Why do you own a Cobra?

[Excaliber]

So I could 'burn rubber', thats it in a nut shell. Little bit of rain today, took a drive, loved spinning the tires in 2nd gear and feeling the back end 'walk around' and slip sideways. Ye Haw, these things are so much fun!

[Alan G Davies]

Hello Club Cobra members

My car is a DAX kit, I bought it from the factory in U.K. in 1985.
With many mods to the chasis & cash flow problems it took 15 years to register for road use, one day I may finish it, but it goes well & is driven often.
I compete at club track days and gymkhanas once or twice a year.
It has Jag suspension & at the moment is in my garage, I'm putting new lower wishbone bushes in the front suspension. the engine is a standard Ford wndsor 302 (I need more HP).
My wife doesn't like it much, but she sometimes goes out for breakfast with me on a nice spring morning. It's spring now so I had better get moving on the front end work.
We live in the state of Victoria in Frankston which is a southern suburb of city of Melbourne and I am a member of the Victorian Cobra car club.
I look forward to your response.
Alan G Davies

[FST FOX]

Originally Posted by Madmiles442

Good thread Patrick,

I had the Cobra cutaway poster in my room in high school. Everyone else wanted a Ferrari 308 or a BMW M1, I just wanted a Cobra.
I bought mine to fulfill one of my Dad's dreams that he never got to realize before he passed to the next plane.

Fsstnotch - I've also always wanted a Boss 429 Stang and a Pantera. No time soon. But you gotta keep a list, right?

I always try to add a good thread from time to time and I think this gets into the hearts and minds of every member on here, enjoyed all the stories everyone has posted

[Naumoff]

Originally Posted by lineslinger

I want to own one so I can fight all the dudesbabes off walking by that will think I am cool and want to jump into the passenger side and go for a ride molest me.

Fixed it for you.

[BDHE]

FST FOX;

I didn't vote -- I couldn't because there's no single answer that's correct for us. I'd have to check ALL of the boxes to answer this question completely! Because you know what, this is the ONLY car that does it all.

Now, how many cars can THAT be said about.


Bryon

[acecob]

I just love parking next to my brothers Ferrari and watching all the attention towards the cobra, its as if the Ferrari isn't there.
That says it all !

[jdog]

It was while walking by the local Ford dealership in LA one summers day in 1968 that I was to first see what has become a passion in my life; a cobra!
There in the window for all to see was the most decadent thing I had ever seen, an all black 427 cobra! It looked like "Darth Vader". the baddest car killing machine in the universe!
A few years later while hitch-hiking along PCH Pacific Coast Highway (please don't tell my mother) I was given a ride in a 289. It is by that 10 min ride & the above mentioned image, that all other cars in my life have been judged.
I've had a Porsche turbo and a few other fast cars, they were all just substitutes for my Cobra. This is the pinnacle for me, there's nothing 'up' from here.

jdog
P.S. Still looks like Darth Vader to me!

[Allan A]

So I could pass J Dog!

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Originally Posted by jdog

It was while walking by the local Ford dealership in LA one summers day in 1968 that I was to first see what has become a passion in my life; a cobra!
There in the window for all to see was the most decadent thing I had ever seen, an all black 427 cobra! It looked like "Darth Vader". the baddest car killing machine in the universe!
A few years later while hitch-hiking along PCH Pacific Coast Highway (please don't tell my mother) I was given a ride in a 289. It is by that 10 min ride & the above mentioned image, that all other cars in my life have been judged.
I've had a Porsche turbo and a few other fast cars, they were all just substitutes for my Cobra. This is the pinnacle for me, there's nothing 'up' from here.

jdog
P.S. Still looks like Darth Vader to me!

JDog says it all! This thing has been in the back of my mind since '66. Now it's here and it's black. Another month or so and it'll be up & runnin'. Absolutely the dream of a lifetime.

[Badsnake427]

I think Hal says it best.

