Your Occupation

[Dimis]

Where does coaching fit?

FWIW: In the big scheme of things, I think cobra ownership is in most part totally selfish!
But at the same time, why NOT spoil oneself? I can think of thousands of worse ways to spend my time, energy and the wife's money!

I've got to spend the wife's money else she'll waste it...
Coaches in the country don't get paid anywhere near enough, but its great "community service" and mentoring young aspiring minds.

Also, well said, and well done Ash!
(PS: I'm sorry to hear of your mates passing).

[WardL]

You might have included "retired"

[Ron61]

I worked as a R&D and computer tech for the old Bell Labs. Also worked on satellite and other related things in that field. Did some work on Nuclear stuff in the military. I tried for years to buy an original 289 Cobra just after they changed to the 427 body style but the people that had them then wouldn't part with one for any amount of money. I didn't want a 427 because they didn't handle that well I didn't think and there were several of setting on used car lots in the Los Angles area with very low miles. So I wound up with no original cobra and built my own to race.

Ron

[TheDoc]

Its great to read about everyones background and how they came to own their dream cars.

My dad is a boilermaker and built a DRB when I was 15. I collected all the memorabilia at the time and waited for weeks each month until the first weekend of each month when the QLD car club would meet at Sanctuary Cove when dad and I would drive out together. He couldn't afford to keep the car and sold it within a year much to my disappointment.

After becoming a doctor and moving back to the Gold Coast last year with my wife and kids I thought building my PACE427 with dad would be a great way to learn some workshop skills from him and spend more time together. Its been great so far spending half a day a fortnight working on it but he gives me a fair bit of **** about my soft hands or when I don't know the name of a part or certain tool.

I know guys at work with Aston Martins and Lambos but I wouldn't trade my cobra when finished for any of them.

[Tonus72]

Thanks for all the responses -

Hi Ward - you will have to talk to the Australian Bureau of statistics mate! I just copied them.
But I think they classify retired as an employment status - as in employed, unemployed, retired, etc

It seems to be a common thread that no one has the money lying around and you just 'have to make it happen'. I had a look at a GT40 replica a while ago and the guy that owned it told me 'you just have to make it happen'. That advice has stuck with me and hence the shed! Another step in that direction.

rms427 - good move back in 1968! Did your dad ever get a drive for co-signing??

Boxhead - no kids is a good move !!! I would not give back mine for the world, but I do wonder how much I would get for them on trade-in (??!)

Life is too short Towmaster - sorry for your loss.

[Modena]

I work in IT and do not manage any people so I chose "professionals". I make good money, and after paying all my family's living expenses there is not one cent left for anything as extravagant as a Cobra.

All of the Cobra has come from doing jobs on the side over many late nights. This would be different if I had chosen to wait another 10 years and clear mortgages first, but I wanted to live my dream for as long as possible, not put it off for as long as possible.

[Tonus72]

Originally Posted by Modena

I work in IT and do not manage any people so I chose "professionals". I make good money, and after paying all my family's living expenses there is not one cent left for anything as extravagant as a Cobra.

All of the Cobra has come from doing jobs on the side over many late nights. This would be different if I had chosen to wait another 10 years and clear mortgages first, but I wanted to live my dream for as long as possible, not put it off for as long as possible.

Does this sound like you Ben?

I hope so - because it includes "providing troubleshooting and service support in diagnosing, resolving and correcting problems" and I will be quizzing you a bit if I go the LS3 route like I am planning!

Tony




SUB-MAJOR GROUP 26 ICT PROFESSIONALS


ICT PROFESSIONALS perform analytical, conceptual and practical tasks which support the efficient and secure provision of information and communication technology (ICT) services to government, commercial and industrial organisations, and individuals.
Indicative Skill Level:
In Australia and New Zealand:

Most occupations in this sub-major group have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor degree or higher qualification. At least five years of relevant experience and/or relevant vendor certification may substitute for the formal qualification. In some instances relevant experience and/or on-the-job training may be required in addition to the formal qualification (ANZSCO Skill Level 1).

