cobras and a sense of history
 

everybody told me i was nuts. no roof, no a/c, no radio. those were the exact things i loved about these cars. as raw as you can get it. i bought my
kirkham because it was as close to original as reasonable money could get.
i was 5 years old when real cobras were winning races. when i look at mine
i think about that group of guys, 40 plus years ago, who made the mold for what we see today. a few years ago we went to lemans, just being there
thinking about shelby and his guys winning was incredible. now i'm going
to sit in my car...

your tale reminds me of my first wife
 

Poorly thought that one out. Lost everything, not to mention about four years of my life. Ran off with a lawyer when i was in Vietnam.

As for the Cobra thing: i wanted one for most of my life. My particular Replica has given me and my son more memories than we could ever hope to have had any other way. I drive it just about every day. I get soaked, sweated, dripped on, sunburnt, smell of exhaust, and have spent a fortune on upgrades and modifications.

But then i don't boat/fish/hunt/golf/etc, all i have time for is my interest in cars, esp the one in my garage.

Some day i will have to hang up my keys. I want to walk into the sunset knowing i did it.

My first wife i think has been married since about 6 more times. Some relationships are doomed to certain failure. As was yours with your Replica.

Either one wants the librarian with glasses, or the augmented exotic dancer. Both entail compromises.

Wish you well, sincerely,

Sorry, but I have to agree. I've seen it happen with boats, cars, adventure vacations, etc. One needs to know what they are buying into, unless of course they can afford to just walk away from it.

It's really too bad that you had some bad experiences with the 3 Cobra replicas you had built. I'd have to agree with Patrickt that it all depends on who you surround yourself with in this industry. It's the Hot Rod industry and you've got the best people in the world and some of the worse, unfortunately. Luck just was not on your side.

I have personally built 3 Cobras myself and worked on dozens. They are all different and unique in their own way. You can have a Show Stopper Cobra or a Daily Driver, I've seen it all. But, it's the passion that the owners and newbies have for the car itself that drives us.

Yes, there are Cobras with problems. Nothing is perfect. It's a custom built automobile with high performance parts. And any Cobra owner can tell you that it's pretty easy to enjoy your Cobra a little too much, especially when it comes to the throttle. But, plain and simple, it's a Hot Rod. If you go to a classic car show and look at he rides you'll know what I mean. Or, if you've ever owned any other classic cars, you know what I mean.

For the newbies out there, don't let one bad experience ruin it for you. Ask around the Cobra community, go to Cobra gatherings, attend Cobra meets and you'll see that there are way more positives to this than negatives.

Finally, the depreciation in any automobile is going to depend on how inflated the original price begins with. Whether it is a new Suburban, Lexus, Corvette, or Cobra replica. But I can tell you, if you stay moderate in your building price, you will not loose as much as stated the first year, and the following years will not depreciate hardly at all.

By the way, didn't the C6 Corvette have thousands of recalls for the roof "flying off???" Just a thought about perfection. Great car, but it still has issues as everything else.

Thanks WildBill for the kudos on my Coupe, much appreciated...;)

Bests to all...

James

THANK YOU BOB!

The perfect equation

Its a frigg'n "Hobby" with wheels!

Rob - sorry for your misfortune.

But to me a Cobra is a sensory experience. Let's face it - there are plenty of new cars that can perform better - and have bumper to bumper warranties. But there are no new cars (including Vettes) that can deliver the sensory overload that a Cobra oozes - every mile. They are smelly, noisey, leaky, and a little dangerous AND the smiles per mile ratio far outperforms any other car.

Your whining is irritating. The first word that comes to mind is: metro-sexual.

I'm working on my 3rd cobra. The first two were a labor of love, the 3rd will be the same. It's called a hobby. Stop taking advise from your wife and your 3 year old (what does a 3 year old know! I bet if you asked him "Should daddy sell the cobra and buy you a truck load of chinese toys with free lead paint?" he would say yes.).

If it were up to my wife, I would be chained to her 'honey do' list. There would be no cobra. She pressed me one day to sell it, I told her she would go before the cobra did. The subject has not resurfaced.

My side oiler was built by an 'expert'. When it imploded, I didn't whine...I learned how to rebuild it myself. If you want a trouble free car, buy a Toyota. A cobra takes work but so does my yard.

Theology 101: God has much more to do in the world than make sure you are completely happy with your cars.

Y'all have to ask yourselves: why has this guy written this little essay? He is not a car guy. He was complaining about paint swirls in the CHASSIS?**). His dream is to be seen posing, not driving. He and his little kid have chosen an appropriate car, complete with air conditioning. He doesn't get it. Don't try to explain it to him. Just let him go away.

People definitely need to read what this guy shared and realize that there are two types of people who should own these cars:

People who can build them / work on them

or

People that have enough money to pay someone to do so without complaining about it.

If you are not willing or able to do one or the other then you are in over your head with these cars. Meanwhile, with God's good grace I will own a roadster, coupe, or GT40 until the day I die. The stares are not misplaced.

Thanks for your thoughts. It doesn't change what I believe a cobra to be. I do think in terms of value lost, these are kits, not the real thing. If you lost 30%, then I think you did fairly well given that is sounds like all the labor was farmed out. So what really happened is the hard parts kept their value, but the new owners were'nt willing to pay for the labor on your cars. Good luck with your Vettes, and thanks again for your input.
Glen

Yep thats the car I want. Look if you want a car that had a stat like 75% of original owners never made the third payment, you should know what you are getting into. As for more money than brains well, I'm building a modest car with a modern stock drive line from scratch for less than most kits would cost. Now that is not the norm but I want this car to be special to me I could give a crap what anybody else thinks of it. when it's done it should be all of the above, including bugs in teeth.
Patrick

What are you doing riding in one of these "Unsafe 600 HP 2100lb Race cars" with your 3 year old child? Is THAT being responsible?

