Why do you own a Cobra?

[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

[Fattyd]

Twenty-five +/- years ago I saw the movie Gumball Rally. Growing up in the 70's and 80's and being influenced with all the "cheese" car movies (no need to list them all) it was that movie that solidified for me that someday, somehow, no other sports car but a Cobra would do. "Well somethings get meaner as they get older". Great line!!

Well it took me a good part of the last 8 years of hard looking, and saving I might add, but I'm happy to say that I finally got mine and that I am fortunate enough to still have many years left to enjoy it. Probably the line I give people the most is... "Either you get it, or you don't". I think that line probably sums it up best for Cobra owners.

Great Thread, keep it up.

Mike.

[Sal Gerace]

My first car was a 1968 289 Mustang. I rebuilt the engine when I was 17 or so and had a fresh black paint job on it with all new chrome. I guess this was 1977 or 78. I gave the car to my brother when I needed a commuter car to get to my new job 60 miles away where I finally got an apartment and lived. Cars for about 20 years were just for transportation. Then my nephew got a 69 Mach 1 and asked me help him with it. At that point I realized what I was missing all those years. So I went and got a 67 390 convertable with a 3x2 setup. While searching all the Mustang parts magazines I would always see the Cobra in posters or books that the vendors were selling in the back of their magazines. I became curious. But I also have a memory of the Cobra from an old movie, which I believe was an Elvis flick.
The Cobras "look" had me immediatly interested so I looked at them some more. Through researching ( this site and CSX info.net)I found out this car had everything any 60 muscle car could have but oh so much more.
Let's see here's a 60's car with;
4 wheel disc brakes
4 wheel independant suspention
roll bar
hood scoops
brake cooling front and rear
diff oil cooler and engine oil cooler
electric fuel pumps
side pipes
500 hp engine
huge tires with these cool knockoff wheels
I was really interested now I thought! Then I went to a car show and saw my first Cobra in person. The owner started it up for me! I'll never forget that first startup. The sound was nothing I ever heard from any muscle car before. You just feel the car in your soul! A pulsating 500 hp side oiler through a set of sidepipes, there is just no other sound like it! Shortly after that I sold a property and I put in an order for my CSX4300.