Average Age?

Thought it was time to respond to this post since a large majority of our members have responded as well. I am 42-years old, and have also been chasing the fantasy of owning a Cobra for quite some time. This goes way back, but my first knowledge of this car came to me from a friend playing a Bill Cosby record as Bill explains his rendition of his Cobra experince. It was the funniest thing I had ever heard of when I was just a kid.

Now the kid is older, and I will finally get my chance to own a Cobra this year. - Bill -

Im 23 years old and have always liked old cars from the 60s.My first car was a 69 bug that I bought when I was 13 with money earned from my paper route.I drove it for a couple of days before I took it apart with the intention of restoring it. I didnt know much about cars back then (I now know why I kept rounding off bolts back then, vw=metric tools..duh) , and needless to say, the project overwhelmed me and I eventually got fed up with it and it sat in my driveway mocking me for a couple of months.A bunch of neighborhood teens rang my doorbell and offered to buy the car for $500 bucks and I accepted.1 week later I saw my car running in the streets, I asked the kid driving it how he got it running again,He said all it needed was a cheapo carb(I thought it was some type of ignition prob, I guess those left over parts I had when I tried to rebuild the carb were important...damn) I vowed from then on that no car repair will ever defeat me again...ten years later,I have self taught myself the art of auto repair.I have owned numerous disposable cars during high school but I fell in love with the ford engines when i bought a 1965 raven black mustang with a straight 6 when I was 16, the engine ran flawlessy for over 4 years of owning the car with an average of 20k miles a year.I have never seen such reliability in a motor before,I thought to myself if their straight 6s were this good I wonder what a v8 would be like...The v8 went in and I finally knew what I was missing...numerous mods later to my "low tech"65 stang, I started wondering what it would be like to own a later model 5.0 stang with fuel injection and an overdrive tranny, hmm...I know have a 90 isuzu pick up a 68 firebird and my stang collection an 87gt convertible stang an 89 gt hardtop and a fuel injected 5speed 1965 stang with modified suspension...Im now wondering what it would be like to own a fuel injected twin turbo'd light weight shelby cobra with super car handling, hopefully this doesnt become a pipedream, but I did promise myself 10 years ago that no car repair will ever defeat me again.

Any new members care to add to this thread?

Thanks!

Neal

I just got my Cobra 2 weeks ago. I had been looking for months. For me it is a combination of mid life crisis and a desire to go fast. I'm going to be 44 in July.

I am 44 years old and has been a 20 year dream! Dreams can come true!!!

First shot at a Cobra, seventeen years old, living at home, going to school, saw wrecked Cobra in news paper, I was $1000 short ($3000), couldn't talk Dad into loaning me the difference, boy have we had some fun dinner conversations about the one that got away. Since then, MGA, MGB, Triumph Spitfire, TR4, TR6, Mini Coopers, Datsun 240Z and 280 Z, Porsche 924, Porsche 911, Jaguar XKE wt chevy 350 in it, and now finally a Cobra in the works, bought from private party, not sure what it is, had the money in my pocket and I could have it in my garage that day, so I jumped. Most beautiful Cobra I ever saw was shooting rockets into the jungle about 500 yards in front of us. Wayne, 51

I was bitten over twenty years ago in Europe. Young kid from New York and saw my first AC while stationed in Germany. Had no idea what it was, but I knew that I had to have one. About ten years ago, coming back from another (25 yrs, Army) overseas assignment , now very aware of the complete Cobra story, I visited Unique and almost wrote a check. Since I was still moving around, no Cobra. I retired last year and told my wife that it was time. Took delivery of my Midstates in January. I plan on slow and easy. (Yeah, right! allotted two years for the project, lack about six months before paint.) By the way almost 43.
Carl Felix
Frankfort, Kentucky (Yes, New Yorker who calls Ky home!)

I'm 52, but on me it looks good!

After 10 years of restoring old Corvettes, I have seen the light. No more crumbling 35 year old fiberglass. No more parts that are more rust than steel. No more searching for NOS parts with the correct date code.

Well, I'm the baby of the group at 22 I suppose. Then again, I don't even own a Cobra.... yet.

I've wanted a Cobra for 10+ years, ever since my father and I visited the Contemporary Classic's shop in Mamaroneck, NY. Well, now that I'm out of college, have a good job, and not much of anything to hold me down, I'm thinking about getting that Cobra. My girlfriend/fiance is oddly supportive - good, as I'd have a hard time deciding between her and a Cobra

Carl, I think I've got you beat! I'm a New Yorker, born and raised. I've lived in Nashville for the past 4 years and I'm about to move to Houston. Ouch!

Sincerely,
Aaron

Was hot on the 68 - 72 Corvette during those years. Had 2. Didn't really know what a Cobra was until one blew away my '72 LT-1 one evening. Of course it was an original. I was hooked. Now some 27 years later I have a fake and feel great. And... only one year B-4 my 50th.

