Buying my first Cobra

[Buzz]

Hi Kip. A Cobra by its very nature is an old-school, lightweight car with a big, high performance - usually carbureted - V8, manual steering, manual brakes and manual transmission. Not much to them really in terms of systems and simplicity.

The problem is the big, powerful engine and the fact that the vast majority of replicas, with only partial exception of the "factory assembled" cars (they still require drivetrain installations) involve a lot of individually-sourced parts and assembly work. The final car is only as good as the work and parts that go into it, so there is naturally a very broad spectrum when it comes to actual quality and reliability.

Big power means big heat and big vibration. Nuts, bolts, metal lines, fittings, connections and wiring get constantly shaken, heated and cooled so things need to be checked occasionally, for safety's sake and for peace of mind.

You could build one with a very mild, smaller engine and an automatic transmission, but then it really wouldn't be much of a Cobra at all. These cars are what they are, but if you accept that and treat them accordingly, they deliver an experience like absolutely no other car on the road.