Scott,

I'm 32 (and about 4 1/2 mentally). I read "Shelby's Wildlife" in one sitting when I was 12, and vowed to own a Cobra from that time on. I saw my first real one at Elkhart Lake in '82; I took a whole roll of pictures but when I got them back was disappointed to find that my hands had shaken so badly they were all blurred! I'll never forget standing there, watching the sidepipes kick up little dust clouds...my parents thought I had lost it when I casually walked up and intentionally burned my shin on one of the pipes! "Shelby's Wildlife" declared that "burned shins from these pipes are a badge of honor," so by God, I was gonna get branded!

I bought an ERA kit when I was 26. It sat unfinished until last year, when I was able to trade it for a finished ERA. I have had the great fortune of owning some neat cars in my short life--a '71 'Cuda convertible, '66 Mustang, '70 Buick GS Stage 1 Convertible, '70 Z/28, '65 396 Corvette, a supercharged '90 Mustang 5.0 notch, Porsche 928, Ferrari 308 Quattrovalve, etc.--and NOTHING beats the thrill of Cobra ownership! Two weeks ago, I fulfilled a promise to a family friend; a year ago I told him that I would let him drive my ERA when he turned 16. When the day arrived, he nearly broke into tears when I pulled into his driveway; I don't think he believed I would keep my promise. He was so nervous he stalled the car three times trying to get out of the driveway, but the grin on his face was unbelievable. I took pictures of him driving and blew them up so he could put them in his locker at school; he told me proudly the other day that girl traffic had increased tenfold at his locker! I wish someone had done the same for me when I was that age; giving people that kind of pleasure is what it's all about. I have driven the car in the rain with no top, as well as making a 50-mile drive one morning when it was 35 degrees out. No amount of bad weather can ruin a trip in that car...when you're living out a dream, it's hard to spoil the fun!

Regards,
Bob Brzezinski