[Dirty Harry]

When I caught the bug for a Cobra replica I was young, had small children, and an income that did not support such a hobby. Accordingly, my choices included, (1) make some compromises in the build, or (2) forget it entirely. After scraping together the cash to order some parts and begin a build in 1990, I lost my deposit and earnest money to the Classic Roadsters bankruptcy.

Shell Valley agreed to sell me a kit on my conditions that I would give them no money until the parts were inspected by me and loaded on my trailer. It was, at the time, a mid-range car, price-wise, and it was clear they were not going to steal my money. I wanted to do all the work myself and my budget required it, anyway.

So, the car slowly came together in my garage, in an era when Cobra replicas were pretty unsophisticated. By cutting a few corners and doing all my own work, I finished a car for 20K. Now, over 2 decades later, the compromises I made are still part of the car and it is less sophisticated than most of the cars I park beside at the cobra shows. That's the downside. The upside is that it looks decent, goes like stink, and I know every inch of it. Without borrowing a dime, I had the car I dreamed of, and still love to drive it.