Cobras, not so rare anymore

[RACER X #99]

When I first got my Cobra replica 1986, I was the only person in my area that had one.
Now within 5 minuites from my home there are at least 5 of them.

One real REAL one.
One CSX REAL replica.
One Superformance.
One ERA.
One Contemporary.

Time to find something not so common.

Anybody wanna trade a track Boss 302 for a track Cobra?

Cranky

[Jim Wintz]

I know what you mean Cranky,

I fell in love with the Cobras years ago, at that time I never saw one in the small town I live in unless one just happen to be passing through. If I recall from my childhood I only saw one maybe two ever.
Well I finally decided to get me one, and since I made my decision there has been 4 others that I now know of, 3 are new in this area with in the past 2 years, 2 of which are Superformance, and one was purchased used out of state not sure what it is, and the last a Shell Valley that has been around for years just never met up with it before. Well now mine makes 5 with in a 15 to 25 minute drive of my house. But I am also within 40 minutes of Superformance in Ross.

I agree they are not as rare to see as they were 10 years ago, but I still love em and they still turn all kinds of heads, can't wait to get mine on the road to join the others. I am hoping to organize a small cobra group localy to take some weekend rides with. Oh yea Shelbyville is only 40 minutes away so maybe it is attracking the snakes, Ha..Ha...

Jim

[JWheaton]

Cranky,

The same could be said for a number of "toys". I find that I can not get out of the way fast enough for all the Harleys that are cruising around.

I past a Burger King yesterday in Vernon that had 9 of them sitting out front. Since when did BK become a Biker Bar?

With the Cobra, I think its a reflection on a visually well designed car.

What car/hot rod do you think will start coming into its own?

[avanti-176]

Yeah,
That is why if for some horrific reason I have to get rid of all the toys ,when all is said and done the one that will remain will be the Avanti because I have still only seen one other one around here and it gets just as much,if not more, attention than the Cobra.

Have a good one,
Dan

[casaleenie]

It was 38 years between Cobra sightings for me... First one was at Fort Bragg in N.Carolina in 1964, and the second in 2002.

There are probably five in my immediate vicinity and another 25 within 40 miles... Not a problem for me... It's a fun get together whenever the weather permits and our season is pretty short up here in the north...

Those darn cars are always a head-turner and a scene stealer..


You get a sense of insignificance when three hundred of them show up for the Spring Fling but "what the hay", it's for a good cause...

[Excaliber]

I've never seen more than 3 Cobras together in one spot here in Hawaii, and I remember BOTH times I saw that!

One guy commented it was the FIRST time he had seen another Cobra in his rear view mirror. Which I thought was so cool, I wanted to lead the section,

Ernie

[427 S/O]

I know what you guys mean, I may re-body to a coupe........

[John McMahon]

Cranky is as Cranky Does, Forrest.

Since I was a relative newbie in 1997 when I got my first Cobra as a dee-vorce present to myself, I have seen more than my fair share of Cobras, good and bad.

For quite some time, I lost interest in the car, but resuming my build recently, I am getting into it more and hope to have it done by the summer.

I hope to bring it to the Northwoods event at Road America in August.

Not sure what I'll do, keep it, sell it, dunno. But I will never build another again. Not enough time.

[REAL 1]

Very rarely do I see other Cobras (REAL or replica) on the road. They are still pretty rare to see but great fun when you do see them.

Are more Cobras a bad thing??? As an enthusiast my feeling is the more the merrier whether replica or CSX (new or old).

[Bill V]

Evan,

Perhaps what some of the guys are feeling, and I understand where they are coming from, is that as Cobras of all stripes become more commonplace, they will begin to lose their mystique.
I believe that we love these cars because of their unique styling and their aggressive look, but also I think of their uniqueness.

I've heard it said that nobody gives a Corvette a second glance. That's no entirely true, but wouldn't it be a shame if Cobras were to be ragarded in that way. What say you (or anyone else)?

[Randy Resetar]

Im starting to feel the same way...Im ready to build a Daytona coupe..RR

[klayfish]

You know everything there is to know about the Cobra'n business, Bubba? You can build 'em from scratch, you can get 'em turn key, partial build, already done, fry 'em, boil 'em, race 'em, show 'em... You were watching ABC on Saturday night, weren't you John?

There are more and more Cobras on the road these days. However, I think they are still a relatively "rare" sight and will never be as common as a 'Vette.

Cranky, I'm shocked you care about how common the car is. I figured you only want to go 1/10th of a second faster per lap, regardless of the car. Looking for a Ford powered car?

Steve

[flipper35]

I don't see them often, but I hear there are two others here in town. I think we are losing a way to differentiate ourselves from the 'regular' sports car guys. I know some of you have 'vettes and vipers and ferraries, but there is something different with a cobra. When everybody and their brother has one, they become a commodity. My wife was looking at an Auburn Model 851 or a Mercedes 500k replica because they are very rare to see. Also, she just wants a cruiser car.

