Saw the first one at Tallakson Ford in the 'U' district in Seattle. I had just bought a new '67 Mustang coupe. The money for those cars seemed like a lot then, I mean 7 grand was a lot of hours of trucking. I had the desire, without the funding, as like many of you, kids and houses took the bulk of the bucks.
I had brief fling with a new '68 Cobra Jet Stang and raced a 7 Liter until '72 when an NHRA rule change, ruined the Super Stock class. With bracket racing left, to compete in, I bailed. I bought a sail boat and got into 4 wheel drives with a '55 Willys pick-up, powerd with a Ford 6. The Ford got a trailer hitch and the pick-up became the toy of choice. I migrated to Toyota Land Cruiser pick-ups and still have one in the garage today. I had as many as 5 at one time and did all the rebuild and chevvy V-8 stuff one would expect. About this time, I was sitting around the fire station, reading a new magazine and 'BANG', there was that car again and it was called a kit.
Well anyone who knows, knows that Firefighters have great schedules but not a lot of $$$$$$. So the kit theme appealed to me and I began my quest for the right car. I believed that going to the plant and seeing the car you wanted was important. As a result I took a few years to get around to the places I wanted to check them out. Enter my lovely wife, Sally Jo.
Sal talked me into pulling the pin and moving back to Oregon, where I had grown up. So in '88 we moved back here and are now sitting on 25 acres with our kids, horses, cattle, and soon to be done, 4 bay shop, complete with reloading room and car lift.
Meanwhile, we took the kids to Disneyland in '95 during Christmas break, and she had a bit of a surprise for me. It seems that LA Exotics had a spot very close to Knott's Berry, and she wanted to see this Cobra thing; I was raving about. They got her out in a red 427 and the first thing she said, when she got back was,"We're gettin one of those!" At that SHE pulled out the checkbook and did a deposit. I got to pick the color. Talk about major role reversal! I knew I needed to sieze control, NOW! Thank you very much dear, I appreciate you letting me choose the drive train stuff. We got a roller and picked it up in Oct. of '96. Bob Hubler, (some of you remember what Cosby said about all mechanics named 'Bob') is a local engine builder who does a lot of roundy -roundy and drag stuff. He put together a 351w with 351c heads and tried to get it at about 400hp, as the car is a driver but we wanted a different approach with the 'LOOK'. We put a 4 speed out of a mustang in her and as of today, we're chipping away at little stuff like carpet install, door panels, e-brake, cleaning etc. It has a soft top and the wipers are just coming on line, Oregon has already had it's week of sun, and since we missed it, we need wipers. I'm lucky to have an 'A' code '66 mustang coupe as a driver, but not to worry, I've got my own set of keys and she does go to work.
Actually the car was as much her idea as mine. You see, we have 6 kids and she wanted a car that a kid could't fit in, no back seat, in fact just enough room for us and an over night bag.
We're down to three kids left at home and cruising is on our agenda. One of our first cruises, is to cruise over to eastern Oregon to look at a Cobra, which is for sale. It seems that Sally Jo really wanted a green one and the one for sale could be painted.
Eat your hearts out guys, I get guns, reloaders, tools, and really neat stuff on X-mas and birthdays too!
Life has been very good, to this 53 year old, grey haired, but FAST, man.