Advice/comments please, epic possible road trip

xlr8tr · #1 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 02:56 PM

My "new to me" cobra is still sitting in L.A. in storage while I am in Vancouver BC Canada, just a short 2,500 kilometer drive away. I bought it a few months ago and it can now be imported into Canada.

Rational person says just ship the damn thing. Quotes are about $1,400 so far from a couple of the better shippers mentioned on here (passport, intercity).

Not so rational says, "hey what a road trip, L.A. to Vancouver via Pacific Coast Highway!"

Practical considerations:

I have only test driven it, so this would be the world's longest get to know it cruise.
460 with dual 4 barrels, pretty lumpy.
4 speed top loader, ford 9 inch rear.
goodyear billboards (installed since purchased)
Soft top (that I havent seen fitted yet), no side windows, its early April.
driving comfort: I fit, although not so great, moving/adjusting seat for legroom was job #1 when it arrives in Vancouver (i'm 6'7").

OK gang, have at 'er! Ship or drive?

Rich_ACC · #2 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 03:04 PM

Make the seat conforable, Take your time and enjoy the ride and by the time you get home you'll have it sorted and a story to tell.

Rich

elmariachi · #3 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 03:19 PM

Yer a$$ will arrive a week after you and the car, but I'd drive it. Take pics, flirt with straaaange women in bars, make it a journey.

209 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 03:58 PM

If most of the bugs have been worked out and no major leaks and if you have the time, by all means drive it. How many miles are on the odometer? It might be wise to have someone follow you if you can. What do you want to do? 209

Silverback51 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 04:14 PM

If it was summer time, I would say drive it.

This time of year 90% of your drive will be in the rain and you may end up hating the car by the time you get it home.

davecobra · #6 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 07:01 PM

I would check it over for leaks and loose bolts, pack my lunch and gps, plan a week to do it and go for it, you will have the fun of a lifetime.
We just came back from the TCC meet in San Marcos TX. 4 of us drove 1000 miles and one of us drove 1500 miles round trip, we had a few problems but nothing that we could not fix along the way. Buy yourself a 94 piece Craftsman tool kit, couple of feet of fuel hose, radiator clamps, fuel clamps, electrical tape, allen wrenches, side cutters, pliers, test light ,digital voltmeter, tie straps, duct tape, extra fuses, tire pump and plug kit, rain jacket and cooler.
YOU CAN DO IT.............
David

Zoom This · #7 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 07:40 PM

Beyond a doubt I would have it shipped. I would not want to stick my neck out that far on a used Cobra that I know little about...especially being 6 foot 7 on a 3-4 day trip. Ship it, fix the seating to your needs then take it out as often as you want, After that THEN think about an extended trip with dual quads and a freeway high revver. Know your car inside and out before taking that drive in the April rains up the coast.

timsullivan · #8 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 07:45 PM

Drive it home.

Bartruff1 · #9 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 08:17 PM

These are not GT cars...they are more like motorcycles... two to four hours at a time in one is plenty for me...the have no air...a joke for wipers a heater and defrosters...the top is very marginal... You will need to check for leaks etc.. every couple hundred miles...when you stop for gas about every hundred miles...you will need to have safe overnight storage at every stop....but...I am old and I used to ride motorcycles along the coast from Alaska to Cabo when I was young and thought it was fun..and it was ..then...not now.

Bartruff1 · #10 (**permalink**) 03-31-2011, 08:30 PM

Think about buying a enclosed trailer and haul it yourself and drive a few of the interesting road sections in good weather and it would be safe overnight. You will likely need a trailer anyway to access some of the great roads in BC like the Ice Parks to Jasper and out to Lund and up to Whistler and over to Tofino and Port Hardy and Kamloops...and Anahim Lake....Gods Country BC is.

Tommy · #11 (**permalink**) 04-01-2011, 04:02 AM

I don't know west coast weather, but that would make the decision for me. If I thought I could have a dry trip with only one day stuck in a motel waiting for the rain to pass, I'd go for it. But if there were a 60% chance of rain every day, I'd ship it. The cost isn't going to be much different either way, but driving a big engine Cobra in the rain is not my idea of fun.