"If you want to just gas and go, and never have to worry about replacing an alternator, or snugging down the header bolts, or getting a wet leg driving in a rainstorm, or learning how to set your carb float level, or driving in traffic on a warm winter day with "winter gas" in the tank, get a Corvette. With a Cobra you have to remind yourself that you are driving a hand made race car on the street. There is no compromise for anything other than pure speed. These cars are brutal and unforgiving, with all the refinement of a medieval battle axe. Like being in a relationship with an exotic dancer, you can never take anything for granted. These cars don't have millions of miles of testing refinement before you get yours. For any trip longer than an hour, you need earplugs, and goggles, and carry Advil and eye drops. You will need to learn to "read" the clouds for rain in your path, and have experience in unwrapping your frozen fingers from the MotoLita. You will experience lady passengers "wetting" the passenger seat when you merge into traffic from an on ramp, and then nearly burn their calf getting out of the car. You will have all the invisibility of a burning Hindenburg, and flee from underground parking lots when uncountable car alarms are screaming your departure. When you shop, you will remind yourself that these cars get more attention than a dead body in a parking lot. With a power to weight ratio better than almost every supercar, you will find your 1/4 mile times, traction, rather than power limited. On the other hand, when you stage, out of the corner of your helmet's visor you will see almost the entire audience lining up at the fence, most with cameras up. If you track on a road course with a Porsche club, owners of expensive German machines will come to the fence to watch you power out in smoking oversteer. You won't even try to start your engine in the garage, but push it out onto the driveway, else your loyal watch dog will croak from the exhaust fumes. If you idle next to other "sports" cars at a traffic light, by the green, their girlfriend will be coughing green phlegm into her hanky, yelling at her date to just go! When you refuel, you might as well prop the "bonnet" open, because you are going to have to show your motor to just about every other guy there. When you order your wings at Hooters, your waitress will whisper in you ear, "take me for a ride." When you stop at the red light, the girl in the convertible next to you will invite you to "take my top off too." When you slowly pass a troop of Harley riders, they will look over and give you thumbs up. When you want to ease out into traffic, other cars will immediately pause to let you go ahead of them. When your engine has its hot, crackling, intimidating exhause sidepipe aimed right at the flank of the GTO, or the Z28, your exhaust pulsation's slowly unscrewing his lug nuts, the other car will remain motionless, as if the slightest quiver of his car will cause your car to stomp it dead. When you leave it open in a parking lot, and come back to find your sunglasses and cell phone still sitting on the tunnel, it is because you car has sullenly warned those who came over to admire it "touch me and I will rise up here and kill you dead." When you put that tiny silver key into the ignition, and begin your start countdown, you car will whisper, "take me for granted, and I will kill you." When other drivers just hop in and snap up their belts while backing out of their parking space, you will still have two more minutes before you even get all the Simpson's properly on and snugged down. Pulling up in a Cobra is like landing an F4U at an ultralite convention. In summary, very, very few drivers want this kind of attention, or can tolerate all that a formidable Cobra demands. These cars are intolerant mistresses. But remember, there will come a day when you have to hang up your keys for the last time. And perhaps you want to say then, "I did it."

[Dwight]

FST FOX;

I didn't vote -- I couldn't because there's no single answer that's correct for us. I'd have to check ALL of the boxes to answer this question completely! Because you know what, this is the ONLY car that does it all.

Now, how many cars can THAT be said about.


Bryon

DITTO
Thanks BADSNAKE for posting Hal comments, this time I copied it.
Dwight

[Smoking Cobra]

Have loved Cobra's since i owned my Boss 302. One day in the late 70's saw a black cobra on the side of the road with hood open. It was an original 427 with a rich guy trying to figure out what was wrong using a pay phone to his mechanic.
I had figured it out, just a loose bolt in the throttle connection which i offered to fix. The owner mentioned it was a aluminum body so please dont lean on it. DAH!
Fixed it in a minute and he said thanks, What do i owe you- nothing i said but a quick ride!
I would never forget that ride, sideways thru most of the gears! And awesome noise!
I decided then i would someday own one.
joeg

[rollinggeorge]

Summers we lived at our Grandparents, as rent was free.
I believe the year to be ..64.
Each day 2 cobras passed, I'd hear the roar.
Both parked at the end of the street I did see.
I decided a Cobra driver I wanted to be.

As I grew older I bought a ..65 GTO Goat.
It was stolen as all were in our home town.
I gave up cars and surfed instead being down.
Got hungry and worked and bought a boat.
Decided I'd rather ride Highways than float.

