What is the LATEST recognition your Cobra has had recently?

[Roger Bray]

There is a road construction site on a country road near my farm. When I approached the flag man stepped into the road with his hand held stop sign. I stopped and we talked for a few minutes. Then he said that the road was not blocked .... he just stopped me so that he could look at my car.

[RallySnake]

The First Friday Night Rally on May 3rd was a really good one. Joanna put together a spectacular event. The concept of this one was to have free zones on most of the roads so you could run at whatever speed was comfortable. Then, she would put in a "Checkpoint Zone" where (for a short distance) you have to run on time and may encounter a checkpoint. This made the rally so much more fun! Plus, we ran all of Little Tujunga Canyon Road which is really neat at night because you can see oncoming headlights much sooner than you can see an oncoming car in the daytime. JoAnn has really shown her skills on this one by making it relatively easy event except for one trap that made you think a little bit near the end. The night was topped off with Pizza Hut "Crazy Crust" pizza and a first place trophy. It doesn't get any better than that!

RS

[IndyCobra]

So we've all had our cars mistaken for something other than a cobra by the unwashed masses, but today took the cake.

I cruise over to my local breakfast joint for some food this morning. I'm sitting in the booth right where my cobra is parked on the other side of the window. In the next booth over, a man and a woman are lightly arguing about my car. The woman insists to her husband that it is a Honda......a freakin HONDA, are you kidding me. This goes on for several minutes and she remains adamant that it's a Honda. After seeing this guy get emasculated, I kindly speak up to tell her it's a replica of a cobra. Know what her response was? "Are you sure?"

Yea lady, I'm freakin sure. It's like I was lying to her just so her husband could win an argument. In any event, I remained polite and explained to both of them the details of the car.

A Honda. Jeez.

[KevinW]

When I had my old car, before paint it looked a total mess: grey GRP body, yellow boot and doors, slightly tatty interior. Lots of people, mainly guys, would often want to talk to me, as they vaguely recognised the shape, didnt know what it was, but assumed it was a classic resto job.

One day in the winter the car broke down in a small retail parking lot, so while we waited for the recovery truck, me and my son went to McDonalds - i could also keep an eye on it from there.

I saw this old guy with his wife both hobble out of their car. As they walked toward the bed linen shop he eye-balled the car. As they came out the shop i could see his old lady tugging him toward his Civic. Clearly in trouble with his old lady, he put her in the car, shut her car door, and walked back. He'd decided he wasnt gonna rush while he had a good look at mine. Made us both smile while we drank coffee in the warm.

Funny thing was, once the car was painted ad looked great, lots of interest from guys with kit cars, but the general public mostly didnt talk to me.

[bliss]

Recognition? Well, out driving today; country road; flagged down by a gorgeous blond in a black car - I stopped and backed up - she apologized and stated that the Cobra was her dream car - asked her if she was married, she said no but was planning too get married - I told her to have her new husband build her one or buy her one - her response was - good idea.

We parted. Just thinking that the conversation, etc. would have been a lot different in the day, years ago - single, etc. It would have been an opportunity to die for and, I suspect, a great (versus a good) afternoon and into the night, riding around etc.

[SpecOp1]

Have done very well at local car shows lately , I always let parents shoot photos of their kids in my car...I always ask the kids if they know how to get car like this someday?...."good grades"...parents love that. Did have one car guy ask me why I do this....my answer.." so that not everyone drives a Prius in the future"

[RET_COP]

Bliss, she probably felt safe enough to stop you. I don't know about you but stuff like that never actually happened except in my dreams.

[IndyCobra]

Originally Posted by SpecOp1

Did have one car guy ask me why I do this....my answer.." so that not everyone drives a Prius in the future"

Love that. I'm going to use that one.

[rbickle]

I took the cobra to a restaurant last weekend with my son. As I was leaving, this guy ran out to the parking lot and flagged me down. He said (yelled over the engine) how beautiful the car was and that he always wanted to have one of those spyders. I didn't bother correcting him, just smiled and waved...

Rick

[bliss]

Originally Posted by RET_COP

Bliss, she probably felt safe enough to stop you. I don't know about you but stuff like that never actually happened except in my dreams.

That was the first time for me, as far as driving around in the Cobra. Although, in my younger days, I was talking with a great looking woman in her twenties - married, I was single - she stated that she and her husband had decided to have an open marriage - I said "well, where am I on the list" - she said "right at the top" - we ended up going to Hawaii for a week, etc. Extraordinary memories of days gone by.

[TN Shelby Cobra]

Originally Posted by bliss

That was the first time for me, as far as driving around in the Cobra. Although, in my younger days, I was talking with a great looking woman in her twenties - married, I was single - she stated that she and her husband had decided to have an open marriage - I said "well, where am I on the list" - she said "right at the top" - we ended up going to Hawaii for a week, etc. Extraordinary memories of days gone by.

You are really good at telling jokes!!!

