Driving a cobra

[Three Peaks]

I've owned a bunch of sports cars over my 65 years and driven like an idiot more than a few times. So I have a pretty good feel for when a car is going to step out and when it isn't - and sometimes I'm even right, before the car does it anyway...

But all this just means I drive my Cobra pretty conservatively because I can feel it more than any other car I've ever owned and I can tell it is always ready to step out. I have about 525 hp and it feels every bit of that when I step into it. I've had a couple track days and HPDE days and learned a ton, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be stupid on public streets. Just the opposite- I learned how easy it is to get out of shape in any car. My track days were before I had my Cobra.

A short story- my first drive with the Cobra club in my Cobra I was short shifting and generally taking it easy trying to find the little bugs I still needed to work out. Suddenly, I noticed my temp guage going up fast (found later I blew a freeze plug). Just then, I hit a hairpin curve in the road. I was in third gear and lugging down so I gave it some gas to get around the corner so I didn't have to heel and toe around the corner. The engine had plenty of power to break the tires loose even in third gear at around 15 mph and I did a quick 180 and ended up on top of a bunch of rocks with my front end. Damaged my brand new paint job and hurt the hell out of my pride... but I survived (barely) to drive another day. And it only took less than a second of a distraction....

A member of our club hit some loose gravel in his ERA and flipped his car over when he lost control. His rollbar saved his life as he slid down the road on his top....

I think every Cobra driver has that moment when he realizes what is under him when he drives. Hopefully, it only hurts your pride....

Bob