Angry Reactions

[Russ Dickey]

Originally Posted by Mr Monster

There's been a lot of chatter of assaulting the vandal, but what can one really do? I mean, who wants to end up in the "system" over some dumba$$ that doesn't like your car? I often think what would I really do if I caught someone in the act. Sure, beating the crap out of them would be my first school of thought, but then the cops show up and haul me off for felony assault and he/she calls their attorney for damages to their face. So what do you do?

Monster:
Obviously, you call the cops and your insurance agent. However, to take the scenario out a bit, I would think that there would technically be criminal charges against both parties; him for criminal mischief and you for assault. So you agree to drop yours and he agrees to drop his and that's that. I guess he could still pursue it in civil court depending on how bad of a beating you gave him..

Or, you could just sue him for damages, then six months later, go to his house in the middle of the night and return the favor.

[Maricopa]

You're right, it's stupid to hit them right there in front of witnesses. Better to chain them behind the Cobra and drag them to someplace private to do the beating.

[wtm442]

You say ... "Thanks a lot, you _______ (insert swear words here). Immediately write down his/her license plate number and say out loud "I've got your license plate number, now I'm calling the police. Please leave so you can be arrested for "Hit & Run ... Make my Day ... Do You Feel Lucky?"

Then call the cops. If he/she does leave, just follow him/her at a safe distance without breaking any laws. That will really freak them out.

I once beeped at a guy that really cut me off (he did an illegal left turn from the middle lane) as I slammed on my breaks. About 1 mile later I pulled into a store. When I came out of the store he was parked a few cars away from me, and he said "What is your problem?" I said you cut me off. He gave me some lip so I said, "I know enough people ... I can just drop a quarter in the pay phone and you car and house will be in ashes tomorrow morning."

He did not say anything as I got into my car and left. He walked into the store and I pulled over and parked on the road where I could see his car in my rear view mirror. When he came out he sat in his car for 30 minutes as I watched him in his rear view mirror. He then started to leave and went back the way we came into the store, so I knew he was not driving home. I whipped a U - turn and started to follow him. Within a mile he had broken about 10 driving laws (I just followed him without breaking any laws).

I finally turned around and let him go. I'm sure he was ****ting bricks for a few days!

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by wtm442

"I know enough people ... I can just drop a quarter in the pay phone and you car and house will be in ashes tomorrow morning."

Warren, please...PUHLEEEZE forget any negative thought or comment I ever directed toward you.

-Dean

[Ron61]

Dean,

Warren has a book 3" thick full of names of people that he may someday decide have insulted him. I am sure that you could get your name out of THE BOOK for a donation of $100 dollars.

Ron

[MaSnaka]

About the most annoying thing I hear is...when asked the question, "is it real or a kit" and I reply proudly "it's a replica". They all seem to know someone with an original or sometimes even two originals. Who cares! I like my car and driving it is too much fun...I have had my picture taken while driving by others along the road, a guy in a nice vintage porche pulled up next to me and commented on what a nice car the cobra was and I said honestly it's a replica and I thought his car was nice and atleast real, he shook me off and said yours is nice. That made me feel good. One night I was perusing a parking lot to pick up dinner to go, I parked in the only availible space and a guy comes up to me and said he was willing to move his car so I could park mine, nice guy. People say the cobra must attract a lot of women, I tell them it's much more of a guy magnet than a babe catcher, true. I did overhear a woman say to someone I know, " is that your corvette over there?" That was pretty negative. No reports on vandalism though. Happy trails. John

[wtm442]

Dean - I know where you live.

Ron - 3 inch thick book would only hold this weeks insults!

Just went for a nice ride! Felt gooooooood

[cosbytnkid]

Originally Posted by speed220mph

Couldn't find a better and "funner" way of driving the PC, tree-hugging crowd nuts. Wonder how Al Gore would react to a ride in my very loud, gas-guzzling FE 427-powered Cobra?

Wouldn't surprise me if he didn't go off the deep end as is usual for him.

[Sharroll Celby]

He would definitely get a kick out of a ride in anyone's Cobra!

