Duane,
This is a very good topic. There have been many occasions when fellow ralliest see us driving in rain or cold weather and try to persuade me to rent a car to run these events. They point out that the Cobra is too uncomfortable to be competitive in long distance rallies.
I have to set them straight. The car came first. I spent six years of my life building this thing to have fun with. I've entered track events and shows. I tend to be a little too competitive on the track and I'm usually breaking things and tearing up lots of tires. It gets very expensive. The shows are neat but there's not so much adrenalin pumping there. Rallys are a great compromise. You get to cruise around at legal speedlimits with other car nuts and occasionally, you get to make up time and push the limits a little.
The excitement lasts much longer. In last month's rally, we had four hours of fun, although most of it was in the rain. The high point for me happened in the desert, East of Palmdale. We were running late to a checkpoint and I had the Cobra wrapped up to the upper double digits coming in. As we approached the hose the clock was beeping down. We rolled over it at about 70 mph, exactly on the hundredth and zeroed the leg!
So, when other competitors look out the windows of their BMW or WRX and see us bundled up in ski clothes, they just shake their head and we just smile!
Yeah, sure, I'll rent a car to go rally.
Paul