The end of my Cobra - it's being deregistered

[750hp]

Originally posted by Rebel1


I do feel for Craig. Not because of what has happened as I'm sure he realised it was just a matter of time and he was living on borrowed time. It is the manner in which it happened that I find underhanded.

Exactly my thoughts. The end goal was a car that accelerated well, stopped exceptionally well, sounded like any Cobra should, and looked good driving down the road. I got what I wanted, but my choices in getting there were aways going to make it a bit of a target. I always figured that a reasonable cop might see it go past and while thinking it's a bit louder than most cars - it's to be expected from this type of sports car. You know the cliches - Harleys are loud old dinosaurs ridden by murderous gang members, Jap bikers are all racers living on borrowed time, Ferraris are rich people's pose machines, WRX/Supra/GTR drivers are all drug-dealing Lebanese teenage "hoons", just as Cobra owners are middle age guys driving around in their rumbling machines remembering the 60s road / race sports car era. Common sense dictates that the perception of all above road users is almost always incorrect, but it still seems to be what authorities perceive to be the case. Be that as it may, I think I've always felt that Cobras have had a bit of an easy ride with police, and I genuinely thought that a policeman pulling over a Cobra would allow the car to be a little bit loud, etc. That might still be the case, but it's hard to reason with a letter posted to me after the fact. It's hard to stand on the roadside and explain why the car is the way it is, and even offer them a ride in the car. That might now be a problem in that it might allow - heaven forbid - a bit of discretion. What might their policies and procedures tell them to do if they found that I was a normal, well adjusted citizen with a clear conscience, no criminal record, and a fanatical interest in all things mechanical. What if I told them that my illegal Wilwood braking system works with such efficiency that while it outperforms any production car under $300,000, it just hasn't been tested by the Australian Government. How about the illegal Motec M800 engine management system that has been privately proven to be more fuel efficient than Ford factory systems, just that Motec haven't spent the money for the official approval. The guys at the Inspection Station are not going to be interested in a chat. They have no interest in anything other than the black and white reality of the ADR rulebook, and for that reason I have absolutely no chance of getting a break. It will be cheaper for me to build a new car from scratch than to modify (unmodify?) this one.