Average Age?

[colvinbh]

Spent the last 45 years raising a family, have a 1995 SL320 & a 1999 SL600 Mercedes but always wanted a Cobra, finally bought a Contemporary Classic about a month ago.

[Bill Hughes]

I'm 65, and I started building my car in 2001, finished in 2009. Driving my Cobra is a pleasure. The construction was however the real reward. I needed something to do with my hands and mind.

The things you learn and the people you meet is a great experience.

A project of this scale is something every man should experience once in his life.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by Bill Hughes

I'm 65, and I started building my car in 2001, finished in 2009. Driving my Cobra is a pleasure. The construction was however the real reward. I needed something to do with my hands and mind.

The things you learn and the people you meet is a great experience.

A project of this scale is something every man should experience once in his life.

Couldn't agree more Bill! I am 66 and bought mine when I was 60. It has been a 40 year love affair. Really glad I decided to pull the trigger.

Ed

[MGlad]

I'm 54 and just bought my Cobra last year. I'm pretty much a Mustang guy, I guess the Cobra is just a natural progression. I've always admired/dreamed of a Cobra, but it wasn't until I sat in one that I got serious... rather quickly in fact. I bought one the next month!

I just turned 45 (2/16). I started my project Oct 97. I'll be on the road next month. When I was 13 or 14 years old, a cobra passed our school bus like it was standing still. I've wanted a sports car ever since. 30 years later I'm finally there!

This is a great forum. Paul hates the computer - he is in the garage working on what else but our Cobra replicar. No it was not middle age that made us do it - even though it ocurred at that time. Paul had always talked about a Cobra and we both loved cars. I sold my mini-van for a business deal that fell through. Well it was either invest the money or Paul had his chance to build his dream. We started our Cobra in 1992 and had it "on the road" in Aug 96. Kids were almost gone and I was working full time. My paycheck paid for this Cobra. Funny thing though - it ended up costing us almost double what we estimated. In order to do that you guys have to have a wife that likes standing around a garage, street rods & Cobras as much as you do. Together with great friends in our club we attend all the local Street Rod shows that we can. Our Rodtiques Club has our Blossom Run (3 day show & shine, camping included, valley tours, dance, activities for the kids etc.) coming up May 21 - 24.
E-Mail me if you are interested in coming or attending. Paul is incharge of registration - BUT not knowing how to use the computer guess who is doing registration!

Hello everyone! I'm new here and thought I'd chime in on the thread.

I'm 42 but started on my Cobra when I was 35. Not a mid-life crisis thing, more like a potential business activity when my wife, kids, and I retired from the rat-race in the Silicon Valley. The business part of the thing fell through quickly (CRL... need I say more).

Still, I'm having a blast and can't wait to finish the car. One thing that I wonder ... will I miss the building when I'm driving? Perhaps I ought to start looking for a GT40 kit

petek
http://www.tfs.net/~petek/cobra

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[This message has been edited by Neal Jackson (edited 12-31-2000).]

Neal - No "the valley" is the Okanagan Valley in Southern British Columbia. We live 40 miles north of the Canada/US border and 250 miles east of Vancouver in a fruit & grape growing area. Hot summer tourist area - great place to drive up and down the beaches in the Cobra!

Judie

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[This message has been edited by Neal Jackson (edited 12-31-2000).]

I should add my two bits to this thread, as well. I was smitten by the Cobra bug in the early '60s when some friends raced their AC Bristol; later they added an early 260 engined model that had been rolled, and then an Aceca; then to really stoke the fires a local attorney acquired a 289 and a 427. One ride and I was hooked forever. College, service, wife, kids & private school, and their ever appreciating value have kept the Cobra a dream. My goal was to have the garage filled by age 50. I returned from a short vacation in Utah this past June and found my close friend yellow with jaundice and a case of pancreatic cancer. I'm not going to wait any longer...

I'll be 48 this Sunday.

Scott

Neal:

We are west of the tip of Idaho. We would be directly above Wenatchee, Wa. Which is about Central Washington.
Paul is still in the garage! We have a Cardiac Cobra from Vancouver. We have purchased an Everett Morrison soft top and are trying to adapt it to fit. I ordered it last summer and got all the dimensions from E.M. and we wll felt that it would fit. It still looks somewhat promising. Although there is an awful lot of planning and measuring before we drill that first hole. The snaps really spoil the look of the car but it is very impractical without a top to fold up in the trunk. We wake up many mornings of a show & shine and say well I guess we are not going - 80 miles and it looks like it might rain. We stay home and it is sunny all day! But you can be sure that if we went it would rain. We have leather seats and wool carpet. Not something we want filled with rain!

Judie

Happy Birthday, Scott. I undersand your post only too well.


To PaulJudie (Judie),
Aw, heck, what's a little rain between friends! Actually, living where you live, I would imagine the top is important for a signigant part of the year just for temperature. I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and have an Everette Morrison with no top OR windshield wipers. Only been caught in the rain once in several years. And I have a rule that if the temp is above freezing, I'll go out, even if I do look like a bumdle of blankets in the front seat. Fortunately, down south, temps below freezing are rare, but it still gets cold. I have a heater from E-M, but have never installed it. Probably never will. Keep Paul at work and have fun in the car.

