[Donunder]

Power steering in a Cobra? Sacrilege! What next? Power brakes? Power windows? Electric soft-tops? Colin Chapman always said that he'd never resort to power steering/ brakes, a sentiment echoed in later years by Gordon Murray. For them the answer lay in developing steering brakes and suspension to their ultimate and according to accepted engineering principles, and not hiding any faults or design shortcomings under the blanket of power assistance.

I read a comment by Brent Lykins recently that struck a real chord with me. He said that he regretted the fact that a lot of owners were trying to turn their Cobras into Corvettes with some of the modifications/"improvements" they were doing.

The genesis of the Cobra was a rough raw race car. We all know that. And we know that such a car does not translate easily to a useable comfortable street car. So we make them more friendly with soft seats, beautiful interiors, air conditioning (what?) weather protection, sound killing mufflers (regs) fuel injection (regs again) some even go for auto transmission,....and we move ever further from what the essence of a Cobra really is. Cup holders? Seriously? Stereo sound systems? I give up.

I've lusted after Cobras since Shelby first put them on the track. The sight and sound of Ken Miles' CSX 3002 at Lakeside in 1965 affected me like no other. The years passed and I read of the beauties available through Rod Leach's Nostalgia in the English mags. I'd resigned myself to enjoying the occasional ride in Craig's cars, since now that I'm retired the pay cheques have ceased, but when I saw Craig White's fantastic old Contemporary in all its rough old-school glory I knew that I had to have one, finances be blowed!

OK so I've compromised and had a tonneau made for my car but that's as far as it goes. To each his own, I know, and you can take these as the mutterings of a cranky old fart who pines for the glory days if you like, but some mods are just a step too far in my eyes.