[Hal Copple]

i always admire a guy who has kept a performance car for many years. Was getting the wife's Jag new Michelin's yest, a pristine '56 T bird pulled up, the drive came in, and in a moment, a lady followed him in her car, asked if his car was for sale, her husband was looking for one. The T Bird's owner replied that he had bought the car new, owned it for about 40 years, and would not sell it. They chatted.

I don't know what i would do if i had my own original Muscle Car, and needed to sell it to get a Replica. Letting go of a car that has been a part of one's life for so many years is an emotional decision.

But when five years ago, i was about to be able to spend about $50K, i thought long and hard about what i wanted to drive. I considered about everything. I kept coming back to a '64-'67 Vette, or a quality Cobra replica. I have always admired both, but finally accepted that since in had been in HS, i had really wanted my own Cobra.

Finally i imaged that if i were at a stop light, and this or that desirable car pulled up next to me, what i look over and say to myself "i really wish i had bought that one, instead of this."

And i finally realized that if i ever looked over at a nice Cobra, i would say that, no matter what i was sitting in. So, since i had really wanted one for so many many years, i bought my own Superformance. I have done what i wanted to do, it has over 83,000 miles on the Smith's odo, and my son and I put in the race brake pads today, but in the Castrol SRF, and the Goodyear Blue streaks are coming monday, we are once again tracking it in two weeks at Kershaw, here in SC. We are running with the Porsche club, and like always, i guarantee that more people will come to the fence with their cameras when Chris blips his downshifts at the end of the front straight, than when any other car is on the track.

There is an intoxicating magic about these cars. The raw, brutal, visceral performance, with all the refinement of a medieval battle ax, just makes for a driving experience like no other. I believe, if one is a real car guy, then driving a Cobra is truly the ultimate road experience.

Like being in a relationship with an exotic dancer, you make one wrong move, take things for granted one single moment, you are done for. A most demanding, yet rewarding, mistress, a Cobra.