Got my first bike my mother's worst fear.
Drove a ..67 Vette, top down, surfboard sticking out
The sidepipes were loud to hear you must shout.
Still ride bikes and like to drink beer.
Thank GOD poor Mom does not now shed a tear.

Dad has now died and my hair is now "blonder".
He was the cuss that showed me the light.
"If you want things in life you must learn how to fight."
Cobra dreams are now getting fonder.
I'd best get one now before I pass yonder.

I bought a COBRA so I can drive fast, irritate the neighbors, water my redneck roots, work on it, cuss at it, Bust my knuckles, kick the tires,
Grin ear to ear.........and stay FOREVER YOUNG

[A-Snake]

The following was posted by “What’sa Cobra” some time ago. I liked it so much I've saved it for future reference. It both described a Cobra and why to own one.

“They are fun and easy to like; though they are, for sure, not for everybody. Kind of funky and a strong statement about iconoclastic preferences. No door handles, big noise, plenty of heat, wind and all.

Particularly after driving them for over 40 years, they bring a kind of tense relaxation when you get it out to take a dribble down the road. There is a special Cobraness in all of them, even the worst, that is easy for us to identify; even though others just simply don't get it and never will.

It brings to mind a certain way of living, a certain respect for a particular set of styles that combine to create both the picture and thrill of toupee-blowing draftyness and edgy performance that is very hard to clarify and reproduce in words. It is a tactile thingy that stirs some nerve that runs from our foot balls to groin to the tip of our fingers that than surprises the brain and senses and they yell for more.

We can only take so much at a time, because the adrenalin does exhaust our energy, but we always come back for more in a never satisfied cycle of that's-enough’s and i-need-some-more's.

Each trip promises us a new set of experiences, but in a familiar way. It helps if you like to futz with it from time to time to get something to work better or at least quicker.

But, some just want the beastie to start and drive away. Reliability is one of the Cobras very strong suits, given its US grade engine/tranny systems; particularly compared to most contemporary European sportscars of the day.

But, for those with something strange and unfathomable in their blood, they are easy to like, wharts and all. I’ve been in and out of a dozen or so, I suppose, over the years and still keep coming back.

Perhaps the 11th commandment might have been, thou shalt not have to live without at least one Cobra.”

What’sa Cobra

[boblyon1]

Thought it was familiar

http://cobra4me.com/

[Badsnake427]

Originally Posted by Dwight

DITTO
Thanks BADSNAKE for posting Hal comments, this time I copied it.
Dwight

No problem Dwight, I have always liked what Hal had to say about the Cobra. Pretty much sums it up, perfectly!

[Fred Douglass]

Three basic reasons: 1) I saw one at Tasca Ford in Providumps, R. I., 2) I saw them race at the Glen and 3) I saw (and reaad) that famous HOT ROD magazine article in July, 1980 (?). That did it. Then I waited 20+ years. Made it all the sweeter.

[boblyon1]

What famous article from 1980? Anyone have a link or info? Thanks.

[uponashelf]

I love the car for its raw beauty. I saw one at a Ford dealer with my dad when I was 7 yrs old, he was buying a new truck, and I was in the show room drooling over this little sports car with the big american V-8. I ran outside and begged my dad to buy the Cobra. I couldn't persuade him to buy the Cobra, but the owner of the dealership was my dads best friend and he let my dad take me for a ride in the Cobra. To this day I will never forget that ride.

[SkipB]

I was leaving campus on my first week in college when an all black Cobra blew by me like I was standing still. Up until then I was a Corvette fan, as I rode to high school almost everyday in a friend's '66 Vette. That single event of seeing a "real" Cobra etched itself into my memory. I promised to someday own one, if possible. After many cars in my life, the image of the Cobra surfaced one day in 2003. I knew what I had to do and started searching for a Cobra. Unable to afford a Shelby, I looked for my favorite replica. I wavered between a Superformance and a Backdraft. Backdraft won out and I was able to order it in all black, just like the car I saw in 1968. BTW, the car I saw back then belonged to another student. He drove to school everyday for almost two weeks before wrapping it around a big tree and totaling it! I almost cried when I saw what was left of it. Thinking back, who would give a 427 Cobra to a college freshman? Someone with much more money than sense!

Skip B