Regards, Art

[This message has been edited by Art Colley (edited 02-24-99).]

Art

We cruise from May 1 to Nov 1. Rarely are cold - we just wear a ski jacket. No heater for us - we are tough - or so I am told. Top is only for rain! We are in a desert area. Fortunately we only get 12" f precip / year. - includes snow. It gets up to 90-100 degrees here in July & August so it is hot. Too hot for these motors sometimes.
Judie

PaulJudie,

12 inches a year, heck, we got that much in a month! But I am still dry (except for last week... got caught two blocks from home...controlling the car on wet pavement was more trouble than getting wet myself).
I think we should start a Club Cobra Exchange Program, where each member can swap locations with another for a week. Sort of like the schools do. Last weekend the 14 year old daughter of my partner had two 18 year old BOYS from Denmark stay for the weekend. Not a word of English. Pretty funny. But now they can speak at least one word... "Cobra". This was the 14 year old who is getting her driver's ed in the Cobra, that I wrote about once before. Good idea, don't you think?

Regards, Art

Art,

Driver's Ed in a Cobra? That's too Cool! What instructor in his/her right mind could flunk the driver of that car?!

May be the longest course on record though. - I know if I were the instructor the test would just have to cover every road surface available, slaloms, acceleration and braking, probalbly a newly created "G Force" test, also the motor would have to be tested for "RPM" control, you know, how consistent the student can keep the foot on the throttle.

Yeah, it'd be fun!

Neal

Hey, I ain't kiddin.

I'm adding a page about our adventures to my site, called (guess what), Driver's Ed. I hope in a year when she goes to take her test she asks for the Cobra. By God, I think I'll let her do it!

This is all with her parent's approval, by the way, and just for a moment, a serious note. It is an extremely valuable lesson for a youngster who has grown up in a workd of Civics and Saturns, to know what a really powerful car is about...and what a real responsibility it is. We who survived the '60's owe that lesson to our kids.

Regards, Art
www.mindspring.com/~cobra65/cobranotebook

[Scott Smith]

Art

I haven't spoken to you in years.
You were thinking of stopping here on your way to Paul N.'s several years ago.
I hope this finds you well.

Scott

I am 35 (going on 10 according to my wife) As a boy, I was infatuated with small, fast sports cars of all kinds. Vettes, Porche's, Jag's, and of course the Cobra. In high school I drove a '70 Mustang with a 351, and then a '72 Opel GT. As years past and life went on, I forgot about my childhood dreams of racing around in a vintage roadster and found myself racing a mini-van instead. I can beat anybody thru downtown in rushhour. One day in summer '96 I picked up a kit car mag and started leafing through it. The Cobras in the articles and advertisements were beautiful, but way out of my price range. With three rugrats and a 30 year mortgage, I would be a wise OLD man before a Cobra would be in my garage. Then I read an ad by Factory Five. Single Mustang donor, EFI, lightweight, and actually affordable(well,close). My dream was alive again! After saving and planning for over two years, I picked up my kit in Sept.'98. Last Sat. I took it to my painter. This has been an experience of a lifetime! As for age, I have one piece of advice...do it now! Dreams have a way of getting forgotten.
So glad to find this website! Good job to all involved.

Chris Perry
Toledo, OH
P.S. For now I'm only known as "Wheelie Man's" buddie, but not for long. See you all at Run & Gun '99.

I'm 30 years old and have been dreaming of cobras for oh about.....25years! I've been a "gearhead" all my life. My grandfather was a mechanic until the day he passed away about 7 years ago. My dad has been a mechanic for over 30 years, together we own & operate an independent shop specializing in Mercedes-Benz repair. I have been roadracing in the SCCA for about 6 years. For the last three years ,I've been competing with a Mercedes 190e 16-valve in ITE class against mostly v-8 powered cars & 6cyl BMW's. I did manage to win the Mid-Am championship and the I.T. TOUR championships in 1997 with my 4cyl-4 door 190. The camaro guys don't laugh anymore when I show up on the grid, it mmust have something to do with getting their doors blown off by a well balanced package that can corner & brake just as quickly as accelerate.

When I finally decided to build a cobra, I wanted primarily a good street car. I obviously already have a racecar that is competitive, very unique, and promotes the business I'm in. So I started my research into replicas and made a list of things that were important to me.
I wanted it tame enough to run on pump fuel,have easy to find(affordable) replacement parts, but still be light & agile enough to blast through an autocross or use at speed at the racetrack when I instruct for the porsche club events. I bought and built(and just dissasembled to have painted) a Factory Five Cobra. Do I believe that it's the "best cobra kit".......No
Do I think it was the best choice for me and my objectives..............YES, ABSOLUTELY!
You see,there is no "best cobra kit",these cars while all similar in appearance, mean different things to different people.My point, do your homework, decide what will meet your needs & make you happy, build it & enjoy!