[wanna2be]

Originally Posted by Mr Monster

There's been a lot of chatter of assaulting the vandal, but what can one really do? I mean, who wants to end up in the "system" over some dumba$$ that doesn't like your car? I often think what would I really do if I caught someone in the act. Sure, beating the crap out of them would be my first school of thought, but then the cops show up and haul me off for felony assault and he/she calls their attorney for damages to their face. So what do you do?

In 1987 just after I took delivery of an 87 Yamaha FZR 750RT (destined for track use), a driver made a left in front me from the far right hand lane across five lanes of one-way traffic (I was in one of the center lanes). No signal, no other traffic than me. I literaly stood the bike on its nose to miss him as he angled into a strip mall parking lot.

Pissed off beyond words (I've lost several friends to cars) I followed him into the parking lot. He was still in his Suburban, just opening the door when I began kicking it. The first one nailed his foot between the door and body of the truck. After that, it closed and I kicked it until I worked the anger out of my system. An older guy that had seen what happened on the street then watched as I worked on my anger management issues came over and offered his assistance. I don't know what kind of assistance he meant, but he kept saying "that guy damn near killed you", over and over.

As I mounted the bike, the driver rolled down his window two or three inches and began cursing. I told him to get out and we'd settle the matter right now. When he didn't, I told him to remember me the next time he wanted to cut off a bike. Never heard a peep about it.

I'm not sure I'd assault someone for damaging the Cobra. Pissed yes. Maybe even to the point of losing my temper. Perhaps I'd just casually trash whatever POS they use for transportation and let them make the decision for me.

[Dangerous Doug]

With all the surveilance cameras in parking lots and cameras on cell phones, it's hard to imagine anyone being stupid enough to vandalize a car in a parking lot.

However, you can never overestimate human stupidity, can you?

Take pictures. Call the police. If they leave the scene it's a "hit and run" if they use their vehicle (banging their door against your car and scratching it).

I politely asked an older gentleman (loosely termed) to not bang the edge of his back door on the door handle of my Porsche. He said it was "just the door handle" and I told him I knew, but it bothered me anyway. I was nice about it. I turned my back to resume a conversation and they quickly drove off. I turned around to see a fresh, new dent in my front fender in the shape of a door edge. Too much time had passed, otherwise I would have chased them down and do the license number off the car. Bastard!

[spl310]

Originally Posted by Russ Dickey

Or, you could just sue him for damages, then six months later, go to his house in the middle of the night and return the favor.

While that is not bad, it can still get you in legal trouble if you get caught. Here are some better solutions:

Get some liquid Miracle Grow and put it in a pump up sprayer. In the evening, go to their house and proceed to write what you think of them in their front yard with the spray. Be neat - remember what your English teacher always said - neatness counts! In a few days, the grass where you sprayed will be darker green and taller - giving a nice relief text of your thoughts. Now, if he mows it, it will STILL stand out due to the extra greening from the nitrogen... Here is the best part - if a cop asks what you are doing, say that you had some left over fertilizer and that you thought you would help him out!!

If the goober does not have a remote for his car, some toothpicks snapped off in all of the door locks works nicely... Superglue does a nasty job too...

if his gas cap is accessible, find an old cigarette pack. Take off the cellophane and fill it half full with a sugar and sand mixture. close it like a garbage bag and use a rubber band to secure the top. Push it down into the filler neck with a stick. A few weeks later, he will get a nice surprise while driving one day! (make sure you wear rubber gloves for the full time during this project...)

stuff a few potatoes into his exhaust pipe - HARD!!

If his window is down, some cat poop and sardines tossed under the seat are a nice treat...

Again, if the window is down, some Deer in Estrus urine (in the hunting section at any sporting goods store) poured liberally into the air vents or put into a sprayer and sprayed into the carpet and headliner...

Except for the potatoe trick, most of these can be done without drawing attention to yourself.