[REAL 1]

While there are certainy more "Cobras" today than 5 years ago I think it speaks to the desirabity of the "Cobra".

While you can argue that they aren't as rare as they used to be as far as seeing one on the road there is no other rare car copied as much as the Cobra. Why? It has that rare combination of beautiful lines and tremendously aggressive looks which can be backed up by the cars prodigious performance.

The car is still rare enough and stirs enough passion that there is rarely a time I can think of when I didn't get a "thumbs up" from people.

Whether replicas become more common place or not doesn't matter to me. Maybe it does to others. I purchased a Shelby Cobra because I wanted the same legendary car that he made in the 60's but brand new. I love the perfomance, the beautiful lines, the look of the car, the sound and the way it makes me feel just looking at it and especially driving it. I couldn't care less about the number of replicas out there today, which is still a very small percentage of the total number of the cars on the road.

I love the car. I didn't buy a Cobra because they were rare. I could have bought a Ferrari if that was my concern. I couldn't care less how many others are out there.
I love my Shelby Cobra. Period.

[RACER X #99]

I guess I built my Cobra replica for all the wrong reasons. I bought into the hype about the Cobras being the fastest car ever built, 0-60 blah, blah, blah, 0-100-0 blah, blah, blah. I wanted a real kick ass car and the Cobra was the car for me. I went to all the shows and talked with everbody about Cobras and we all agreed that the Cobra was the absolute fastest car out there. Just drive it down the street and as others have said, lots of thumbs up and smiles from others.
Well no sense wasting all the horsepower at car shows and street cruising I'm gonna take it to the track and show those guys what fast is all about.
First off when you take a Cobra to a track event none of the racers are impressed. The thumbs up are none existant in the pits and the others are all just waiting for you to embrace the Armco.
Not to worry, when they see me on the track they all will know they were blown away by that little Cobra.

Oooops reality check. What the hell is that VW GTI doing in my rear mirror almost on my bumper. How come those Late model 302 Mustangs keep pulling away from me in the corners. I got a 427 SO, what the hell is going on here? What ever happened to 0-100-0? Don't those guys know I got a Cobra with a 427?

I can tell you what happened, those guys are driving track set up cars with less HP and are blowing me into the weeds.

So now 15 years and many dollars later, I finally got a Cobra that can keep up with most of the racers. Finally realized that nice comfortable street Cobras make terrible track cars. Suspensions too soft, not enough brakes for serious speed and one more thing. Young drivers with no fear are just as fast or faster than old drivers with experience.

So that is why the Cobra does nothing for me anymore. It's the greatest race car at the car shows and just an old racear at the racetrack.

And that's all I have to say about that.

[REAL 1]

True. But most Cobras today are not set up properly to compete at the track and when they are they are competing against cars that have benefited from 40 years of performance advancements and technology. I'm no expert but thats the way it seems to me.

And when you think about it, none of the Cobras contemporaries (performance legends themselves), ie. XKE light weight, Grand Sport, Ferrari 250 GT0s would fair any better against modern performance cars. So its unfair to single the Cobra out.

In its day, with experienced and skilled drivers the Cobra had no equal and made a legend for itself in its own time. Its the legend, which it deserved based on its performance abilities that still lives on today. The car still has an "aura" of prodigious performance of supercar levels.

I'm sure a show room stock Porsche 996 or BMW M5 or M3 would give a Cobra (289 or 427) a run for the money today (as they would a Grand Sport Vette, XKE lightweight or Ferrari 250 GTO) as many show room stock cars of today meet or exceed the performance levels of yesteryears race cars. Thats what developement is all about.

But when you put it in context, a car back in 1962 to 1968 with the performance to equal a modern M5 is pretty impressive when you think about it.

[casaleenie]

Originally posted by REAL 1


Very rarely do I see other Cobras (REAL or replica) on the road. They are still pretty rare to see but great fun when you do see them.

Are more Cobras a bad thing??? As an enthusiast my feeling is the more the merrier whether replica or CSX (new or old).

(REAL or replica) upper case/lower case
I see Evan waving the RED FLAG and no one bit.... Now that's a rarity....

[maxrpm]

What the heck is going on here???....sounds like Mutiny!

[REAL 1]

Al: That wasn't the red flag.

The red flag was "replica or CSX"



As far as a "bite" don't worry it won't be long.

[Maricopa]

There are at least 40-50 'Cobras' in the Phx area, and unless I'm at a car show, drive, or AZ Cobra function I see one maybe 5 times a year. But if I saw one every day I'd still want one. I'm not building mine to stroke my ego, have the most exclusive car in town, have the fastest thing on the road, etc. I'm building it because I've wanted one since I was 14 and because of the way they make you feel while driving it.
If I wanted the most unusual car around there are many other choices, if I wanted an ungodly fast/great handling car I could do it for far less than the modest $25K I'm spending. I wanted a Cobra, for all the things that make is such a great car, not something to make me stand out from a crowd or get people to look at me. If I wanted that I could just wear a funny hat.

Mike