[SCOBRAC]

I'm 35. I really hadn't planned on buying a cobra at all. Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of the old grouch and was born in the heyday of the American muscle car. My first car was a 1967 Mustang GTA Fastback. (the first one I paid for) But since then college, and then life sort of got in the way, house payments, etc. I always imagined myself getting maybe a 10 year old Vette once I had a few bucks, then maybe a Viper would be within reach, and maybe someday a cobra.

I skipped steps 2-4. I have a friend that was in an industrial accident, he was ok but pretty much fried his back. He got a pretty sizeable settlement and so he did what any guy with tons of money does and bought a cobra. That was in 1992.

Prices were sky high and he paid for, and got the best replica he could find. a Contemporary built just a few years before. It was beautiful, Eight base coats Deltron in british racing green followed by Wimbledon stripes and then four coats of clear.

Power was a 1966 428ci Police Interceptor motor bored .030 over, a steel crank, forged pistons, a roller cam topped by an 8v med. rise ford intake polished inside and out. The expansion tank alone took 12 hours to polish. A four speed toploader, Center Force clutch, a Salisbury IRS... 235's up front 295's in back.. All said and done the thing cost him a hair under 49k, plus tax and California fees it set him back $53,000. They say money is the root of all evil. It isnt. Ignorance is.

He lost it all. The money, the house, all the toys. The Cobra was the last to go. I found it under a pile of useless rubbage that had been stacked like cord wood on top of the non descript car cover hiding a familiar yet hidden siloette of a once proud specimen.

He said he would take 40.. hmmm. "Maybe if it ran", I said. "it needs a battery" he said. "It needs more than that" I opined somewhat out loud... I told him I would think about it..

I stopped by a few weeks later. Hmm.. Nobody home.. Hmmm.. The doorbell doesn't seem to work. No, the place was totally dark as if there was no power. I went home and called.. Funny the phone is disconnected, and the business line too.. I think I may have lost the car I thought to myself. Curiosity took over and I went back to the place the guy lived, er... use to live. No, his truck is there.. He still lives there, for now.. I went back the next day. He was home.. Sure enough the power had been turned off.. The water too.. " I sold the place but turned off the water prematurely I guess" he said with a not so convincing voice. "Oh.." was all I could say. "It is two weeks to Christmas and you are without power" I noted. "Want to use my generator?" I asked. I brought it over the next day.

The day after that I got a note on my car. "if you want that car it is $XX,XXX obo" My mind bent at number on the paper in my hand, I couldn't imagine a lower number if I dreamed it up myself.. Could it be true? I bought dinner for him and his daughter that night. Pizza Hut stuffed crust in his livingroom room, a huge fire in the fire place for heat (the heater was gas and that had been turned off with the power). The generator wirred away in the garage. A single lamp burned in the Family room as his daughter watched TV for the first time in two weeks.. "Thanks for letting us use the generator, I love this show", she said...

A number was agreed upon pending a clean title, the title was lost when his wife left after the money dried up. In fact all the records were gone. Nothing remained but recollections, not a receipt, not a single work order.. nothing.

My task was simple. Verify value based on Comps, and like sales and find some cash fast.. No matter how I broke down it came up the same.. like cars were selling for 39-42k conservatively with some as high as 54 and as low as 35.. Ok.. It needs work.. Call it 35k.. Damn, This is a deal.. Lets see. If I built one.. Hmmm.. 26k in parts.. Labor.. 10k or a year out of my life.. Damn.. 36k..

Can I get the wife to let me refinance, rates are low.. Hmmm.. Parents are always looking for an investment.. "We are getting 3% on our CD's" Dad said, Give me 4% as long as you need it for.. "I will have a cashiers check for you tomarrow", he said..

A week before Christmas It was mine.. I guess there really is a Santa Clause