[Brent Mills]

Today I drove the GT to work....Not exactly exciting given the traffic, but more fun than had I been driving the commuter car. Late this afternoon this email made it's way to me after numerous stops and people found me. I thought it was pretty great to hear the raw feelings and how others view things without knowing the words will ever end with the person they are writing of. Pretty cool. The picture is what he or passenger took this morning and the words are his own.

Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 11:57 AM
To: Redmond Motorcycle Riders
Subject: Morning commute - what's that rumble? ...that smell? Is that really a...

I’m driving into work today, following WDWMKR on his FJR (though he has no idea who I am… ). Enjoying the gentle burble of an FJR from my open window, making sure I don’t crowd him, etc.

I start to become aware there is a rumble nearby. Like someone slipped a big-bolock V8 into a bass boat and decided it’d be ideal for the commute! Next I notice a smell…which seems vaguely familiar…

Unburned fuel – and high test stuff at that, like race gas…

Smells like a NASCAR paddock…or maybe what I imagine the LeMans pit smelled like back in the day. J

Rumble…RUMBLE…BLAAAAAAT…RUMBLE…Rumble…

Where the F is THAT intoxicating sound coming from?!

Then the traffic parts! No wonder I couldn’t see it! Holy Hot Hanah, OMG and WTF?! A GT40???!!!



Now, that is what looks to be a Ford GT40. Naturally, I immediately think replica. Then details start to emerge…

Those are magnesium knock off rims. The tires are old school looking racing Goodyears. The GT40s were spectacular racecars, but on the street, they were rubbish by all accounts. It certainly LOOKS, SOUNDS and SMELLS the part, but could this really be one of the few, in the rivets?!

A couple are known to reside in the PNW, what with their high price tags and people-of-means in this area, it’s a natural combo.

As I siddle up beside the car, I see the driver is on the right-hand side (as original, though kits do this, too), and the guy has hearing protection on – a full noise-isolating, boom-mike equipped setup. The interior looks…well, Spartan would be considered an uplevel option, let’s just say. Devoid of anything resembling anything that might contribute to a human being’s comfort. The seat belts might have been chains.

As we pulled forward from a light, he gave it some gas – well, we probably only pressed the gas pedal down about 1/16”, but in doing so gave the lumpier-than-teenager’s-face engine maybe a full BARREL of gasoline – the revs increased, the sound smoothed to that of ripping canvas, there was a nice cloud of burned and unburned effluvium ejected from the exhaust pipes and he squirted ahead.

Sadly, neither of us had the time to exchange VIN numbers so we could verify each other’s rides were originals (you never know when a sneaky Toyota Tacoma clone will pull up next to you, after all) as traffic opened up on the 520. He opted to stay in the inside lane the entire time, hiding behind such road monsters as a Nissan Sentra, a Civic and an E-Class wagon. Swear to God, he could have driven up inside the bed of an F150 and the truck wouldn’t notice it in the rearview mirror. Damn this could almost park UNDER the Crown Vic it was following!

And that was it – the GT40 was lost to time and the commute. HOLY CRAP it sounded great!

duane

[dcdoug]

Awesome.

[OnyxRider]

The latest one was one weekend in Malibu I was driving from the beach toward the canyons and had two bikers following from a distance. One I made out riding an old Indian Chief and the other I found out later was an older Harley. After awhile I pulled over and they stopped behind me. Before they had a chance to say anything I said nice Indian ya got there. And he responded yours not bad either. These two looked like they just stepped out of a biker movie. lol

One explained that they were discussing if it was a real S/C or a real one made to look like a S/C. So I had to give them credit that they knew it was an original. Found out one use to be a roadie for Rainbow back in the day. Well that started a long convo about my racing buddy and best friend you could ever have Cozy Powell.

Eventually headed back to the beach and a place we could relax and went over all the stories of Cozy..the racing...the practical jokes and all. Found out they were undercover cops but not sure what branch they served.

[Jamo]

Sounds like the two guys Leno says he gave a ride to in the McLaren when he got pulled over...

[OnyxRider]

Originally Posted by Jamo

Sounds like the two guys Leno says he gave a ride to in the McLaren when he got pulled over...

You know I was thinking about that when I wrote that but didn't know what they were driving in Leno's piece.

[razerwire]

SAAC 38 popular vote car show

[xlr8tr]

drove up to whistler Mountain last friday and parked in front of the Fairmont Chateau hotel in their round about: I came back later after a golf game and about 10 porsche speedsters were parked end to end behind me in the round about like I was leading a parade lap , and my cobra was getting more attention than all 10 porsches together.

[RET_COP]

Thank You for that post Brent, makes us all smile.

[Rodder]

Not the latest recognition of my Cobra, but one of the most unusual I have encountered. A couple weeks ago my wife and I were out for a cruise along Lake Ontario in upstate NY and saw a Prius coming toward us. He flashed his headlights and pulled off the side of the road, so I slowed to see what was going on. As we slowly drove by we saw the owner of the Prius hanging out his window bowing to us with a big smile on his face.