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How much and how often do you drive your COBRA?
I've had my replica since 1999. My car was a finished ca,r 15 years old. When I bought it. I spent time the first year getting it licensed in WA and redoing the exhaust. It spends most of the time in my garage waiting. It isn't real convenient to drive. It's loud. You cant lock it up and leave it. I get constant attention, some wanted some not. and I find it difficult to keep from stepping into the throttle. My wife says I really have a smile when I do drive the little car. I do not want any tickets or accidents. Many a day goes by with it just sitting in the garage. It is getting harder to get out of with my knee. The odometer was at 15,000 when I bought it. I may have 3,000 more miles. One loop up the peninsula. a trip to Astoria. once to Ocean Shores, one drive up to Marrvsvile with the club. Last year in June, I drove it out to my nephews in Graham and ended up tying a chainsaw in the trunk because the lid wouldn't close.
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Funny, I was at a car show a little while ago and a guy had an ERA with an aluminum 427 and dual quads. He was telling those of us standing there that he has to run it on a mixture of racing fuel and 93 octane gas. He said it gets 6 mpg. The kid next to me said "you drive it on the street?" He said "Yes". I said..."very little though". He shook his head yes in agreement.
Neat car to let sit in your garage. |
I have had my ERA now for about a month. So far I am able to get out a couple of times a week. Short drives around the country of 20 to 30 miles or so. My biggest issue right now is that here in Virginia it is in the mid 90's with almost 100% humidity so it is just plain hot to drive. I am really looking forward to the fall then I can really start adding some miles to the odometer.
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i drive it every week all year long, i go out to dinner with it, i do the eating.
take it to work now and then, go to cruise nights every other week |
I have put a little over 7000 miles on mine in a little over 2 years. I drive 2-3 times a week except for that month or so in the South where it's below 40, otherwise a jacket and beanie make it a fun afternoon. Not only does if put a smile on my face running through the gears, the reaction of others, especially kids who will never forget seeing the "car from the movie Bad Boys" or the thumbs up from the older generation who remember the car, is priceless.
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Every chance I get!
I have 2500 miles in less than a year and frankly, I don't care that miles are "reducing my value" as the discount for miles is WAY less than the cost of therapy. Crush bugs and burn gas. Wave to people. Smile at stoplights when someone says "nice car!" When the Viper GTS that pulled up to me last week said "Nice snake" I replied, "Likewise" Let kids sit in the car and dad take pictures, he is really living vicariously via a four year old. Bite your tongue when you hear someone tell another "Well, that's JUST a replica". Smile when you are told about the friend's, cousin's, next door neighbor who owned an "original 429 with the Jag suspension and a steel body" (Shelby musta' made about twenty-thousand of these things for everyone who "owned one"). Drive and enjoy. Don't be stupid. Don't be a d!ck. And be sure to give any pretty girl who asks, a ride.....while your wife stands at the side of the road waiting.:eek: |
With the race car, it will be very limited and spirited driving. When I had my ERA with the 428 Cobra Jet, I never put on less than 4,000 miles a year. It was a fun car to drive and as long as the forecast did not call for rain and it was warmer than 45 degrees, the car was on the road. Never regretted a single minute of driving that car.
Looking forward to the experience of racing a cobra in a little over a month. |
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I sit in it almost every day and imagine that I'm driving it, but that's because the engine is sitting beside the car, not in it ;) Cheers, Glen |
I have had my ERA for about 3 years and I get 2-3,000 miles per year. It's going to be perfect tomorrow here in Ohio so a local car show and short cruise will be lots of fun!
Phil |
I have had mine for a little over a year and it has 3300 miles. In drive it every chance I get. If I were retired I would drive it every day. I don't have any problems getting in or out. It's loud and I like it that way. And yes - let people touch it, give the kids rides and listen to all the stories. If I didn't want to drive it I would sell it.
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55,000 in a bit more than seven full seasons. Two trips from Michigan to Colorado & Montana and home. Two trips in one year to VIR for 2-day track events. About 10k in the second car including one trip to Colorado in two years of ownership. Got wet a bunch of times, frozen and baked. Collected a bunch of bugs and one tweedy bird at 125, only had one stone chip - across the whole front. Just drive it, with great passion.
Jim |
Sometimes the joy of having something out ways actually having it. Like having a supermodel seems like a dream but could be a nightmare.
I built the car hoping to drive along the coast where I used to live, through the hills etc. Now I've moved to a place that's flat and boring. I finished it 4 months ago and driven it only half a dozen times. Now's it's to cold. I think of all the money that's sitting there doing nothing and what I could do with the money. JD |
I try to drive mine as often as I can but the heat and fires here this summer have made it almost impossible to get out and do much.
Ron |
Mark IV has the right idea. I try to drive my ERA as much as I can, time and weather permitting, I get a real rush every time I'm out driving. I bought my car to enjoy, not to leave in the garage all polished and fingerprintless. At a car show, if a youngster admires my car, I always let them have a go in the drivers seat. Dad snapping pix. Hey, maybe we'll have future enthusiast there. She has some stone chips and some small scratches, but she looks great and runs like a Champ. And yes, it's getting difficult to climb in and out, but, once I'm behind the wheel I'm 100% and ready to rock and roll.
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Between snow and heat we drove 2300 miles since we picked it up on 9/30/2017 from Irvine and drove it home via Las Vegas. It's never easy to get the car down the driveway. Have to move two vehicles carry car ramps down the hill and put everything back before we leave, but it is well worth it. We bought the car to drive, flying up 50 to Tahoe never gets old
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Mine is in storage from Oct. till about April, I also live in Washington State but near Mission Ridge Ski Area about 10 miles south of Wenatchee.
I don't want any attention.... so I drive and fuel the car in the cool early morning hours..... for about two hours ..... once every two weeks or so. Two or three thousand miles a year. My current replica is a street model with undercar exhaust so it is not as loud as a car with side pipes. IMHO three hours in one of these cars in the heat or cold and noise is about a hour to long. I drive the back roads at speeds between 30 and 75 mph and it is always a thrill..no trips, if I want to take it somewhere, I trailer it. |
I typically drive my SPF in the Spring and Fall or early in the morning during the Summer. Summer driving in the Cobra is approaching torture due to the 100 degree plus days here in Northern CA. I'd like to drive it more in the Summer but I don't want to clear out the neighborhood with my aroma after a hot Summer drive😝
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As much as weather permits.
Usually mostly to work. Daily driver when dry. |
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Drove the 289 into Canada today to visit Ross, the "Father of all SPF/Shelby 289s" and do some winery quality control. Again, more miles, more smiles. Even my wife likes this car! Had a US Customs agent tell me "Nice ride!" |
I got my ERA on the road in 2003. It has about 48,000 miles on it. I drive it to coffee every Saturday and Sunday as long as the roads are dry and it's above 40 degrees outside. I'll drive it if it's colder than that but 40 was the temperature my wife and I agreed to if she's going to go with me. Lol. In addition to the weekend coffee routine, I often take it to dinner, the grocery store, the beach, Lake Tahoe, golfing and just about anywhere else that doesn't involve sitting in stop and go traffic when the temps are 90+.
Chris |
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