They don't make them like they used to.

Porsche930 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 09:01 AM

I race a Shelby GT-350 in vintage racing. It has about 450HP and cost me about $75k. It is as tricked out as possible within the limits of SVRA and HSR. Fun to drive, awesome noise. I rebuild the engine every 35 hours. Tires last 2 hours.

But on the street, I drive a BMW M5. 400HP, about the same price as the Shelby. It is a bone stock, 4 door family car with every conceivable amenity.

Want to guess which car I can get around a race track quicker in? The M5, no contest. Awesome brakes, awesome suspension, awesome gearbox, and the chip has a 155 mph limiter on it.

A few years back, I built a best of everything Cobra kit. I really enjoyed building it, and it was beautiful when done. I drove it a few hunderd miles, then drove an all wheel drive twin turbo Porsche in the rain. Sold the Cobra in heart beat.

So when I hear guys say "man they don't build awesome pavement pounding muscle cars like they used to" and that new cars suck, I just have to chuckle and assume they are driving a Saturn or something. The car I drive my kids to Sunday school in can whip my real Shelby race car, and it's still under warranty...

Uber

computerworks · #2 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 09:15 AM

I'll give a sensible answer, although I'm not sure it's warranted.

Is the TV you bought last week better than the one made in 1965?

You just can't compare technologies over a span of decades.
The vintage iron is respected for it's position and performance in it's own era.

...plus, no one gives a second look to an M5 on the street.

Porsche930 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by computerworks

Iformance in it's own era.

...plus, no one gives a second look to an M5 on the street.

yes, that is another excellent quality in this car.

Uber

Turk · #4 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 09:20 AM

Uber,
Welcome to Club Cobra.
You are about to receive a well deserved reception soon.
How long have you been waiting to say all this?

In case you wonder what is wrong with what you said, I suppose we can run a little experiment. I too own a 930 Porsche Turbo.

You can get me a visitors pass to their forum and allow me to tell them why the Porsche 930 is a joke as compared to a Cobra and sit back and listen for the whining that could be easily mistaken for a air cooled little bitty motor, and you will understand what I am saying.

I hope your exit is more graceful than your entry was.

Enjoy the Cobra Community

TURK
Club Cobra Moderator

BlueRooster · #5 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 11:25 AM

Warranty...Dealership..what a joke. I dont WANT to bring my car to a dealership mechanic. Thats the point. Lets see how happy you are when the warrant runs out and you bring the car in to have a blown fuse in your seat warmer fixed.

I also have a feeling if the cobra was properly set up....it would be pretty close. Maybe your skills at setting up a race car suspension and alignment are suspect?

Excaliber · #6 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 11:38 AM

Actually,,,,,,many, including Shelby of course, make 'em just like they used to! LOL

It's a time machine, I like that!

Ernie

chuckbrandt · #7 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 12:06 PM

I'm glad you sold your cobra replica, it seems pretty clear you don't get it. And that's okay... group hug

CDB

weekendwarrior · #8 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 12:07 PM

Uber,

I have a nice E39 with all the goodies very nice drive and good for moving the kids around. I toyed with getting a Z8, beautiful modern roadster with Cobra like lines but it was just too refined for my taste. Nothing better than bugs in your teeth British styled roadster with American Iron, rude crude mean and nasty.

If you read the message boards these guys are not the "Tea and Finger Sandwich Crowd", they want raw power and the car to challenge them.

One other comment, the Cobra gives me the opportunity of self maintenance, to get grease under my fingernails and the satisfaction of doing it my self, like I did as a teenager.

All you can do to an M5,930 is air the tires.

JMHO

Gary

speedraser · #9 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 01:35 PM

Porsche930,

You do realize, don't you, that the 930 never had all-wheel-drive? Only the 993 and 996 turbos have all-wheel-drive.

Cobras and Porsches are highly desirable cars, but they are not comparable.

