handles the
office and Alan and Maurice manage the shop.
Unique's
annual Homecoming was originally organized as a one-day thank-you celebration
for past customers, but over the years more things have been added to
make this an interesting event for the whole family. People
come in for Homecoming 2000 from as far away as New Hampshire, Texas,
Florida, Connecticut and North Carolina. After the Thursday poker run
most everyone went to the Top O' The River Restaurant for an evening
of catfish and hushpuppies. Food, iced tea and bench racing seemed to
be the order of the evening. For
open house on Friday morning there were some 40 cars on display in front
of the shop. The bright sun and the bright colors reflected off the
chrome of the roll bars and trim.
All 25,000 square-feet of the Unique facility was open to the public.
There were parts and cars and projects open for viewing. This is a good
opportunity to visit with Maurice and Alan and to see how these cars
are assembled. |
|
| Cars lined
up on Friday for open house. |
A chassis w/engine on display during Friday's open house. |
|
|
 |
|
Unique Motorcars is currently building a car for WCW wrestling
champ Bill Goldberg. The engine is a dry sump, 454 c.i.d. Ford NASCAR
built by Ernie Elliot. Power goes through a toploader four-speed. The
engine is rated at 898 hp. All the cars use a custom front end that is
fitted to the 2X4-inch ladder-type frame. Jaguar suspension is used in
the rear.
Unique Motorcars has it's own fiberglass shop where the bodies and fiberglass
interior parts are produced. In addition to the bodies, Unique also builds
the complete chassis and many of the accessory parts as well.
Enzo and Paula Alibrandi of Finish Line (Cobra hardware & accessories) attended the Friday evening barbeque in the park and annual raffle. They were kind enough to donate several wonderful prizes including a Moto-Lita steering wheel. "We really like to get out and meet other Cobra owners. This events are always so much fun," said Paula Alibrandi. "The entire Weaver family always put on a great Friday meal," said Mike Sullivan. "Mamma Jean Weaver makes a strawberry cobbler that is out of this world." "Our attitude toward the customers is that everyone is family," said Jean Weaver. "It's a lot of work but we are always glad to see everyone come back, year after year." Everyone gathers early Saturday morning for the 60-mile drive from the factory to the racetrack. There were several open seats and we quickly became part of the semi-official Unique Motorcars convoy (some of the cars went out on trailers and met us at the racetrack). Last year
the 1.4-mile Talladega Grand Prix Raceway was pretty rough, but this
year the track has been repaved and made just a little bit longer by
straightening out one of the corners. By the time we arrived at the
track, the clouds had burned off and it was in the high 80s with humidity
to match. |
|
|
Here's the big lineup at the track. |
|
|
The
annual group photo was the first order of the day, with everyone gathering
on the high bank of one of the sweeping turns. The schedule called for
practice laps in the morning with time trials scheduled for just after
lunch. At the driver's meeting there was some talk about the new track.
The extra length offset the new pavement so the elapsed times were very
close to last year's and some of the cars with sticky tires were doing
very well on the new pavement.
Lunch was served a few minutes early when John Nafziger's car suffered
a blown engine and leaked oil on the track. So everyone took a break,
had lunch and worked on their cars, while the track crews dried out
the track. The Unique crew served delicious smoked pork sandwiches for
the noon meal and provided cookies and soft drinks all day for everyone. |
|
Cars and drivers lined up
for the traditional photograph.  . |
|
|
After lunch the track was dry and cars were soon lined
up in the pits to start the time trials. Several of the cars suffered
from the hot day and the faster track.
Don Flower, Don Porter and Mike Sullivan all were out early due to blown
engines. When Sullivan's engine went, the car took a spectacular flying
spin. "Well, yes, I flew through the air for about 25 feet, but the
car didn't suffer much damage, other that the engine is going to need
some work," he said.
The afternoon went fast and the times between the cars were real close.
But soon it was time for the shoot out and the three fastest times of
the day were sent back out onto the track. They were: Joe Traut in his
351 powered car with the LeMans top, Tom Davis in a 427 and Sammy Campbell
in his 427. And when the dust had cleared, it was time for the awards.
Master of Ceremonies
Maurice Weaver presented Linda Dunn with the award for the fastest Woman's
Time. Michele Lincoln, in a car she built herself, took the award for
the fastest small-block. With a big grin, Sammy Campbell received the
fastest big-block award. Twenty-eight-year-old
Joe Traut almost needed three hands to carry all his awards. He received
awards for Longest Tow (all the way from Sharon, Massachusetts), Fastest
Medium-block and overall Fastest time. The LeMans top sure gives Joe's
Cobra* a different look. "This is a good day for us," said Joe Traut.
"We are using a crate 351 engine with 17,000 miles on it. The engine ran
strong and we had the right combination with the wheels and tires." |
|
Saturday
was a caravan to the track for time trials.  |
|
| Joe Traut, below, in the red flyer with a LeMans top, was the quickest of the day.  |
|
|
|
|
|
Below:
Linda Dunn turned the fastes
|
Below:
Michele Lincoln took fastest tim
|
|
Below: Joe Traut took awards for the Longest Tow, Fastest Medium Block and Fastest time overall. |
Below: Sammy Campbell received the fastest big block award. |
 |
|
|
On Friday evening the Weavers had a barbeque and prize giveaway at the local park. |
|
|
Above: Cars lined up behind the wall, waiting their turn on the track before the time trials. |
 |
|
|
|