Now I won't have to go thru the mid-life thing... beat it to the punch.

I have had Cobra fever since I was a little girl. Dad was a bow-tie man but I loved anything with that much brute hp and that great looking body (289 FIA and 427).

Husband rekindled the flame by mentioning he really wanted to build one when we were both 28. FFR1049 arrived May of 96' and was on the road in 3 months. Since then we have autocrossed it (husband was 2nd place Rookie of the Year in FFR1046), open track raced and most recently drag raced. And, YES I race it too. He installed a Vortech S Trim SC in her this past spring and WOW what a rush! Won't be loosing Cobra fever for a long time.

OOPS, meant to type FFR1046, not 1049. Hey, where did the edit message button go?

I am 34 and was biten by snake just a few years ago. I have been working on cars for about 11 years, but was never really interested in building one until I saw a Cobra replicar in my area here. Since then I've been getting every Ford magazine available and Kit car magazine around, gathering information. I just recently bought Eccential AC Cobra,(can't remeber the author). And oh boy the fire is lit. The pieces parts are starting to gather, and better yet the wife support is there also, despite the fact she wants a 3000GT.
Still researching the actual kits to find just the right one for that fateful day! The only other fateful day was the day I married my wife. How lucky was I!!

According to my figures the average age is 41.5 years. But the stories have been incredible! I hope this thread never ends.

Thanks!

Scott S.

Traveller:
Did you take delivery of the C5? http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/3683/c45.jpg

wtcobra:
The memebers of the vette club are so self-absorbed in their own egos that they wouldn't even notice a Ford powered vette in their midst...lol They will notice when I smoke their doors on the autocross track though.

Dear DrivinWest, read my thread about "Texas - Hot & Muggy", and don't move there!!!! But if you don't listen to common sense and do move there, think long and hard about driving an un-air conditioned, un-roofed, heat-absorbing aluminum interior after you get a taste of the wonderful Texas weather!!!! Ciao!

I am new to Club Cobra & it looks like I'm
one of the oldest...I'll be 61 in Aug. I'm a
retired Mech Engr & have built cars all my
adault life(mainly streetrods). When I retired I built a retirement home in St. Cloud Fl. w/a 5 car garage.I put a hydr.lift
in one of the stalls & purchased new mig
& tig welder along w/a 10 hp air compressor.
I ordered a E-M kit June 7th with a Must II
front & a coilover rear(subject to change)
It will be their new King Cobra(6"longer).
I think I will have a blast building & driving it.......cheers Don

I am 45. I saw my first Cobra sitting on the Ford showroom floor in 1965 in Arlington, VA for $6000 new and I was hooked. Saw them race at Daytona that year too.

Building an F5R now but will have a real one before I am 50 if this stock market keeps up.


Steve
#1550

Here's my story:

It was back in '86 when my father took the family to British Columbia, Canada. We were driving the "sleeper" midsized family sedan - a 1983 BMW, It was a race-prepped-inline-six, turbo charged and intercooled by BAE in Torrance, CA. with 16" rims and, Suspension Technics suspension all the way around, cross-drilled rotors, adjustable engine management system, etc...it was a 12 second FAMILY FOUR DOOR in street tires even with air conditioning. Off the line or on the Hwy, where "turbo-assist" helps even more, I never lost a race (call me lucky). NOS...no problem....they could only race till there bottle ran dry...and from the start....I had NO problem hooking up the rubber...

I was at a stop light (my parents wereback at the hotel sleeping) when a red 427 Cobra pulled up slowly from behind me. I remember seeing a 427 emblem and black stove pipe painted sidepipes...and that was it. I'm sure I would of given him a run for his money.....after all, we were at a stop light.....in the street and not on the strip...the battle was more like who can hook up the tires first....except I just sat there looking at the curves, listening to the engine as the sound flowed out through the pipes. Up until then, I only heard stories and seen pictures of 427 Cobras. I guess you can say I lost the race right there....(100% intimidation)...because we just rolled through the intersection and then rolled through two more stop lights...finally I figured I'd catch him by surprise. So at about 15 mph I hit the gas....and I was off like a bolt of lighting and I figured he wouldn't catch me...by the time he realized what was happening our family four door would be way ahead of him. I WAS WRONG...HE PASSED ME SIDEWAYS as he was shifting into 4th. Real or replica....I wanted one after that!

In '89 I bought my Cobra kit....one year later....I was flat broke....so I decided to put into storage....now it is '99 and I am scraping enough money to buy all my parts at once...I'm 32 years old and I plan to give myself a b-day present next year come April.

[This message has been edited by Robert Duran (edited 06-21-1999).]

Robert,
Great Story!
Do remember if the Cobra was yellow with black stripes? Hm...... maybe it was Enzo

roger