[Danr55]

Cobras, especially the replicas, are not like Corvettes or BMWs or Triumphs, or hot rods or any other type of car I've ever seen. There was a short paragraph written a while back about Cobras. It started out with the line, " If you want a car you can sit in and turn the key and go, find something else, because that's not a Cobra. There is nothing nice about a Cobra..." I believe that holds true with the structure of the organization of this club and the type of folks who populate it. Sometimes I would like to get in and strap on and turn the key and go..but most of the time, the uniqueness of the experience is what I crave and enjoy the most. This club, for the 10 or so years I've been around has always practiced the theory that if someone wants to go with us, they will show up and we will be glad to have them, but if they don't show up, so what.. we will go without them. That is typical of the attitude of most of the members, at least I think it is. We are not the 'safety in numbers" kind of troops. Most of us are the in your face I am going, if you want to come, let's go" type of folks. We make jokes about structure and dues and club officers. The structure that existed with Mike and Ginny was unique in that most of the members started when Gordon was in Tempe and there was a group from the west side that met every Saturday nite and formed the core of the club. Many of those folks have drifted away due to health issues, death, or growing up, or just plain changed interests. We are much more diverse now. In the years that I've been with this organization, i've seen lots of people show up with great enthusiasm and plans and for one reason or another, sell their car and move to something more civilized. Something with a roof and cup holders and air conditioning. We even had one member for a very short time who spent well over $125K to build his car, drove it two or three times, ran over his wife's toes and decided it was too much car for him and moved on never to be heard from again. So I don't think that rigid structure is in the cards for this gang. If that's what you need, you should probably look somewhere else. If you enjoy the raw pleasure of the wind in your face and the acrid smell of exhaust in your nose and the task of crawling under or over or into a car to fix whatever is wrong, and you can survive by your self if necessary, hang around because we've had some fun in the past and, with God's blessing, we will continue to have some fun in the future. The Master at Arms will continue to maintain Roberts Rules of Order at each meeting and the Treasurer will continue to collect the dues after each meeting adjourns..