Cobra Owner Wannabe

[Cashburn]

Originally Posted by Pelledan

Hopefully I’ll once again be able to post. I don’t know what is limiting me and I have not heard back from this website administrators. There have been a number of responses and I do appreciate each one. There have been responses that alluded that I may be better off with a Camaro or a Corvette rather than a Cobra. Cobra’s are in a class by themselves and therein lies a portion of their appeal to me. There is nothing else like them on the road where Camaro’s and Corvette’s are plentiful and in comparison, they are simply just another automobile. Granted a mass-produced product is embellished with every comfort feature known to man where the Cobra’s creature features are at best utilitarian and austere. It’s not a practical mode of transportation for every day travel, but neither is a motorcycle as it too has its use limitations. In our younger years the wife and I logged over 100K miles on two wheels before we gave up the sport 5 years ago. Some of you refer to Cobra ownership as a hobby and that leads me to believe that a good amount of your time is spent working on it rather than enjoying driving it. I don’t know the reasoning for that, but I hope to avoid the need to wrench on it. Should it require some out of the ordinary maintenance or repair I would enlist the skills of a duly qualified mechanic who is familiar with this type of vehicle. In reading this entire thread I would probably be best off buying a new Superformance but a new one is beyond my financial comfort zone. I will need to continue to look for as late a build year as possible (and affordable) whose color and engine choice is to my liking. I have sat in a Superformance and I fit well, so personal fitment is of no concern. I have both time and the patients required to find what I’m looking for and now that I am aware of what needs to be sorted out, I’ll know what to look for should one come to my attention.
Thanks, Dan

Depending on your budget a new Backdraft might be an option?

[patrickt]

I see that ERA #532 is for sale on cobra country. Beautiful car with a very nice FE under the hood. It looks to be built in 2001, and while it does not have the newest mods (those started with #731), it would be a wonderful car to own and you would certainly enjoy it. It's likely nicely sorted out now and would probably require minimal maintenance. The price is reasonable at $80k.

[Pelledan]

Thank you for your suggestions of available Cobras. I'm still in a quandary regarding which way is best for me choose a manufacturer. Many companies will and have supplied kits for the owner to assemble and I see that some owners pass that kit along to a builder that assembles the car. This concerns me as that process is rife for problems, literally down the road. How many cars does this builder assemble in a year? This question is pertinent to all like builders of these cars. Do they do 5, 10, 20 in a year? Plus there are many of these companies throughout the country that do this. Due to the very low volume, I see this as a process where the final product could have many issues. Superformance builds the rolling chassis complete. To me that means the same employees build the same rolling assemblies in a given year. Unless their employment office is a revolving door, I would think that the finished product was assembled by a group of individuals well experienced in the process. To me that translates to a far lower potential of issues at the retail level. Is there such a thing a quality control is Cobra builds, or are they just assembled and out the door they go?

Thanks again, Dan

[patrickt]

An absolutely complete 100% turnkey from one of the major names will have less issues than a car assembled by anyone else, generally speaking. A roller from one of those companies, with the drive train dropped in by one of the well-known assemblers, will have less issues as well. A turnkey, or a well-assembled roller, owned by a Cobra fanatic, with about 5000 miles or so on it, and who must now let her go because of financial or health reasons, will have the fewest issues of all. That said, if you're going to drop 50, 75, or a hundred grand on one of these toys, you should pay to have the car professionally checked out. There are crooks in this hobby, and if you get duped in to buying a flood car, or one with a "beautiful" FE that needs a rebuild, you're going to be angry. It won't be the end of the world, but it will put a pall on your purchase.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by patrickt

An absolutely complete 100% turnkey from one of the major names will have less issues than a car assembled by anyone else, generally speaking. A roller from one of those companies, with the drive train dropped in by one of the well-known assemblers, will have less issues as well. A turnkey, or a well-assembled roller, owned by a Cobra fanatic, with about 5000 miles or so on it, and who must now let her go because of financial or health reasons, will have the fewest issues of all. That said, if you're going to drop 50, 75, or a hundred grand on one of these toys, you should pay to have the car professionally checked out. There are crooks in this hobby, and if you get duped in to buying a flood car, or one with a "beautiful" FE that needs a rebuild, you're going to be angry. It won't be the end of the world, but it will put a pall on your purchase.

What he says.

Buying a roller will give you huge piece of mind. Many self-built cars are wonderful cars, but finding one and verifying that it is soundly built and won't cost you an arm and leg to make it work make a roller with a professionally installed drivetrain worth alot.

The same applies to buying a new roller and getting the power train installed. I've never met a Cobra owner that didn't have some "sorting out" time, and if you're not patient and close to your builder/installer or a tinkerer yourself it can be a trying experience. 5K miles might be on the high side from an experienced installer, but there will be some downtime. That's why a used already done car with a good pre-purchase inspection is worth it.

[Dominik]

I would buy one from a dealer you can trust (...) or a workshop that you know.

For specifications (In the last 30 years I drove about 50 Cobra Replicas, one original, and owned a dozen): A mild cam, big cube motor (as mentioned before) with rear exhaust is what I consider next. And moving to the mountains outside La Canada to have fun with it.

A 680 hp, lumpy idle 496 cui was nice, but I found myself more often driving my lady's 911 automatic convertible than the Cobra.

Plan to work a bit on it yourself. You don't want downtime just because a water hose popped.
Or the headers came loose.

[Pelledan]

Once again I appreciate everyone's input. This forum is amazing in many respects. The thought of buying new gives me the best warm and fuzzy feelings but in reality I'd rather buy used as that would best fit my finances. However as pointed out, used poses concerns. How was it driven? How was it maintained? Who did the repairs? Does the current owner have all documentation for repairs and maintenance since new? Some people are fastidious about maintaining this level of documentation while others are not. It would be the latter I would worry about since that would lead me to believe that something is intentionally being obscured rather then just a case of sloppy records keeping. You bring up good points about being within hailing distance of the dealer and power train installer. I live 35 miles S/W of Chicago and the Superformance dealer I am closest too is in Ohio about 300 miles from me. Whether I buy new (fairly unlikely) or used, any repairs beyond my abilities would require a field trip to their location unless I find a reputable establishment nearer to me. As far as engines go, I'd be happy with a mild cam 402 (Roush). A monster cam in a monster displacement engine is not appealing as I really wouldn't enjoy being stopped in traffic idling in a car that feels like it's still moving along a washboard road.
One more question to those in the know. I see many used Superformance Cobras that are titled as 1965's but their advertisements give no indication of their actual build year. Is there any way that the build year can be gleaned from their serial number?
Thanks again,
Dan