Let's hear about your first time...

[blykins]

...that you drove a Cobra.

Mine was a white SPF with a 385hp 351W at the Superformance dealership in Ross, OH. (Thanks again, Jim...for one of the best experiences in my life.) I struggled for days trying to figure out how I could afford to pay for one outright...My engine wasn't even built at that time. Alas I had to pass up the gorgeous SPF...but I have moved on to another relationship with my SVC. Something that I can work on/pay for at my own pace...without dropping 40g's at once.

It was a beautiful 70 degree day...perfect Cobra weather...I remember how it felt to open the door, "stand" on the seat and slide down into position. I fumbled with nervousness as I snapped the seat belts together. I don't know if I was nervous because I was in sheer awe of what I was about to do...or because I had just taken a ride with Jim in another SPF with a 392ci stroker...hehehe I knocked it out of gear and pressed the brake. As I turned the key to the "on" position, Jim advised me to pat the gas a couple times for an easier start. I turned the key further and the little small block roared to life.

Jim gave me some pointers on driving a Cobra for the first time. The most important one was to always have your clutch foot near the clutch...if not touching it. He told me since it was my first time, I could accidentally put us through the windshield in an attempt to upshift/downshift.

One thing I noticed at first. If you're sitting still, you need 12" biceps to turn the steering wheel. Since we were facing the dealership, I learned quickly that I needed to get the car rolling in reverse before I tried to turn it. Clutch in, 1st gear engaged, a quick couple blips of the throttle, and we were rolling. We turned right out of the dealership and were on our way to taking a nice stroll through the country. I'm not familiar with the Cinci area, so I have no idea where we were...but it was nothing short of awesome. I quickly found out why everyone falls mad-dashing in love with these cars.

One of my favorite highlights was on a straightaway back to to the dealership. I had just taken off from a stop sign, and as I got the car in 2nd gear, Jim put his hand over in my line of sight and gave me the signal to "mash it". I had been waiting for that...and I did exactly what he told me. Who am I to disobey...? heheh.....Wide open through 2nd gear and into 3rd. What an awesome feeling....blasting down a straight with the sidepipes roaring and the engine revving.

Once again, I thank you Jim if you're reading this. I really regret that I couldn't do business with you...but that's the position you're put in when fresh out of engineering school. I'm sure I have other fun times ahead of me though as I complete and get another "first" with my own car.

Now I'd be very happy if some of you others volunteer some good "first time" stories....of the Cobra variety....hehehe

[Tony Radford]

Interestingly enough, my first drive was a bit of a drag. I had a pretty severe case of snakebite and after three months of scrutinizing various "Cobras for sale" sites, I found the perfect car within a three hour drive of my house. I drove over on an Easter Sunday, met the owner at his home and was simply love struck when I first met "her". It was a cool, overcast day and the owner was incredibly "anal" about the car. He offered to take me for a ride, so we jumped in (a bit of culture shock after 25 years of refined vehicle driving). He fired it up in a one-car garage and freaked me out. We drove out a couple of miles at 45 MPH in city traffic and he stopped, offering me the option of driving back. Naturally, I jumped into the driver's seat and commenced to pilot us back at 45 MPH. It really wasn't much fun and since I had to be careful not to over rev her, or touch her paint job, or get her wet, or hit any bumps, I was a bit glad to get back to his garage. She was so beautiful, I decided that it was worth the money just to have her in my garage to share morning coffee and idle chat. We closed the deal two days later and she was delivered to my door in an enclosed trailer. It was noon on a beautiful, sunny day. We signed the papers, money changed hands, I got the key and he was on his way, leaving me in my driveway with the most awesome red vehicle I had ever seen. I jumped into "my" car, on "my turf" with "my" rules and headed out. UNBELIEVABLE! That was my first real ride! As you can probably tell, the venum has pretty well permeated my entire body.

[RedBarchetta]

My first drive was pretty much a carbon copy of yours (went to a Superformance dealer and took a test drive).

I've never been addicted to narcotics, alcohol, nicotine, etc. But now I know how these people can get addictions and spend a lifetime trying to shake them. I plan to fail my attempts to shake this particular addiction.

