It is a little embarrassing to admit, but it was your wife’s complete frustration with you that got you interested in looking at Cobra kit car manufacturers and their offerings. You had only been retired from your job of 37 years when your wife announced that you needed to find something else to occupy your time. She went on the explain, and complain, that she could no longer come downstairs in the morning to find that you had emptied another set of drawers out on the kitchen island. Your constant sorting and rearranging, she explained, was exhausting. Just once, she indicated, she wanted to come downstairs to the silence that she had been accustomed to before your retirement.
Her announcement took you completely by surprise. You simply assumed that she would be grateful for the help you had been offering around the house. She insisted, however, that she needed to return to her days of coming downstairs to a quiet cup of coffee and a chance to read the morning news.
So it is not the she specifically told you that you should invest in one of the specialty cars offered by the expensive Cobra kit car manufacturers, but your wife is the one who literally pushed you our the door in the mornings. That departure let to you walking to the local grocery store for breakfast in their small cafe area. And in that small cafe area you happened upon two of your old friends who, it seemed, had also been strongly encouraged to find somewhere other than the kitchen in their own homes to start their day.
After their laughter at the complete exasperation you had for your wife’s frustration, one of them started to talk about his plans for the afternoon. He was going to visit a specialty car mechanic downtown and talk about upgrade parts for his Shelby Cobra kit car. One question led to another, and within a mere two weeks your new breakfast friends coached you in how you too could have your own custom roadster.
Has Your Recent Retirement Left You with Too Much Time on Your Hand?
They coached you into spending a few more mornings at home irritating your wife, and when she again asked you to find something else to do, they suggested that you mention your new interest. They were certain that if your wife was as frustrated with you hanging around the house as you explained, that she would think that your new interest would make a great investment. It was also a perfect reason to spend hours on end working on the new performance car, and would provide the impetus for many short and long distance road trips, further increasing the amount of time you would spend out of the house.
For now, however, you need to conduct some research. With printed materials from some of the closest Cobra kit car manufacturers in hand, you intend to find out what it is you are getting yourself into.
- Only 538 1964 Mark II models were ever built.
- Although some roadsters or racing cars can weigh up to 3,400 pounds, Cobras are known for weighing much less.
- On a British motorway in the year 1964, an AC Cobra Coupe famously reached 186 mph (299 km/h).
- Carroll Shelby built 654 small-block Cobras and approximately 350 big-block versions between the years 1962 and 1968.
- Short tracks, speedways, and super speedways that range from 0.5 to 2.5 miles long are the most typical kind of race tracks..
- Although they weighed almost 500 pounds less than Chevrolet Corvette, Shelby’s original AC Cobras were designed to be “Corvette-Beaters.”