[CobraDan]

Back in 1987 when I purchased my Cobra kit from Elegant Motors I did so because it would become a 1982 Corvette that looked like a Cobra. It didn’t have a homemade frame it was sitting on a 1982 Corvette frame, it weighs what a Corvette weighs and was crash tested as a Corvette. By 1982 the engines in Corvettes were not only small blocks but had no horsepower. Yes mine has a 1990 Chevy crate engine, a 454 LS1 that was put into 1970 Chevelle’s rated at 450HP. If I were doing that engine today it would be a 2003 Chevy crate engine, a ZZ572 cubic inch 620 horsepower engine. When I took my Cobra into retirement with me and finally finished the car I also went looking for insurance. This was before all the insurance talk on the forums. I contacted Parrish Heathcock and the first words out of the ladies mouth was she wanted to know if I had any experience driving a small car with a big engine. I had not told her what engine was in my Cobra replica, nor did she ever ask. She wanted to know if I had gone to any driving school. I told her that I had drag raced a car at one time, and she said that was fine I had experience and they signed me up to a very reasonable priced insurance policy for my Cobra. Later through the forums I heard that Parrish had to pay out for a Cobra mishap and that all Cobra policyholders were going to get a hefty increase and they would stop selling Cobra insurance. When my renewal came it was 2 ½ times what it had been. I did exactly what Parrish wanted I went elsewhere for my Cobra insurance. I’m now insured with American Hobbyist Insurance Agency, and back to my original rate. As far as accidents in Cobras other than the one in this post, we just had one of our members of the Deep South Cobra Club die with his passenger just last month. I remember the elderly gent from Ohio who had just bought a SPF and was driving with his nephew and was involved in an accident, the pictures posted looked bad. There were a few more but at this time I can’t remember them all. Why are the rates increasing because maybe the lady at Parrish was maybe right and also we are having far to many serious accidents with our toys? When I go to a car show I see many Hot Rods with much larger engines than we have in our Cobras and yes some weigh less than most Cobras, these cars are all insured. I know we all say save it for the strip or track, but how many have that big horsepower engine and have not put the pedal to the floorboards on the street? What can I do to help I don’t know but I will continue to follow your threads on this subject.
Dan Wulff