Tasks Include:
developing and documenting strategies, policies and procedures relating to the use of ICT technologies and services
planning, analysing, designing, developing, implementing, testing, operating, maintaining and assisting with the use of technologies and services that enable information, such as voice, image and data, to be accessed, networked, stored, processed, transformed, manipulated and transmitted over a variety of media
assessing the performance of ICT technologies and services, identifying limitations and inefficiencies, and recommending and implementing solutions
providing troubleshooting and service support in diagnosing, resolving and correcting problems associated with the use of ICT technologies and service

[Tenrocca]

School teacher here (although I was in IT till about half way through my build) and while it pays the bills it doesnt leave me flushed with cash. However it does allow me the time to do other stuff.

Always promised myself I would build a cobra one day if I "won the lottery". This came after missing out on winning the Ampol cobra all those years ago (1990?). I dont think Im alone there.

Similar to Ash, a loss of a family member far too young was a trigger for pursuing the cobra dream despite not really having the money to really do so. Was out driving with my eldest and we saw one on the road - she flipped out and I asked her if she wanted me to build one. Rest is history.

Funded much of the cobra by selling stuff on Ebay - mainly car parts and bits and pieces, not enough to make a fortune but I reckon I would have paid for it over the 10 years Ive been selling.

Now its "finished" and registered it sits in the garage with little time to really enjoy at the moment as Im balls deep in a big house reno - fortunately it includes a new garage and eventually a hoist. I did get to take first born to her year 12 formal last year in the cobra though - about 8 years after we saw that car together. She's all grown up now.

[eschaider]

It took me 43 years from the time I saw my first 427 SC in a Ford dealership 'til I got my SPF - and I wanted one, every one of those 43 years. I checked off professional, I am a financial advisor who helps people get retired and stay retired.


Ed

[Tonus72]

Ed - if the shares I bought in 2007 are ever worth anything (!?) I will have my Cobra I call the shares my 'cobra fund'. I am back to what they owe me now...

Tenrocca - my eldest daughter is 6. Do you reckon I will be ready for her formal? Hmmmmm....?

Ron - you were on the money back then - those 427's will never catch on. Pigs!!

[Tenrocca]

Originally Posted by Tonus72

Tenrocca - my eldest daughter is 6. Do you reckon I will be ready for her formal? Hmmmmm....?

Kit delivered Aug 2005, mostly finished Oct 2009, registered Mar 2013 (A few years waiting for RTA to sort stuff out). Did more K's on track and permits in those 3 years than a lot of registered cars.

You can bolt an AP cobra together in about 2 weeks apparently, so plenty of time

[Tonus72]

Good stuff Doc.

I think you might have been at AP with your dad when I first visited... June I think it was...

I am trying to talk my 6 yo into becoming a doctor - a backup plan in case my Cobra strategy does not work out!

My father is not into cars at all. You are lucky...

[RODA]

I am struggling to determine what my occupation actually is.
Started as an apprentice carpenter, then move onto contracting, that rolls into being a builder lots of staff etc. Then you wake up one morning and decide that this is not what you want to do for the rest of your life. You just want to go back to the stress free life and just work by yourself. Then you forget that wanted a stress free life, so you decide to expand your business, then it just expands and expands and your back to doing way to many hours a week. All that said the one thing that has not changed since the first time I saw a cobra when I was 14, was that I knew that at some stage in my life I was going to own one.
I had to wait till I was 46 till I finally get one, then another six years till I finished it. (actually I don't think they are ever finished they are always a work in progress). I don't think it matters what you do for a job. If you have a realistic passion for something, you will a find a way to get it. Having said all that I am happy to work the hours that I do (as we all do to enable us to finance our dreams) but you know when you take your cobra for a drive you know it has all been worth it.

