Why do people sell their Cobra?

[Bill Hughes]

When I got mine on the road, after 5 years to build it did scare the crap out of me.

I have two bad knees, a mild case of MS, but I will never sell mine. I'll turn it into a planter first.

[4pipes]

Each Cobra owner is as unique as their specific cars. It is futile to try and understand why some sell their cars ad some don't. The variables of money, wives, health, skills, age, attention span, .....add up to a formidable matrix.

[gsharapa]

I'm on my 6th Cobra and I sold either to build another Cobra, get a GT40, Kirkham Aluminum Cobra, GT350R Race Car, New GT500, back to Cobras. My wife says I love the build and chase of buying and selling.........

[sspano01]

im not sure why you would sell a car that you built from the ground up, definately the first car from the ground up! aside from an illness or financial calmity....

that being said....i might build a second cobra soon with a different engine combo. I could see selling that at some time. but not my first one :O

[menace1]

And then there is the small percentage of owners that don't now how to repair the Cobra once something goes awry. If I had to pony up $$ for all the repairs that i've done,I'd sell mine too! Also wifey burned her leg on the side pipe and she still gets in without complaining too much...

Glenn

[WildBill3]

Man it ripped my gutts out to have to sell,and still does I hate it.Money Money Money its ausome when its ther and totally sucks when it's not.

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by WildBill3

Man it ripped my gutts out to have to sell,and still does I hate it.Money Money Money its ausome when its ther and totally sucks when it's not.

Dear Wildbill3,

I wish you all plenty of money, but more so, I wish you good health, because without it my dear friend that totally sucks

Anth

[cobrakidz]

I had fun with mine, sold it to buy a Cobra R, had fun with that for a couple years and then sold that to buy my Tiger recently. I usually keep a car for a few years then sell it to buy another----when I die I want to say I had ALL the cars I wanted.

[charles roybal]

Selling my ....soon to rebuilt cobra.... would be like selling my golden retiver. I am supprised as to how little my cobra buds drive thier cars.

[Ron61]

I sold my Roadster because of Health reasons and age. I am to old to race competitively any more and it was just to hot to drive in our 115+ degree Summers with the humidity we are now having. I hated to sell it but sometimes you have to do things that you wold rather not.

Ron

[G-Pete]

How about "don't fit in the car anymore"
or "wife don't fit in the car anymore"

[mkassab]

I just sold my Unique Motorcars Cobra that I completed a year ago.... key reasons:
-Just sits in Garage most of the time.
-My love is the build... so I have two other projects going on, A restomod 70 Mustang Boss 529 and just purchased a 68 Corvette Convertible, 427/4spd. The Mustang is a rotisseries restomod and the Vette will be a frame off restomod.
-In Flordia, with the straight/flat roads, the heat and threat of rain… The Cobra just isn’t that much fun to drive.
-So little time, so much to do.

Build site for the Mustang Project Mustang Boss 429 | FordMuscle.com
Build site for the Cobra Mark's Build - Unique Forums

Mark

[digginfool]

After one year of ownership, I'm in the process of a half-hearted attempt at selling mine right now, for most of the reasons listed:

Wife literally hates the car. She loves the attention we get when we're out and about but hates everything else about it; noise, wind, comfort (or lack thereof). Hasn't burned her leg but only because I caution her every time she gets in or out.

The weather in South Florida can be brutal; 95 degrees/95% humdity, rains all the damn time. Try to beat the heat and drive at night, you'll be cleaning bugs off and out of the car for a month. There's really only about 4 months out of the year you can reliably expect to have an enjoyable day in the car (but it is some glorious weather).

Boredom. It's hard to stay excited when most of the time the car is just taking up space in the garage. Plus, there are so many other activities the whole family gets involved in (fishing/boating, camping, off-road, sports) whereas the car is only one or two of us at a time.

I'm reluctant to sell because I have a great time with the car. There are three top quality tracks (Miami-Homestead, Palm Beach International and Sebring) within 150 miles of the house, Miami and Palm Beach are within 50. I love hitting all the car shows we have down here, have made many new friends due to the car and with Reg and the guys just a few miles up the road, there is tremendous dealer support. I know if/when I sell, I'll miss it tremendously. But, then again, I missed my airplane, which was the dream of my life, and eventually got over it. I'll be honest on that one; airplanes are an expensive hobby. Cobras (replicas, anyways) are cheap in comparison.