[Edley Rondinone]

Early February, a couple years back, about an hour north of Phoenix AZ, 9 AM...temperature was about 40 degrees, clear but COLD! At the owner's house, the Cobra the only car in his two car garage, a beautiful sight!! I had seen lots of pictures he sent on the internet, but the car, LIVE and for real, the pictures never do them justice.
He started it up, let it idle a bit for the temps to come up, and out the door we went. A lot of two-lane roads, kinda windy and kinda fast, just putting the car thru its paces.
After about 15 minutes, he pulled over, and let me drive it. After the initial worries of me fitting in it to drive, (I'm 6'3"), I was able to drive it back to his garage. He told me he would turn the key off if I went too fast, but he never had to worry. I was just so happy to drive the car at about 75-80!
Remember, its 40 degrees out, and I'm driving this Cobra at a pretty good clip with its WOODEN steering wheel, and it was so cold, my hands were almost numb from the weather, but we made it back OK. God, what a great feeling!
He trailered it back to my house that night; got home about midnite, and I tucked it into its new home, my garage!

[Russ Dickey]

My first drive was with a local guy who was selling his Contemporary Classic last summer. It had a fairly-built 428 with a toploader in it. During my test drive, we rolled up to a 4-way stop behind two Harleys. The Cobra was louder than their hogs, so they looked behind them to see what the heck was making all that noise. When they saw a 427 Cobra behind them, they smiled and gave us the thumbs up. Then they waved and proceeded to bolt away from the stop sign.

The owner of the car was sitting next to me and said "Well go get 'em!" and told me to romp on it. We were on a pretty desolate stretch of two lane highway that was very flat and open, so I laid into it. And this is no joke: within about 8 or 9 seconds I was shifting to fourth and we were blowing by the Harleys at about 110mph. Those guys couldn't believe we had caught them and passed them that fast.

They caught up to us at the next stop sign, and one rider said "That's the fastest g*d-damn car I've ever seen". They waved and turned off. I knew from the time I was a small child that I wanted to have a Cobra, but on that day, I knew I HAD to have one. I couldn't manage to buy that one at the time, but my little FIA is no slouch and plenty of fun!

My first ride was when I was 13, at the SAAC Convention, with Ken Eber in his original 427 S/C at Pocono Raceway. I'm thinking that was SAAC 10, it was the convention at Great Gorge, NJ. Anyway, talk about thrilling...I'm pretty sure we were in the 165-170 zone on the front straight. It was forever burned into my memory as one of my greatest life experiences.

Russ

[REDSC400]

My first ride was this summer, in my wife's cousin's replica, built by Steve (WADESDAD here on Club Cobra). It was on our annual trip to Ohio to the family get togeather. Steve showed up in his Yellow Cobra and took me and my son for a ride and I got to drive his yellow monster.

That was it. I was rehooked.

I imediatly did a full court press, was about to place an order with ERA and then at the Lyme Rock Classic show in early September, I found out about the availability of ERA #375. A week later I became the owner of Half Full.

I get to bless / blame this on Steven....

[TerrysSPF]

My very 1st "ride" was back in the mid 70's and my father was friends with a guy that had one. He came by my parents house and told me to hop in. The 1st thing I did was burn my calf on the sidepipe, so we were off to a rocky start! Then he drove out of the driveway and down our street (with my buddies in awe of me....) and all of a sudden......I was "bitten".
.......Fast forward 30 years and a buddy of mine that runs a "Specialty" car dealership in town got a used SPF in on trade (for a Viper GTS.....what was he thinkin'!), and he called me up. It was a solid Black car built in 2000 with a 408 stroker built by Comp. Motorsports (now Perf. Engineering) with 500HP. I went over to his shop and took it out for a drive that I (along with people on the road) will never forget......including the guy in the Z-06 that I dreadfully embarrassed in front of his girlfriend (hey, HE'S the one that wanted to play - not me!). After that day, I knew I had to have one.
My next drive was with Dean @ Dynamic Motorsports in the same white 351 car that Mr. Blykins drove. It took me a year, and selling off a couple "other cars", to finally get one of my own.
........Once "Bitten", there's NO turning back!

