bomelia,
you can always go the 2nd-hand route, save, and get a nice car too. There is all kinds of stuff with low mileage for sale out there that you could buy, try, and then sell later if you decide to move up again. A good friend just did this with his initial budget in mind, and now that he has tried his Cobra for a while, he wants to go with something more identical to an original. Some people get into them, uprade again later, and others just sell their cars and move on to other things after a few years because they really had no clue as to why they were buying a Cobra in the first place. Some of us diehards will always have one though...
Good Luck, searching for the first car is probably one of the most exciting times I had learning about Cobras and what's out there. Enjoy!