[Jack21]

The year was 1965, and I test drove a Shelby GT350. The Shelby GT350, or Pontiac GTO? Unfortunately, neither. Our favorite Uncle had other plans for me at the time.

Any Ft. Benning (school for boys) guys here? Victory Blvd. just off base was notorious for its car lots (among other things). There was a Shelby GT350, numerous Vettes, numerous GTO's, a Sunbeam Tiger, and a 289 Cobra. I drove the Cobra, and the die was cast. "I got to get me one of these!"

Every man has at least one woman in his life he'll never forget. For some, she's your wife. For others, she's the woman you would leave your wife for. Cars can have the same effect.

Vettes today are little more than 2 seat Caddilacs. Certainly not the "Ba!!s to the wall" Vettes of the '50's and '60's. Porches' although quick and fast are sedate, and conservative as BMW's. Not a drop of adrenalin in anything off the showroom floor you can buy today, or could have bought in the last 35 years to make you say, "Holy Sh!t (MF), this thing (F'ing) ROCKS!!!!!" Only a Cobra will do that. It accelerates like a "Cat launch" off a carrier. It corners and stops like a roller coaster. And, it draws attention like a Hollywood celebrity. Wow, Jay Leno, or Jennifer Lopez gassing up at your local Amoco station.

Kids. Our kids didn't live through the musclecar era of the '60's. They have no concept of "Performance!" Today, you can't tell a Pontiac from a Toyota. Molded from a bathtub, it has a 100 HP engine, a 1,000 watt sterio, and may eventually make it to the end of a 1/4 mile track. It attracts absolutely no attention beause it looks like every other car on the street.

Our kids are the auto buying public of the next 10 - 20 years. They don't like their purchasing options any more than we did when presented with the "Blue flame 6" in the '50's.

Neither the Japs, or the Germans (or Detroit) are going to get American young mens juices flowing with todays overpriced, underpowered, Ho Hum examples of automotive mediocraty.

Giving your kids, sons (and daughters), a taste of what a real car is supposed to perform like can only reinforce what we went through in the '50's and '60's that led to the Vettes, GTO's, Stangs, and Cobras that we plunked down our hard earned cash for.

Heh, Heh. My kids are already arguing among themselves who will get my Cobra when I leave this world.