Used Early Aluminum Intake Manifold

I believe it was a TIGER lettered intake that had the lettering milled off. The entire start to finish description of this family of intakes is quite long.

Performance wise suitable for a mild 260 c.I.d. engine.

The part’s value greatly decreased when the text was milled off.

PS In this century very few people are interested building 260 engines with 1961-62 performance; i.e. the intake was designed in 1961 in terms of what high performance was at the time. It was obsolete as soon as 289 engines came out as far as performance and racing were concerned.

Short version.

All the 260 c.i.d. engine low rise aluminum 4Vdual plane intake manifolds were functionally copies of a Ford engineering prototype cast iron intake manifold from the 1961 time frame. Ford did not release 260 engines to the public until announced as available for order February 17, 1962 as part of the 1962½ Fairlane Sport Coupe option package. There was not just one cast iron prototype intake manifold but only one became the pattern Holman-Moody (H-M), a Ford performance contractor, picked up on. Holman-Moody was the source of all the 260 aluminum intake manifolds.

Lee Holman is said to have stated that something in aluminum with a cast in Ford Motor Company style engineering number was desired for the Ford Falcons they prepared for racing, mostly in Europe. The original design carried a late 1950s Holman-Moody bird shaped logo cast in raised relief and a Holman-Moody engineering number also in raised relief in the form of prefix and base number as if it were a production Ford part.

Then Cobras with XHP-260 and HP260 engines were introduced and Shelby American (SA) very quickly adopted the H-M intake. It became a 260 powered COBRA regular production option for street and race cars but SA milled the H-M bird logo off. By the time 1963½ HP289 engines were being installed in new Cobras the wooden master pattern for the H-M intake was changed to replace the H-M bird logo with very large text spelling COBRA and a Shelby-Ford engineering number was added to the casting while retaining the H-M engineering number. SA offered the COBRA lettered intake to Cobra buyers into the CSX24xx chassis range in mid 1964. It was a poor choice for an owner of a car with a 289 c.i.d. engine. The low rise aluminum 4V intake was not a popular option. On a handful of Cobras were ordered new with any version. SA offered milled H-M and COBRA text versions over the counter but apparently few were sold. (I have seen five [5] COBRA intakes total ever. Three were in poor physical condition, one really nice one I restored decades ago was destroyed in a fire in 2017, and I just sold a near mint used one to the owner of a very early Cobra that still has its original 260 c.i.d. engine. (The one I that I just shipped off less than a week ago was the best of those I have ever come across condition wise, no corrosion, physical damage, or modifications.)

There was a brief period in 1963 that some low rise intakes were made with a large raised rectangular pad was cast in place of a logo or brand lettering. The only clue as to why there was a large pad there was a artistic representation of an intake with a COBRA water slide transfer as used on Shelby race team Cobra covers used in a rare very early accessory parts advertisement SA placed in magazines.

When Sunbeam Tigers were introduced the wooden master was changes again to create TIGER lettered castings. The part was an over the counter accessory offering, like all the aluminum intakes for Tigers would be I believe. When the wooden master was changed to the TIGER lettering the H-M engineering number was removed leaving the Sunbeam Tiger accessory option with a Ford-Shelby engineering number for a Cobra part. I personally have only located two (2) of the TIGER lettered low rise version. It was not popular. The low rise intake was superseded by a TIGER lettered high rise intake exactly like early 1965 MUSTANG GT350 intakes except for the lettering. The high rise Tiger casting sourced through Ford-Shelby was quickly dropped and replaced by the early four hole flange Edelbrock® F4B™ 289 c.i.d. engine intake manifold as an over the counter accessory. I personally have located one (1) intact TIGER lettered high rise intake manifold.

Lee Holman was quoted as saying that only about one hundred (100) low rise aluminum intake manifolds were ever cast and that most ended up going into marine engines. Demand for an intake obsolete automotive wise before it got started in was just not there. I have seen maybe two dozen low rise aluminum intakes over the years. A few still had the H-M bird logo, the small number of COBRA lettered ones, the two TIGER lettered ones, and a couple of parts with large raised pad were the only intact intakes I have come across. All the others had whatever was cast into the top front runner milled off before use and or sale.

For the most part, unless you are one that happens to have a Cobra that was ordered new with one of the low rise intakes and that car is very original, there is almost zero market for one unless it is COBRA or TIGER lettered and in a condition ready to install on show car. Being intact and great condition still does not mean easy to find a new home for. I just a few days ago shipped off the excellent COBRA intake for less than I had in it. I have tried on an off to find it a new home since 2002, on the order of 19 years to find a new home.

Note: Ford/H-M/Shelby did not just toss obsolete intakes in the scrap bin. Known obsolete intakes with logos milled off before or after retail sale included the H-M bird logo low rise, COBRA low rise, TIGER low rise, very early COBRA high rise, and TIGER high rise.

Several pages with pictures including specific Cobras by chassis number and run to run machining changes.