Brent Mills · #10 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 02:07 PM

930Turbo, I don't think you get it...We didn't build/buy these cars for comfort, or necessarily to beat a bmw around a track (although there are many here that could leave it in their dust). There's pride in building and owning such a beast. I don't have to do anything on a track for someone to know that I/we could blow the doors off the m5 from standing stop (ask someone if they care how fast yours stops). In addition, where I work, there's plenty of fast cars around (ferraris, porches, vipers, etc), but nothing gets more attention than the cobra (love parking next to high dollar cars). Whether peoples perception is right or wrong, the Cobra is almost always more powerful, faster, cooler, than anything on the road. When I had fast cars in the past, people wanted to race all the time, but with the Cobra, just a thumbs up. Your M5 or Porsche just gets treated as every other high dollar luxury car is treated.....ignored.

By the way, if I wanted to win a race, it wouldn't be an m5 or a porsche 930 by the way, so maybe you need to go earn a few more dollars so you can afford something that we might be impressed by.

Chics LI · #11 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 02:40 PM

Whew,
You guys are cold !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tough crowd in the "room" today. Must be the crappy weather.

Tom S

ENTDOC · #12 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 03:48 PM

I now drive a Mercedes S55 AMG,500 supercharged HP ,great brakes,wonderful sound system ,quiet and carries 5 people in comfort.Which of my cars gives me a thrill every time I crank it up?,my 25,000 dollar Hunter cobra with a carburated 1971 351c.The AMG will be traded soon with no regrets or remorse but the cobra stays. chuck

valpodoc · #13 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 04:20 PM

Seems like SSDD. You're telling me your 3500LB+ M5 is quicker around the track than the 2500Lb 450 Hp Shelby??? IT AIN'T THE CAR. Advive: spend a few grand at Bondurant and all your cars will be quicker

Roland

cobrashoch · #14 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 04:26 PM

A cobra is a car that you either "get it" or you don't get it. Fool with the Cobra crowd very long though and you will be most ASSured to "GET IT". Porsche 930- What are you thinking? Most of these guys have had all kinds of expensive iron and thrashed them all. Do you think you are the first belly button that has ever bought a Porsche? They didn't quit making those things when they made your car I'd bet. We know how they run, man.
You might also get a bit more respect around here if you include some more information about yourself in your profile.
BTW- Welcome to the forum though, and a "nice" first thread too!
cobrashock

Jack21 · #15 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 04:28 PM

OK Uber,

What got you to give up the anonimity you get with your M5 to come over here and thumb your nose at Cobras? You drive or race what you enjoy, for whatever your reason, and so do we.

Have you ever asked your kids which car they preferred to be driven to school in? I have. Guess which one they pick every time?

Nuke427 · #16 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 04:59 PM

You're right, they don't quite make them like they used to. The ones being built now have better suspension, better brakes and more power. Yours must have really sucked. Oh yeah, you built it. Have a nice day.

Nuke427 · #17 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 05:07 PM

I forgot to ask, if you have an all wheel drive twin turbo Porsche, and just registered here, why is your ID Porsche930?

ToyCollector · #18 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 05:28 PM

I own a 930 and a Cobra. Cobra wins hands down. I can work on it myself, it is absolutely sensual in it's looks, and has tons of character. As TURK knows, the Turbo is quick, real quick about 2-3 seconds after you mash the peddle. The Cobra is in your face NOW quick. I have driven an M5, and find it so "antiseptic" it is actually boring. A VERY capable car, but no character compared to the 60s era muscle of a Cobra, or even a GT-350.

CowtownCobra · #19 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 06:31 PM

Which one is more fun to drive, which one makes your pulse race the fastest and take your breath away, which one will turn more heads? If you don't like or appreciate Cobras, then fine, just why the he!! did you come onto this message board to post that crap?

Excaliber · #20 (**permalink**) 10-04-2003, 06:45 PM

Chics L1

Cold? Or reality check? I wonder..............

Ernie