[Bob In Ct]

I drove my SPF for 11 summers here in Southern Connecticut. But in the end I let it go due to all of the following -

I am not a good wrencher and I had nobody nearby to work on the car,
The traffic and roads in my area suck and I was sick of sitting at red lights,
A 6 month driving season, in the winter my daily driver sat outside (covered in snow and ice),
Driving the car would sometimes upset my back (I'm 65) and I would not be right for weeks,
Lack of interaction with other Cobra owners.

Bob

[G.R.]

I have seriously considered doing another 289 Cobra, instead of a FIA/Race version more of a stocker, wire wheels, no rollbar, underchassis exhaust...but it all depends upon selling the Anglia(wife said 'no more toys, unless you sell one first...') I invested far more in it than I had planned upon you know how it goes you do one thing to it and then you really want to do another... . I just got it finished last spring after a 4yr build and spent most of the summer going thru new build 'teething' problems...never fun to wonder whats going to mess up every time you take it out of the garage...now it runs,drives as it should even though it was on my 'bucket list' of cars I'm sort of bored with it now. It is very fast in a straight line( low 11's in the quarter at a 'test 'n tune' day at Bandimere on MT Sportsman Pro tires), with it's 90" wheelbase and 1850lb weight, under a hard launch, with the Line-lok, it can and will pull the front end off the ground and smoke the rubber all day long. Powered by a well built 383 stroker with 3x2's, dyno'd at 475 hp, race Prepped Powerglide, 9'' Currie rearend w/4.10's. Flip/removable 'glas front, tubbed,full cage...all the goodies. It gets horrid gas mileage showed it a few times last summer and won 2 Best of Shows. It has heat/AC, stereo, and always turns heads. I have around $60K in it and would probably lose a lot if I sold it right now...so a new Cobra project is out for now unless a buyer comes along

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by G.R.

I have seriously considered doing another 289 Cobra, instead of a FIA/Race version more of a stocker, wire wheels, no rollbar, underchassis exhaust...but it all depends upon selling the Anglia(wife said 'no more toys, unless you sell one first...') I invested far more in it than I had planned upon you know how it goes you do one thing to it and then you really want to do another... . I just got it finished last spring after a 4yr build and spent most of the summer going thru new build 'teething' problems...never fun to wonder whats going to mess up every time you take it out of the garage...now it runs,drives as it should even though it was on my 'bucket list' of cars I'm sort of bored with it now. It is very fast in a straight line( low 11's in the quarter at a 'test 'n tune' day at Bandimere on MT Sportsman Pro tires), with it's 90" wheelbase and 1850lb weight, under a hard launch, with the Line-lok, it can and will pull the front end off the ground and smoke the rubber all day long. Powered by a well built 383 stroker with 3x2's, dyno'd at 475 hp, race Prepped Powerglide, 9'' Currie rearend w/4.10's. Flip/removable 'glas front, tubbed,full cage...all the goodies. It gets horrid gas mileage showed it a few times last summer and won 2 Best of Shows. It has heat/AC, stereo, and always turns heads. I have around $60K in it and would probably lose a lot if I sold it right now...so a new Cobra project is out for now unless a buyer comes along

Pictures???

After the Cobra, the Anglia is my favorite car.

[DougD]

I'm still in love with mine, but I know some day she'll go off down the road with someone else driving. My Cobra represents a long line of cars, each sold to buy the next, stretching back to high school. A GT40 has always been the ultimate goal, and it's next now, so some day the Cobra will be given up in order to attain the final one. I'm getting older, too, so it may be sooner than later. I'd like to be able to actually drive and enjoy the '40......

[JWilly]

My guess is that nearly all cars are sold from their original owner sometime. I think a lot of Cobra's that are sold relatively shortly after they are bought or built is likely because the person did not completely understand what they were getting. It is not a boulevard cruiser. It is a noisy, smelly, dangerous, overpowered, not very comfortable, good weather car. I can't imagine having one to be mainly a show car. I plan on keeping and driving mine as long as I can...then I'll propably make a lamp out of it.

[G.R.]

Originally Posted by JWilly

I plan on keeping and driving mine as long as I can...then I'll propably make a lamp out of it.

LOL--hope you have a big end table--lol

[G.R.]

Originally Posted by Silverback51

Pictures???

After the Cobra, the Anglia is my favorite car.

Send me your e-mail.