Real Cobras, Real Roads, Real Fun

[Jim Maxwell]

My wife and I had a wonderful time, putting over 600 miles on CSX 3288 over the 4 days of the event. My brother, Ed, who owned CSX 2306 as a younger man, drove CSX 2401 with his wife, Nancy. I drove from home to the mountains, 2 days of great mountain roads and no traffic, and a smooth trip home with not a single hitch(if you don't count the minor coolant leak from a not tight enough hose clamp due to the emergency water pump replacement one day before the event). Fortunately, NAPA had the rebuilt pump in stock, and almost the correct date code to boot! Only two of the original cars, each at least 40 years old, pooped out, one with carb problems, and the other from a rear brake fire due to a seized emergency brake caliper. The weather was absolutely perfect (Jay Bentley, we missed you-no rain this year!). The roads around Blowing Rock are second to none for fun and beauty. We did the Tail of the Dragon last year and Hwy 221 south from Blowing Rock is even better, in my opinion. (Just don't get stuck behind a gutter manufacturing truck for several miles!) The ride to the top of Grandfather Mountain was spectacular. A famous hillclimb race was held there for years and after the trip up and down, you can see why! New Cobras would have probably been more reliable, but it was awesome to get the owners of 10 originals to actually use their cars as Shelby intended. Good for them! No trailer queens here. Two of the cars had actually recently undergone Concours restorations for the Amelia Island Concours de Elegance, but now that the show was over, it was time to put the pedal to the metal, and they did!
By the way, Tom Cotter, owner of CSX 2490, a wonderful original 289, and co-sponsor of the Cobra Moonshine Tour, is now the co-chairman for the Amelia Island Concours, held for charity every March (second weekend) at Amelia Island, Florida.The 2008 event will feature Trans-Am. I am sure that most Club Cobra members remember the Trans-Am series and the Mustangs, Cougars, Javelins and Cameros that battled head to head, with superstar drivers like Mark Donahue, Parnelli Jones and Dan Gurney going at it each weekend around the country. I went from Louisville as a teenager to watch the races at Mid Ohio. What a treat! Can-Am, Trans-Am, and my favorite part, the Cobra enclave at the spectator area in 1969-70. I loved them then as much as I do now. I just wish I had bought a few of them then!