The 60’s will always be remembered as a time in my life when I had the feeling I could pretty much do anything. My list of broken bones and broken hearts was still short. Fear was just a fleeting emotion usually brought on by my smart mouth getting me into conflict with some guy who was much larger and much more willing to use his fists than I was.

Living as I did in the great Pacific Northwest, put me in a great location for those crazy times.  I could stay in the nurturing northwest and feel the love or, within about 16 hours by beetle ,I could be in San Francisco and feel “everything” while wandering through the wonders of Height Ashbery. Just a street corner for some, but for myself, and a small group of young, long haired hipsters, this was the primary street corner in our own special nirvana. 

What the hell does this have to do with Cobras you might be saying? I’m getting there. Guys in their 60’s deserve to ramble on don’t they?

One wonderful Sunday afternoon, while I was walking in Golden gate Park feeling the effects of the sunshine and wondering about the possibility of actually finding a place to eat, ( Virgos are ruled by their stomach ya know) I heard a strange sound.

Now I knew I was not in Africa, or even that near any zoo but I could not escape the feeling that I was hearing a fierce roaring that could only come from some jungle beast. The worst part was the growling was getting nearer, was behind me and was coming fast. Not that I had never been fooled before, especially here in the land of pranksters and magic, but this was just too real. Way too scary for a Sunday!

The little voice in my brain was saying “Ok so spin around and face this, you have to know what is going on!’

I did spin around and there is no lion, or tiger, not even a squirrel with a very loud sore throat but, there instead was this little car heading toward me, and it was the source of the deliciously frightening growl.

This car had exhaust pipes running along the sides of the car. Really big exhaust pipes and those pipes were shaking my world! Amazing! Is this legal? Who cares, it is just wonderful.

The guy driving was had a very intense look which seemed to me to be showing, that he was just barley able to keep the little beast he was driving on the road. He had the look that said -”if I look in any direction but straight ahead, this monster will leap from the road, with me in it.”

I recognized the shape of the car since a friend in high school had owned a Cobra but his Cobra had been nothing like this, wonderfully loud, creature. Sure, we all lusted for that Cobra from high school but this wonder of noise and grace was worth sacrificing a limb for, maybe?

In that moment, the seed was forever planted in some remote fold in my brain matter. A tiny seed that lied dormant for decades. The, “I must have one of those”, seed was planted? The all to real, combination of no money at all and no prospects for such pushed that seed way back in the grey matter.

After several decades, several marriages, dozens of jobs, and the complete loss of any reasoning that could actually have prevented me from buying a Cobra I did! I bought a Cobra…

Now, I did not really want a Cobra that was a project since my mechanical skills are near nonexistent. Nope, I wanted a Cobra that I could drive. A Cobra that was state-of–the-art but was still a sister to the Cobra from the park from so long ago. The really amazing this is I had seen kit car Cobras for years but they never really captured my imagination. For some reason they were just not quite “right”. (see Cobra Guts following pages)

All this ended when I saw “her” for the first time. She was sitting in a show room and seemed to be glowing. I'm pretty sure glow was probably due to some trick lighting the sales people had devised to snare fools like me. Well, snared I was. The sticker shock was more than a little unsettling but the combination of Cobra lust and tunnel vision, caused by those lights urged my hands to pull out the checkbook and begin writing. It takes a long time to write a check with so many numbers but I finally made it through the excursive.  My supply of “fun coupons” was greatly diminished that day.

It was winter in the Northwest and having lived my winters in Hawaii for dozens of years now, I was bundled in many layers just to survive. I called my son who lives in Seattle and asked him to be my co pilot and, since he is a professional photographer, to document this insanity. he even brought a great, fur lined hat, to protect my oh so bald head! Thanks again Billy. We just had to drive the snake since she was now mine and was calling my name.

These Cobras have no tops. Tops cannot even be ordered for this 600 horsepower beast. Luckily there was enough sunshine to make death from wind chill a remote possibility rather than a guarantee.

I could go on and on about the buying experience and that first drive and how she came to Hawaii to live but all of that is for another time. What I need to say in closing is that when my fingers turned that key for the first time it was simply magic! The sound of those side pipes, from inside my new Shelby Cobra was the sweetest music. After all these years I owned a real Cobra ands she was talking to only me. My fingers had brought her voice to life! Yeeee haaaa....

Suffice it to say, that after hundreds of miles of driving my snake, I now have the look, I saw on that guys face, so long ago. I have  perfected the “snake eyes” look and have it down pat. Thanks Carroll Shelby, may you live to 100--at least!

Opps, I forgot about the car show?  “Hot Summer Nights” was the snakes first show and she brought home a first place trophy! Nice to have some bling in her garage..