[Tinker51]

Mine did not start out well. I had purchased my car from a gentleman in Michigan in the dead of winter so I was not able to drive it at that time. When I went to look at the car the owner had given me a full briefing on the car but by the time the car showed up here a couple of weeks had passed. After the guy from Intercity drove it off the truck and was gone I got in the car, started it and sat there waiting for it to warm while soaking up the sounds and sensations. After about two minutes the car died. Took me about 30 seconds to remember the electric fuel pump switch. Started the car again and continued to warm it, realized I forgot something, shut it down and went inside. Got back in the car and turned the key but nothing happened. I sat there for about two minutes trying all manner of things before I remembered the neutral lockout. Once I got going though it was a great day. I drove a route that would take me around the area along the winding back roads. The weather was great and I was driving a car I had always wanted since I was a kid.

[Tom Howland]

My “1st” ride was 8-1-00. I found out about this cobra for sale knowing I couldn’t afford a 3rd car but it would sure be fun seeing it. I have been known to do a u-turn anywhere to be able to see a cobra. The owner didn’t know I was coming over but he was in the driveway cleaning the car. We get to talking and I say I’m not interested in buying I am just admiring the car. I had started looking at all the different manufacturers a couple of weeks earlier so I knew just enough to get me in trouble. I guess he liked what he heard so he said “WANT TO GO FOR A RIDE.” I couldn’t believe it. Sure I want to go for a ride. WOW, the sounds, the power, the wind. It was better than I had ever dreamed. Half way through the drive he pulls over looks at me and says “WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRIVE.” I couldn’t believe it again. I started laughing. Would I like to drive a cobra! Well I did! First impression was it drove like a truck. What a blast. Probably drove too slow but I was unsure of everything. Went back to his house, talked some more then I went home. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Talked to my wife about the car and she was so happy I’d gotten a chance to drive a cobra. Went to work the next day and couldn’t stop thinking about the car. About 1pm my wife calls and said she couldn’t stop thinking about the cobra and that I should go get it. Two kids in college, a mortgage on the house and I’m going to do what. We both figured out at the same time you should try to live your dream. I’m living my dream. Thank you Leslie. She knows anytime she needs something at the store I’m ready and willing to go.

[G.R.]

My first drive in a Cobra was the day I bought it and brought it home, though I had taken drives in a couple of others. We'd looked at the car a couple of months before. Made the decision in early Sept 2000. Early on a saturday morning we caught the ferry to Seattle, drove to the dealer in Bellvue and bought it. Did a short test drive in another one, never out of 2nd. Went through all the pre-purchase hassle, did the purchase and waited for the car to get out of the Detail shop. Four hours after we first walked in the door it is ours. Time to take it home. I climbed in, buckled up the harness, went through the starting ritual, blipped the throttle, engaged the clutch, and killed it
It was in Third gear--duh!.
Finally got things straightend out, off I went, about 6 city blocks to the freeway on-ramp, on to the freeway to downtown Seattle, " If you see kay this sucker is fast", lost my wife in the traffic. Then really started worrying about the other Idiots on the freeways--yikes. I was driving white-knuckled with a grin a mile wide
Made it to the ferry terminal way early and was about 4 cars back--on the ferrries when you are in the first to load you are loaded on the main car deck at the front of the boat-- when it came time to load, as I came aboard into the car deck, the exhaust rumble in the confines of that empty space--loud doesn't quite describe it.
The deck crew held up another car and signalled me forward, right up front first off.
When we got to Bainbridge to off-load, the tide was out, so the ramp had a good incline--I started the car and noticed a lot of walk-on passengers peering over to see what the racket was--not wanting to make a fool of myself again I double checked that I was in first--hmm steep ramp a little more gas as I engage clutch--and off I go laying rubber up the ramp
Saw lots of thumbs up for that little stunt--but it was fully unintensional.

We drove it very carefully around the island that afternoon, then it rained Sunday and for the next 2 weekends