I have what one would consider the "higher priced" models of the Cobra family of cars since most everyone on this site watched Gary's ads for CSX 4758 in the For Sale section. But I have been on all the fences rsimoes has talked about. I have been married to the same girl for 32 years tomorrow and she has "put up" with my car "thing" even before we were married. I built my '34 Ford Tudor with a complete '70 Vette running gear in her Mom's garage before we were married!!! We got married in that car and it was sold two years later as the down payment on the house we lived in for 30 of those 32 years. She cried as the dentist from Newport Beach and his family happily rode away from our rental in it. A month later we bought that first house.

I've owned 5 Corvettes (all new) since 1971, the last being a 2001 Convertible which I sold last month to help finance the Cobra. I'm a Vette guy...always liked them and owned them. A total Chevy fan and the new Vettes perform extremely well. But I always wanted to be a "Cobra Guy" since I saw that first one on Whittier Blvd in 1964. Now I am. And I couldn't be happier. There's just something about a 427 SO in a little two door roadster with loud side pipes that is viceral and unexplainable to us old drag racers and noise junkies.

It smells up the garage, it's hard to start, it leaks, it's incredibly loud, I've burned my leg three times (one really badly) and although it was a "complete" car, I've spent a lot in things I wanted to do already. And on some things I didn't want to do. There's not one week where the UPS man hasn't left me a present on the front porch.

These machines are crude and not for the faint of heart. If you don't do your own work, they can be very frustrating and expensive. If you do your own work, they can be very frustrating and expensive. I happen to love wrenching on these things and have broken out my tools I've owned since the '60's to play with this car. This is essentiallyl 60's technology with some modern "lessons learned" thrown in for good measure.
It was my wife who pushed me over the top to quit looking and talking and wishing about having one and I have her to thank for participating in the acquisition. She loves that I tinker around in the garage or on the web looking for help or something I want to get for the car to further make it my own. And we get to meet a lot of interesting people in our outings.

This is not an investment, but it is a satisfaction of something that is hard to describe, if one is like me in their late 50's who grew up with these *****in cars just out of reach from the time we were teenagers to the present. Well, I'm in. And I'm going to be in for a long time. I simply love this car and most of the folks I've met so far that in some way were connected with the sport or had an interest. It has to be something in your family that is not a necessity but a wish....and for a lot of us the wish has come true. I hope you find peace with your future decisions, and best wishes to you and your family.

Wow. Sorry for your troubles. I guess I was lucky. I got an 8 year old Factory Five Cobra, drove it 2500 miles back to California in 2 days, and have been driving it about 340 days a year for two years strait and love every minute of it with no problems at all. Good luck with your Corvette. -John

I sold my first Cobra (that I completely built with the exception of the paint on the topside and the stitching in the seats) because it was too comfortable, rode too nice, was not quite loud enough, was too refined, it was too heavy, did not beat you up, was not hot enough, and even with 450-500 horses, it was not enough power, did not have enough brake, was actually quite civilized and was too polished. In other words, it was unlike what I envisioned a Cobra was and should be. If you look at an original, they are far from 'perfect'. (and that is not to be taken as a negative, in fact that adds to their 'charm'). I hope to 'correct' all of these on my current build.

If you look up 'soul' in the dictionary, it say "emotional or intellectual energy or intensity esp. as revealed in a work of art". Cobras have 'soul', Z06 Corvettes (while being reasonably fine pieces of engineering) have NONE.

Decide what you want and then live with the consequences. Life is a series of trade-offs...you traded EMOTIONAL SATISFACTION for ENGINEERING RELIABILITY my friend, and dear me, when can we stop using an 'invisible friend' as justification for the decisions WE make in life?

New to Cobra world
 

Rob,

I am going to miss your posts on Club Cobra, and I am sorry for your bad experience with your cars. I am fairly new to Club Cobra, but I look forward every night in viewing and reading about the cars, their problems and the many answers and suggestions that come from Club Cobra members. This is a great source for information. I have been building cars all my life, I have owned many muscle cars including Corvettes. These cars rarely had power steering, air-conditioning or radial tires. They didn't drive the best down an old road, they followed the ruts, they rattled, they squeaked (especially Corvettes) and were extremely fast and fun to drive. In owning these types of cars you have to have a passion for them, and a mechanical knowledge of what you have. (not just knowledge) I am talking about hands on experience with building the project and being involved. That is what makes these cars so special. I too have seen your Kirkham on e-bay and the for sale section of Club Cobra. What a beautiful car, I don't think I have seen many that looked as good as yours.
Good luck with your new Corvette.

Neil

I think the title of this thread should be: "New to the Cobra world? This is how not to do it"

I have yet to see regularly driven eighteen year old unrestored Corvette deliver any where near the looks,the excitement ,crowd appeal and sheer driving pleasure that my 18 year old Cobra can!! And I will bet my car is still worth a whole lot more than an 89 Corvette.
My car has a stereo, heated seats and a soft top,and drives super smooth and fast. It is loud but......................That's why I have it!!!
I've blown the engine several times,and that sucks...but I built it,and I drove it, so guess who I blamed?
I would take my Cobra over a Corvette any day!!!

I think saying that saying the cobra is not what you thought it was (a race car) is just an excuse for your poor researching abilities! I myself, as well as every new guy I see post on club cobra always seem to ask similar questions and they're always given the "buyer beware" caution that "these ARE race cars! If you want A/C, power steering, and comfort, BUY A CORVETTE!"

YOur reasons for not liking the cobra... are my reasons for wanting one! haha

"More money than sense" pretty much sums it up... and "If you can stand the tuition, You learn more from mistakes than successes." Pretty much sums up your experience!

Enjoy your A/C!