Shelby book hooked a Corvette guy

[Flint]

Greetings! It's taken me a long time, but I'm finally appreciating what a cool car the Cobra is, and thinking some version of it might be in my future.

I'm just finishing the Rinsey Mills biography of Carroll Shelby. I never realized what a cool guy he was, and I'm kicking myself for never learning about him and trying to meet him before he died.

I come from a long time in the Corvette hobby. I've owned many of them, especially '67 and older. I currently own a 1957 fuel-injected racer that spent a lot of track time in southern California. The original owner of my car is still alive at 90 in Beverly Hills, and he told me that he and a fellow Corvette racer were in Carroll's shop in Venice in 1962 and when he found out they were Corvette racers he told them he was building a car that was going to "kick some Corvette ass". I like plain speak, and there's no denying that he did what he said he would do. Corvetters would add a lengthy "yeah, butal" here, but that's a different discussion.

Shelby did show them some things about the importance of port matching in the shop that day, and my car still benefits from his help in that area. So I do have a pretty indirect connection to him already.

I still like Corvettes, especially '62 and older, but I think my next sports car will be a Cobra. Someday I might use my car a little at the track, but it would mostly be a weekend cruiser. I would want a car that followed the body lines of an original '64-'65 as closely as possible. I would want it to appear as correct as possible. I'm not sure if I'd want a big block or not. I'm told the front end weight of some big block cars gets a little high. I prefer the factory built cars like Superformance, but the back of SPFs seems a little perky. I should mention that I've only seen pictures of reproduction Cobras, and almost all of them look pretty damn nice.

So I'm in no hurry. I think my budget would be around 40K. I wouldn't be planning on re-selling my Cobra, but I would hope to have one that would keep a decent market value for that eventuality.

What a great site. I kind of feel like I know some of you guys already.

[Dangerous Doug]

I'm currently reading the Shelby biography myself. Great book, but I'm a bit bogged down in the racing history right now. Shelby, the man, has disappeared and its all about race results and who placed where. Otherwise, been a blast to read.

I think most of us here are car guys, and just happened to zero in on the Cobra. Appreciation of other Marques will not exclude you. I often admire (gasp!) the occasional Ferrari.

What you need in the garage next to that '57 'Vette is a 289 FIA.

Cheers,
DD

[Flint]

Doug, I have to admit that I skimmed some sections of the race results in the book... at least in those sections that don't have anything to do with the Cobra. I did gain a lot more respect for Shelby in reading that book.

My '57 was raced against some of those great Cobra drivers back when they raced Corvettes.

If I read your info correctly, you have an ERA. Great looking cars in the pictures I've seen. I assume you'd recommend one?

[PeteF]

Check out ERA's website at Era Replica Automobiles - Makers of the 427, 289FIA, and GT40 replicas. Lots of good info there. I have had my small block ERA 5 years now, and definitely recommend ERA, both the car and the people. Good used ones can be found in your price range, with some diligence. Welcome aboard.

[lippy]

As odd as some people may find it, I like both Chevy and Ford. I have a '62 Vette 327/300 that will share a garage with my Cobra. The Vette is more of a cruiser, while the Cobra will be a bruiser. My daily driver is a Chevy truck as well, and it's the best (new) car I've ever owned.