[Flygirl]

Thanks guys, for all your help. Like a sponge, absorbing it all...

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The story behind the attraction:

My dad was a management executive with Ford. I was brought home from hospital, for the very first time, in a '56 Lincoln. Then came the 60s. First car I remember was a '65 Galaxie 500 convertible with the 427 and a four speed. Followed by Shelbys from '66-68, a '69 Mach 1 Convertible with the 428 Cobra Jet, four speed, and a shaker hood scoop (black with a white top and white interior, I LOVED that car!), and then a '70 Boss 302.

Dad did not like the '71 Mustang (don't know if it was the size, or the fact that Bunkie Knudsen designed it) and there was a brief interlude until the Panteras came along. Which he also didn't like so much, due to the poor workmanship and tendency to overheat. But, man, did I like being driven in them!

Then came the dark ages and my first car, a '73 Pinto Runabout, which I still own, followed by the Bronco years.

I was gifted an '80 Fox Mustang with the TRX suspension, 2.3 turbo/five speed and T-tops (which made me very popular), then traded up to an '82 Mustang with the "big" 5.0/five speed churning out 157hp. This car made me so happy, it signaled Ford's return to the performance market and I loved it very much. That in turn was replaced by an '86 SVO, which turned out to be another less than fulfilling turbo 2.3 experience for me.

So I've kind of always driven Fords (more recently a semi-restored '65 GT Convertible A-code car and fast but thrashed '68 California Special), except for the Porsche years (another story entirely) and the supercharged Miata with a terrible case of trailing throttle oversteer (which, oddly enough, prepared me for the Porsches).

The Cobra is the one car I wish dad owned. It's also my favorite post WWII Ford hands down, the styling and the driveline too. And it's just bad-a$$.

So there you have it.

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PS, here's my piece of Ford history. My Pinto! Funny, the things we end up with.