[Andrew Teal]

Wow, guys there some great ideas on getting back at someone, When that guy ran the cart into the front of Cobra I was glad I wasn"t there as I a have short fuze when it comes to wrecking other people stuff. Russ I did not call the Cops or the Insurance Co. I just fixed it myself as I had built the car from the ground up. Its just a small % of people that due this kind of stuff.
For the most part it great to drive the Cobras and most people are giving you the thumbs up. The young kids get a kick out the Cobras. I"m not going to let one person ruin my day for very long.
Andy

[Roger Vincent]

Maybe I deserved this one, not sure. But an older guy at a car show got really angry because I have a Ford 427 emblem on the side of my car. (It has a 427 Windsor.) I explained it had been bored and stroked to the magic number, and he said, "Don't matter, it ain't no big block, and you should yank that damn thing off yer fender!" I think I was about to tell him to shove the emblem where the moon don't shine, but his son apologized for him and walked him away from my car. I have thougt about it sometimes; maybe he was right, but hell it is my car, not his.

Roger, SPF 2080

[Ron61]

A lot of really good ideas listed in the posts and when I had my Cobra I would have been really ticked if some of this had happened to me also. But I just tell myself no car is worth going to jail over as only the a** hole** have rights and we have none to defend our property. There are ways to settle things like this but I won't put them in a public post as every law enforcement officer and all the other people read them. No insults intended to the law enforcement people as I just want my Thoughts and ideas kept to myself. The sad thing is this happens to all new cars, not just Cobras. One of the dopers around here came by my house once when the garage door was open and stopped to yell at me about some old bastard like me should not be allowed to have a nice car when HE had to walk. It was easily settled and I have never seen him again.

Ron

[Burgs]

I know there is such a thing as a "citizen's arrest", but I'm not sure under what conditions. I would expect if you saw some one damage your car, you have the right to detain them, physically if necessary, until the authorities arrive. Detaining them physically, would not include beating the crap out of them unfortunately.

Along the payback lines without them knowing it was you, welding their car doors shut works well,... I've heard.

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by spl310

While that is not bad, it can still get you in legal trouble if you get caught. Here are some better solutions:

Get some liquid Miracle Grow and put it in a pump up sprayer. In the evening, go to their house and proceed to write what you think of them in their front yard with the spray. Be neat - remember what your English teacher always said - neatness counts! In a few days, the grass where you sprayed will be darker green and taller - giving a nice relief text of your thoughts. Now, if he mows it, it will STILL stand out due to the extra greening from the nitrogen...

Ahem...Roundup.

Makes a better statement IMHFO.

[BFBurk]

I never let my Cobra out of my sight.

Some of the things that have happened are people riding right up to your bumper to see the car better or trying to get you to race. I even had some people box me in so I could not pass on a four lane. I just ignored them and stayed with traffic until they got tired of boxing me in. I also had comments " I bet your daddy bought the car for you."

At a car show you have to watch carefully because kids are just fascinated with the car and want to touch it or run their hands down along the side.

I've always tried to hold the noise down around people to respect their privacy. I have tuna cans with holes in them pushed up in my sidepipes to reduce the noise. I drive reasonably whenever people are around and don't drive early in the morning or late at night. I think if you respect others you get more respect.

I am a tree hugger and would love a Prius and a Cobra. I don't think I am hurting the environment. I only put several hundred miles on my Cobra a year. I ride my bicycle almost everywhere I go and now take public transportation whenever I can. I also use compact fluorescents and recycle and do my own composting. I grow my own veggies and have a greenhouse to start seedlings and to heat my walk-in basement.

You can be a friend of the environment and have a Cobra too!!!

[REAL 1]

If you have something nice and especially if its expensive always keep a watch and don't assume everyone is respectful. Their not. There is always some envious a$$hole who takes pleasure out of damaging what he can't have. There is usually at least one in every crowd.

Even accidental damage can happen. "0oh, I'm sorry" doesn't cut it. They walk away and you're left with the expense of the repair and aggravation.

I always watch my car carefully and yes, I'm vocal about people getting too close. If they don't like it, TS. They can move on.

[tfalk]

Originally Posted by BFBurk

At a car show you have to watch carefully because kids are just fascinated with the car and want to touch it or run their hands down along the side.

You also have to be careful about the kids with parents who are clueless... I was at a car show
2 years ago with my Saleen convertible. I walked away for a few minutes and came back to
find a kid holding on to the steering wheel and jumping up and down on the seats while the
'proud parent' took his picture.

The parent didn't understand why I was more than a little pissed at him, not the kid...
He thought it was fine since no damage was done to the car.

While I'd have liked to remove him from the gene pool, it wasn't worth the trouble.