I’ve been thoroughly fascinated with cars all of my life. My earliest memory of the Cobra dates back to around 1966.
I was 8 years old at the time. Word on the street was that one of our neighbors had a car that was “beyond any car that you had ever seen.” Beautiful lines, big V8, loud exhaust…who could ask for more!
My brother and I jumped on our Stingray bikes to check it out. Our jaws dropped when we saw the 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 that was (at the time) owned by professional golfer Ken Venturi (CSX 3119 is now owned by the Mallay Collection
http://www.mallyacollection.com/mall...ails.asp?id=67 )
In addition, another neighbor named Pete Grassi had a Cobra. My memory is bit hazy, but I believe it was a candy apple red 289 Cobra.
Hearing those two cars fire up their engines and take off made time stand still!
Cars were already part of my DNA, but seeing those two Cobras inspired a lifelong appreciation for all of all of the cars that Carroll Shelby has been associated with.
My closest brush with owning a real Cobra was around 1975. I had just turned 16 and had saved up $900 to by my first car. My dad told me he would spot me a few hundred bucks if I found the right car. I thought the right car was a 1967 GT 500 that a car dealer in Sunnyvale, CA was selling for the astronomical price of $2,800. I tried to figure out every angle to buy that car, but it just wasn’t in the cards.
Nearly 40 years after seeing a Cobra for the first time, I’m close to living my dream through the recreation of a car that was inspired by the true genius of Carroll Shelby.
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