I've been a car nut for as long as I can remember. I was given my first car when I was 13 and have been tinkering with them ever since. I always liked drag racing did some when I was in high school and college. I'm still very much into Nostalgia Super Stock racing. I don t remember when I first learned of Shelby Cobra, but I know I coveted one from the time I read about them in the '60's. I remember an article about the 427 Cobra that stated something like,  "You have a better chance of being passed by a herd of stampeding water buffalo than by another car."  I had to have one the fastest production car in the world. College intervened and I could barely afford the magazines that touted the Cobra s incredible feats, much less the actual car. But almost as soon as I graduated and got a job, I started searching for one of my own. I considered a Cobra that Astronaut Scott Carpenter was selling (that was an interesting conversation).  And CSX 3002.  I didn't want an SC, and besides 3002 was pretty rough at that time.  If only I could have known the history and foreseen future value of that car!

I finally found MY Cobra in Englishtown, New Jersey. CSX 3159 was also a bit rough when I found it. But it ran, looked presentable and it WAS a 427 Cobra. I knew it had a drag race history as the Baldwin Motion King Cobra, but really didn't care about that. I wanted a street car with no side pipes and no roll bar (they had been removed before I got it).  Just a side note you should never drive a Cobra for the first time when you re hung over after a Wedding Reception. I got eyeball deep in the Shelby American movement that was just starting to gain momentum. Along the way, I also picked up a 260 Sunbeam Tiger and a '68 Shelby GT500. In the '80s the Shelby meets started to change. Not as much camaraderie; not as many real Cobras. They d begun to graduate to investments instead of drivers and people just didn't bring them out to play anymore. Children also came along. So I decided I'd owned CSX 3159 long enough and sold it to a doctor. From there, I went through a myriad of Shelbys and Mustangs until I finally arrived at a car I still have a 1967 Sunbeam Tiger Mark II 289.  34,000 miles with original paint, top, seats, carpet, etc. It s a great little car but not one I drive a lot. And it's not a Cobra.

Which brings me to the present and Superformance 2594. I saw this car advertised by a dealer in Virginia and couldn't believe my eyes.  Big block FE motor; no side pipes; no roll bar; with a hood scoop like CSX 3159.  It was green instead of blue, but it was gorgeous. For some reason, the brain won out over the heart and I didn t call about the car.  I d forgotten about it when, some months later, it turned up on E-bay for sale by a different dealer. It didn't sell there, but I contacted the seller and arranged to buy the car. Exactly 30 years after selling my CSX 3159, I trucked on down to Newport News, Virginia to pick up my second Cobra. Is there a difference between the way it looks, sounds and drives?  Very little.  Is there a difference in the way I use it? Absolutely.  I ve owned SP02594 for three months and have already put more miles on it than my first Cobra got in five years.  Recently at a SAAC driving event, someone asked if 2594 was a  show car.  Heck no, it s a driver. And that s the way it s going to stay. I m having more fun with this car than I ve had in years.  I don t have to look in the mirror to tell I m no longer 23 years old.  But when I strap that rocket-snake on, I sure feel like it.  And I plan to keep doing it as long as I'm able to hoist my tired old bones in the drivers seat. 427 Cobra-  the most fun you can have with your clothes on.