[meat]

A national 'group' would be a good thing, but many Cobra owners are apathetic once they get their cars done. They do a few shows, do a few burnouts, and sell their cars. Getting them involved enough to form a cohesive group would probably be virtually impossible.

By comparison, street rodders and hot rodders - for the most part - drive chromed-out automatics with show suspension, a/c and cup holders. They're also greying more than the Cobra replica owners are.

As kit car owners, we get grouped into the VW Dune-buggy crowd, and most companies do not really want to deal with a $50K+ dune buggy. You can argue with them 'til you're blue in the face, but they will always see a custom chassised fiberglass bodied high-horsepower '32 Ford Highboy replica as completely different than a custom chassised fiberblass bodied high-horsepower Cobra replica. Both cars could have been built by the same guy, to the same specs, but the Cobra will always be a kit car.

Can that be changed? By who? The apathetic group? Probably not going to happen. Getting support behind SB1911 and SB100 was a virtual impossibility; everyone thought a custom built 34 Ford was a 43 Ford - not a SPCN. I worked it for over two years. When it passed, SEMA was quick to jump in and say they 'did it for the enthusiasts,' although I specifically remember calling them and being told that the Cobra replica community was a 'minority.'

Insurance companies ... well, maybe an insurance company did pay out $1.5 million more than it took in in premiums. Sometimes that happens. But insurance companies take the money they get in and invest it in other things, it doesn't just sit in a pot waiting for payout. A more interesting number would be the amount of money the company made off of the premiums it took in.

Also, based on the numbers I've got, it looks like there's closer to 60,000 Cobra replicas out there. True, there have been a number of fatalities involved, and not all the Cobras out there have been completed...but the percentage of owners wrecking their cars is insignificant when compared to the number of 'regular' car owners out there wrecking their cars. The number of fatalities involved in 'regular' cars is significantly higher, more often involves drinking, drugs, or stupidity, and involves a much more radically diverse age group, since may citizens can get their licenses at 16, and continue driving (automatics) will into their 70s and later. Cobra owners, as a whole, generally fall into a pretty specific age group (since these cars are rarely primary vehicles, and require quite a bit of extra income to purchase in the first place), are more careful with their driving habits (street racers, burn-out FFR owners excluded), and don't drive their cars once they can't push the clutch in.

What does this mean? You'll never get a group together, and insurance companies post funny numbers.

I'd be interested in a group...but where and when does everyone get involved? Who manages the group? What are the benefits?

Your pal,
Meat.