Going to Olthoff and test driving a car is an excellent idea. Maybe he'll also have a 289 car to try on, for street driving you'll probably find it more peaceful
Good luck finding a high performance driving school with Cobras of any kind. The closest you'll probably come to are the Formula Mazda (open wheel, light wicked fast little cars) at the Bondurant school in Chandler, AZ. I drove one in my class and will do a 2-day with them next spring.