DonC · #12 (**permalink**) 04-01-2011, 08:02 AM

I second the "Plan B" approach with the way you've described the car.
I had my ERA delivered in Denver and spent two days shaking it and myself down before driving it the 1200 miles back to Portland but it was a fresh build by ERA and well sorted when it arrived.
The biggest concern would be the seating issue and the weather.
If you aren't very comfortable in the car to begin with you'll be really unhappy by the end of a trip of that length.
Weather won't be suitable for extended coast travel through the northwest until late July and August and even then it can be pretty cool and damp. The soft top would make a lot more comfortable getting through some of what you'd likely run into.
I've done Carmel/Monterey to Portland with my wife over 4 days in Sep. and spent the last day running about an hour if front of the rain that lasted for 5 days when we got home.
I've kicked the idea around about using my Serpent Express trailer for a long haul and taking the car out for side trips but haven't gotten to it yet. On my to do list.
DonC

xlr8tr · #13 (**permalink**) 04-01-2011, 09:04 AM

thanks for the input guys, its a big stretch this time of year with the weather (hey not like I'd be driving it in Vancouver now even if I had it, its rained 25 of last 30 days...).

Don, the idea of a trailer with day/loop trips with the trailer as base camp and a place to hide from the rain might be an excellent idea. Buy the trailer, run the trip, sell the trailer (yah, honey, reeealy I will get around to selling the trailer...). Anyone know a great place to get a trailer in Los Angeles/Thousand Oaks area?

JWilly · #14 (**permalink**) 04-01-2011, 10:45 AM

I vote for the trailering it home idea...however, I do suggest that you have a winch in the trailer for loading and unloading the car.

WardL · #15 (**permalink**) 04-01-2011, 05:46 PM

Mark,
I asked the same question when I bought my Cobra in Florida and thought about driving it home to Bellingham, WA. Probably 90% said "Drive it". I had it shipped. I went down to pick it up. I drove it around for two days down there. The front tires scraped every time we went over a bump on the freeway. You could smell the rubber. I loaded it on the trailer and I drove it off the trailer. Actually, it was a covered transport truck. I am so glad to get it home and resting in my garage without a week adventure. Being who I am and what I bought, I would have been SICK to my stomach when I got rained on or going through any construction/dirty roads on the way home. I'm only 6' and find my Cobra very comfortable to drive but that may be cause I'm overdosing on adrenalin when ever I'm in my Cobra. My heart might have quit during a week drive home. You want to ease your wife into this deal as well. I got mine because original owner's wifey burned her leg the first time getting out and she never got in again! Is that the Camarillo Cobra? What a beautiful red Cobra! Yeah. There is a website that rates auto transport companies: http://www.transportreviews.com/ .

xlr8tr · #16 (**permalink**) 04-02-2011, 04:43 PM

WardL, thanks for the transport link! Actually, wife seems quite onside (she thinks if I HAVE a cobra, I'll stop surfing the net for cobra stuff....Bwa ha ha...). I did get major brownie points a few years back, bought her a pretty mint '56 T-Bird.

Chilibit · #17 (**permalink**) 04-02-2011, 05:35 PM

My first drive was 12 hours (500 miles) at night over the mountains at 34 degrees with no windows and it would not run at idle. So I feathered it to get over the uphill starts in WV. I still remember that ride. Now it seems rather tame. And you think I would trade that for a receipt from a car carrier. Not on your life. Drive it.

RON N BKFLD · #18 (**permalink**) 04-02-2011, 06:59 PM

I'm driving from Bakersfield Ca. to Eugene Or. via I-5 the 18th or 19th of this month. Stay ahead of me, if you have a problem call me, you won't be stranded....Ron

cobradvm · #19 (**permalink**) 04-02-2011, 07:02 PM

Go ahead and drive it, but have a backup plan in place to trailer it home if need be.

FWIW I'm planning a trip this summer from Seattle down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA. We're planning on doing Mulholland Drive, and then heading up to ButtonWillow for a track day there. After that we head up the east side of CA to Reno and then over to Thunderhill for a second track day with HOD - they're having an exotics day with Ferrari's and Lambo's and have graciously allowed the cobras to join them. 3k miles in 2 weeks with 2 track days - I hope she holds together!

vector1 · #20 (**permalink**) 04-02-2011, 07:13 PM

how many miles are on the car, might tell you if the bugs are worked out. i bought jbl with 7500 miles and considered driving it from salt lake city to kansas city, good thing i didn't, showed up with a bad head gasket, hardly any coolant, loose rear end, radiator with the tubes blown out, terrible alignment, leaking transmission, vibration in the rear brakes. this was touted as a professionally maintained car!