Rod

[Tonus72]

Hi Rod - almost sounds like you are in management now...

And by the looks of the poll, so far, that is where I need to be

Tony

[just dreamin]

I think I was born to be a driver, first job at 16 was driving a delivery van, Joined the army at 18 to drive Armoured personnel carriers, drove local trucks and then went Melb-Perth for a while. got tired of that so towed a caravan around Oz for a change. More local work and then towed a caravan around Oz again (other Way) Did 3 road trips to Perth on dirt Nullabor in one year in an EH Holden. Drove the Tanami, Plenty, Cape York, Kimbely, Darwin and all other capital except Hobart. Must do that one day when I have some time.

[OnyxRider]

That same question my mother has stopped asking me. I thank God for an older brother who became a financial architect to hold everything together.

[d488y2]

My Current employment is with a large Engineering Company, my title there is E&I Designer. Currently I’m involved in Maintenance Upgrades, Engineering Improvement Mods and day to day fix ups for Water & Sewage Treatment plants. Some say……… it’s a 8hit of a job!
I started my working life as an Instrument Tech, did an apprenticeship, move into construction work then engineering where I’ve been for the last 20+ years.

I’ve been a car nut for as long as I can remember. As a kid if I wasn’t drawing cars I was building model cars or in the shed with dad helping him with his Speedway car. At one point I wanted to be a car designer. The dream to build a Cobra has only really come about in the last few years. I guess the seed was planted many years ago when as a kid I use to have nightmares about King Cobra Snakes!!!!!!
A lot of people ask me, “Why are you building a Cobra” my answer is “Why Not”

[Cobra01]

Hi Daniel

The real reason is because i CAN

Tonus asked me to post some photos so i will to try and get some more soon.

I am on 2 weeks holiday from Friday so i hope to spend lots of time working on my beauty.

Cheers

Brad

[Gav]

I am an electrical contractor/gas fitter in country Vic.

A lot of my costs are met by my very unreliable work car and scrap copper.

When I was in high school I can remember ringing Robnell one day when I was supposed to be sick and getting their brochures sent over. I have always been a GM guy but definitely still had a soft spot for a Cobra.
in the early 2000's I was on the lookout for a C3 Corvette, I was getting loads of magazines and buying up books on Amazon (as you do), anyway my wife was none too keen on the Vette's but spied a picture in one of the books of a C3 and a Cobra racing one another from back in the 60's, she said that the Cobra looked much nicer and that was something I should be looking to buy instead.

I have always been one to do as I am told

[leroy17]

This has been an interesting read.

like with most, the Cobra thing started young, when I was 14 and I remember the exact moment clearly.

I always wanted one however was side tracked with other cars, jet ski's, mountain bikes etc.... In 2008 myself and my wife, put our jobs on hold for a year, sold house and car and traveled the world for a year. During this time we met so many people and discussions went all over the place but the common responce was always about not putting things/wants/experiences off for later.... and to do them when you know you still can.

This led our travels to places which we had not planned on but thought 'why not'. Also let to starting a family rather than waiting for the right 'time' and then the purchase of a cobra. Whilst I always wanted to build... I didnt have the space... or paitence.... or ability without getting many experts involved. The more I have my cobra the more I realise that in the future I know exactly how I would like to have one.

With regards to time..... juggleing a 3 year old and life is not easy and I want to be a part of her upbringing rather than the dad who keeps saying... 'we'll do that later'. However on a weekend I will never be sitting watching cricket or football all day...... always doing something or working on the car. After all I have 'daddy's little mechanic'.... who is a great 'help'.

Oh... and as far as affording it.... other toys were sold to raise funds and also I dont have reckless spending. For example.. coffee drinkers who 'must' have a coffee or two a day.... 250 working days a year.. a $5 coffee a day... $1,250-...... I got better places to put that money.

Occupation... I am in banking... so yeah... I really should not encourage reckless car spending/investments.... but they are just so much freekin fun!