NINCO Classic Cobra by Kurt Moser - Home Racing World & Slot Car Garage

09/21/2011

NINCO AC Cobra ‘BP’

One More for the Road

By Kurt “El Secundo” Moser

NINCO’s venerable Cobra has seen its share of action over the years. I don’t know how many they’ve made, but if I had a nickel for each one they’ve made, I’d have….well….a bunch of nickels. So after all these years, does it still have enough ‘pop’ to sell alongside the more current crop of slot cars?

As many times as I’ve seen these cars, each new Cobra doesn’t disappoint. The finish shines, the chrome looks great without that cheap chrome look, and she looks right at home with all the other slot cars in the collection. The mold may be dated, but still packs some visual punch. We’ve seen these wheels plenty of times, but the chrome-ringed Halibrands with knockoffs still accent this vintage racer nicely. It certainly doesn’t look like an out-of-date mold when it’s on the track with its contemporaries from other brands, so this mold may have a few years left.

When this car came out of the box, it was clear that it had seen some rough handling. A rear bushing was knocked out of place, the roll hoop had gone for a solo journey, and the gear shift lever was MIA. Even so, this highlighted a positive – NINCO has replaced the fragile T-bar that used to hold the car in place with a single screw through the base. In the old days, the T-bar would have snapped during rough handling, and the car would have tumbled around like a Chinese acrobat all the way from Barcelona. Yes, it was made in Barcelona, not China. Thanks to this, it was no problem to pop the car off the base, whack the rear axle back into place and drop her on the track. I’ll find a way to get used to the automatic transmission.

Before hammering around the track, we see lots of familiar features: button magnet, half tray interior, and the now routine NC-5 motor with its pink wrapper. Many of you already know that the NC-5 and the button magnet can make for a nasty combination. The button magnet is pushed very far forward in a powerful, short-wheelbase car, maybe mimicking the tricky handling of the overpowered 427 Cobra back in the day. The Cobra was a better balanced race car with the 289 motor, and less motor is strongly recommended for this little British roadster, too.

In the “hey, I never noticed this before” department, the tires felt more like a silicone than rubber, and I was surprised how much grip it got on the track. Maybe it had that feel due to mold release agent on the tire, but I don’t think so. She tracked straight as an arrow through the curves without any tire profiling or truing. Also, and probably other NC-5 Cobras have this, but this car has the spade lugs on the motor’s lead wires. Otherwise, standard Cobra, and quite nice. Four body screws keep the coachwork in place, and are easily accessible without having to dig under the guide.

In the detail department, the Cobra only lacks for detail in the half tray interior, as this style just doesn’t lend itself well to high detail. Accommodating a long can motor in a car this small makes this interior, and frankly, it’s not an issue even when you get pretty close. Over the years I’ve also heard grumblings about the general shape of the car, and while it’s not perfect by any stretch, it still screams ‘Cobra’ when I look at it. I’ve never been bothered by its looks, and I generally don’t notice the bits that are ‘off’ unless the car is sitting next to an MRRC Cobra. The looks will be a personal thing, so it just depends on how many rivets you feel like counting.

Veterans probably already know how she runs on the track, and with the NC-5, I’d say it’s not a car that you take off the shelf when you’re looking for an easy drive. The motor makes the car a bit twitchy when the trigger is full on or full off. With the long can motor’s heavy deceleration and the car’s short wheelbase, a slow trigger finger will tip the car over under hard braking when entering a corner. Two big recommendations here: 1) round the edges of the rear tires when you true them, and 2) block up the front axle with some styrene tubing to cut down on the somewhat wobbly nature at the front. This stabilizes the nose a lot, and gives you some help at the front end when the car wants to tip. Even with these tendencies, though, the car was very drivable totally stock on a wood track.

Like all toys, we have to figure out if the toy is worth it to us. What do you have to give up to get this car? A dinner out with the family? Two hours worth of pay at your job? Three hours worth of pay? Will you have to get a paper route to buy this car? This one isn’t cheap at MRC’s list price of $79.98, but it can probably be had for less with a little shopping around. If you enjoy this series, you’ll feel the price once and enjoy the car for years to come.

My thanks to Bob Lewen and MRC for providing this NINCO Classic for review.!