Hitting the garage door opener, and seeing the unmistakeable shape of the Cobra, even under the car cover. Roll the cover off the car, and seeing the paint glistening in the light. I cant help but touch the sensuous, bulging fenders. The chrome rollbar shining at me, the whole car seems to be saying, "C'mon, let's go for a spin! Let's see whats in this big, beautiful world we live in!" Pop the hood, check all the fluids; everything is as it should be. I reach in and open the door, step in, sit on the seatback, and slide into the cockpit of this magnificent Street Warrior. Put the key in the ignition, gas it once, crank the key, and the 351W sings its eight-cylinder song, settling into a lumpy burble and gurgle as the temperature slowly rises to operating temperature. Scanning the gauges, each telling its story; 14 volts on the voltmeter,
oil pressure at 50 lbs, the tachometer needle doing its dance. I recall the next-door neighbor saying how she hears the Cobra start up, and she cant wait to go for another ride, and her time will come soon. I snick the five-speed Tremec into first gear, and we slowly pull out into the driveway, past the gate, then to the front of the house. A little reality sets in, as the dogs have run out of the open gate, and are running up and down the street, barking at squirrells and the neighbor's cats, sniffing the yard for traces of the wild peacocks that wander the neighborhood. Augie, the 9-year-old hounddog, comes soon after I call him, but MonaCeeya, the female pup new to the household, decides to roam about some more. Put the Cobra in neutral, set the parking brake, (which actually holds the car from rolling on the flat driveway), exit the car, round up the dogs and put them back into the yard, and close the gate. Back into the Cobra, seat belt buckled, and we're off to see what we can see. I work the Cobra through the gears, hearing the revs rise and fall in each gear. Not a mile into the trip, a young woman in an SUV pulls next to me at the first light. I look over, she says "Beautiful car", and she smiles, and we exchange waves as I drive away. It cant get any better than this, I say to myself. And the trip is just beginning........................
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