The Good, The Bad And The Ugly From Shelby

"dwight" > wrote in message >...

> >> Stick a blower in a Mustang if you want bang-for-buck.
> >> No production vehicle matched the 0-100-0 of the 427 Cobra for over 20
> >> years. And no one yet has matched its intangibles. Hot feet at wrong
> >> angle, cramped cabin, weird gauges, backwards shifter, who cares? It's
> >> a freaking 427 COBRA.

> > No doubt cool, but I'd bet if you gave 100 auto enthusiasts a 427
> > Cobra and told them to drive it every day, day in and day out, that
> > within a year over 95 of them would be cursing the car and wanting to
> > give it back for something different.

> It wouldn't take a year, here in the Northeast. The first rainy day...

> Do I HAVE to drive it every day? Couldn't it be my "garage queen", while
> TFrog takes the inclement weather?

dwight,

For a garage queen, a kit-car Cobra would almost be the ultimate... a
T-bucket roadster would still edge it out because they're easier to
work on.

Patrick
'93 Cobra
'83 LTD

"Patrick" > wrote in message
m...
> "dwight" > wrote in message
>...
>
>> For a garage queen, a kit-car Cobra would almost be the ultimate... a
> T-bucket roadster would still edge it out because they're easier to
> work on.
>
> Patrick
> '93 Cobra
> '83 LTD

Would you drive a T bucket from San Diego to Monterrey to see the Historic
Races?
Would you seek out all the best twisty roads on your route?

I know a bunch of Cobra owners who would and do.

Erich
garage queens are not cars, they are art.
Drive it like you stole it

Patrick wrote:
> "dwight" > wrote in message >...
>
>
>>>>Stick a blower in a Mustang if you want bang-for-buck.
>>>>No production vehicle matched the 0-100-0 of the 427 Cobra for over 20
>>>>years. And no one yet has matched its intangibles. Hot feet at wrong
>>>>angle, cramped cabin, weird gauges, backwards shifter, who cares? It's
>>>>a freaking 427 COBRA.
>>>
>
>>>No doubt cool, but I'd bet if you gave 100 auto enthusiasts a 427
>>>Cobra and told them to drive it every day, day in and day out, that
>>>within a year over 95 of them would be cursing the car and wanting to
>>>give it back for something different.

It's more than just cool. And if it doesn't have 18 cup holders, GPS or
some other whiz-bang useless option these days, well, it doesn't seem to
make the cut. My dad, the old hot rodder, forgets to lock my manual
doors. He's only owned cars with power locks for -maybe- 10 years out
of the 58 he's been driving. I wish Detroit could make ONE cool new
performance car that didn't have to come with a trim level. I'd like a
new GT, without traction control, etc. etc. ... just give me a stick,
air conditioning, and a tach. A mechanically remote driver's side
mirror is nice, but not necessary. I can read a map and don't need to
have a latte everywhere I go. You performance drive with two hands.
This is why Germans didn't understand, at first, all the accoutrements
American cars had. "You don't drive with two hands?" To them, driving
is an activity in and of itself, not just something you do whilst
talking on the phone, emailing, eating, putting on your makeup, shaving
or all of the above (depending upon what sort of day or night you're
planning to have). I don't get it. I never will. It's forced me to
buy older vehicles not so be-porked with all the gizmo crap.
My brother-in-law has an SS Camaro. It's fast. Every single power
accessory has failed him. The t-tops leak. All those buttons are
creaky and broken, and all those electric motors have stopped working.
You couldn't buy an SS without all that crap. Why? Marketing,
bundling, bull**** creature comforts. Have we all gotten that soft?


>>It wouldn't take a year, here in the Northeast. The first rainy day...

I grew up in the Northeast, in CT in fact. I knew a guy who drove his
427 S/C as frequenty as he possibly could, bad knees and all. Oh, yes,
out in the world, where bird crap and stray rocks and even bad drivers lurk.

>
>>Do I HAVE to drive it every day? Couldn't it be my "garage queen", while
>>TFrog takes the inclement weather?

Garage queens are wastes of money unless they truly are in museums

> dwight,
>
> For a garage queen, a kit-car Cobra would almost be the ultimate... a
> T-bucket roadster would still edge it out because they're easier to
> work on.
>

Would you drive a T bucket from San Diego to Monterrey to see the Historic
Races?
Would you seek out all the best twisty roads on your route?

I know a bunch of Cobra owners who would and do.

THERE YOU GO!

Erich
garage queens are not cars, they are art.
Drive it like you stole it

Exactly. Thank you, Erich.


> Patrick
> '93 Cobra
> '83 LTD

"Kathy and Erich Coiner" > wrote in message news:<UKNld.6638$pP5.2984@trnddc05>...

> >> For a garage queen, a kit-car Cobra would almost be the ultimate... a
> > T-bucket roadster would still edge it out because they're easier to
> > work on.

> Would you drive a T bucket from San Diego to Monterrey to see the Historic
> Races? Would you seek out all the best twisty roads on your route?

> I know a bunch of Cobra owners who would and do.

Erich,

This is a very good point, and one I thought about before my post.
Corner carving vs, even ligher weight and wrenchability. It's a tough
call, a coin-flip decision. But for me, the coin landed on the
T-bucket side two times out of three. So I'd be off to cruise night
with a T-bucket...

Patrick
'93 Cobra
'83 LTD

"Wound Up" > wrote in message
...
>>
>>>Do I HAVE to drive it every day? Couldn't it be my "garage queen", while
>>>TFrog takes the inclement weather?
>
> Garage queens are wastes of money unless they truly are in museums

Garage queen, only on rainy, sloppy days. There's no stinkin' way a Cobra
would sit in my garage on a sunny day. Especially in the winter.

dwight