Club Cobra - New to site, 1992 Unique FIA

My Cobra Story Buddy Rawls, Dec 2022

My love for Cobras started with the Hollywood Knights movie around 1981. I was fascinated by the mystique of the Cobra in that movie; the car to beat. Although not detailed in the movie, it was a big block car, a 427 or 428 FE Ford. In the mid 1980’s, I built my girlfriend the MPC 1/16 scale Shelby Cobra 427 SC model, I am not sure if she liked it, but I did. I even have a couple of the Hot wheels Classic Cobras from the same time. I started collecting Ford books, including all the books I could get my hands on regarding Cobras. The iconic Hot Rod Specialty Publication Shelby American Mustang Cobra Book showed me a side of the Cobras I had never seen, the original small block cars, including the race cars, with lots of engine and driveline details. At the time, I was bracket racing a 289 Pinto and was really hooked on the Ford small block heritage. Therefore, the small block Cobras really caught my eye.

This was way before internet, so there were only bookstores, libraries, and occasional ads with book lists in magazines. I came across the ‘Shelby Wildlife’ book and accidentally happened upon the ‘Ford, the Dust and the Glory’ book at the local library. I actually faked a lost library book tale to purchase outright from the library. It had been out of print since the early 1970’s. Now days you can google to your heart’s content and learn of books or articles that you never knew existed.

My daily driver was a 1977 V8 Mustang II hatch back, I continued racing the Pinto race car and I towed with a 69 Fairlane. Family life and career slowed the car activity, Eventually I traded the drag car for a 1990 Mustang GT convertible. I kept on searching for Ford books and memorabilia, especially Shelby and Ford Trans-Am program related. Then around 2000, with Al Gore’s Internet, I really began to add to the collection. My collection of Ford publications and books is quite extensive.

I got back into the cars around 2010 with a 1960 F-100 ‘Patina Rod’, then came the 1967 Cougar, and eventually my son’s Maverick Grabber. The Maverick is a stunningly era correct car, accommodating several very sporty small blocks. All the while, my love for the Cobras never subsided, it was simply out of reach. For a short time, I had looked into a budget friendly Contemporary Classic Cobra kit that used Fox Body donor parts, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I could tell, the nickel and dime list would drive costs significantly higher.

More recently, after attending a Cruising, the Coast event, The Cobra bug, prodded by my wife, bit me. I researched more and more about the kit cars and got serious about attempting one. But it needed to be a small block body with a small block motor. I was not interested in a big block car unless I had an FE to put in it; I didn’t have an FE.

Then, the real question surfaced. Do I really want to spend 2 years building a car at 57 years old? The search for pre-built cars began. I am very picky regarding the components and looks. A 427 Cobra body was ok, but only if powered by an FE. But, as luck would have it, my son found a small block car, a Unique FIA Cobra about 100 miles south of us. The car was already 30yrs old, so the newness and ‘just completed’ kit car look was long gone. I wanted an old car, and this one had the fewest violations of any I had seen. So, we pooled the budget and made it happen. Now, we are the proud owners of a 30year old Unique Cobra. Sure, I am personalizing it to my desires. I am the picky one, my wife likes the Cobra for what it is. I strive for authenticity, at least within the realm of making a replica look correct.

So, that’s my Cobra Story.