I had always loved the look of Cobras. In fact, I thought that they were pretty much the best looking car on the road. And then there was the sound - sweet music to my ears!! I always wanted to build one but, as the years went by, I began to realise that my aspirations weren't about to be realised any time soon. I resorted to resarching the next best option - buying one. I decided that I would spend the next year or so test-driving and inspecting. You know, really doing my homework so that when I came across a really good one, I'd know that it was a great buy. The reality was that although I loved Cobras, I actually knew very little about them, and I had never even driven one. So some solid research seemed to me to be the wise thing to do. After all, it was a reasonable investment for me, and I wanted to be sure that I bought wisely.

The following weekend I actually located two cars for sale - my quest had begun. With much excitement, I set off for my very first drive of a Cobra, the first of what would be many test-drives of many cars. It was a turquoise number, sporting a meaty sounding 351. But no sidepipes! And it didn't seem to look as nice as others I'd seen - the proportions just weren't quite right somehow. Turned out it was built on a Crown chasis or some such disaster, and it drove like a dog! It didn't have any racing stripes either, and I had always thought that they were an aesthetic necessity.

The second car was burgundy. Now I had an aversion to red cars, and still do, but burgundy on a Cobra seemed to be different. I was surprised by my own fickleness. Perhaps it was the silver racing stripes! Well off I went for a spin. Well, the difference between the two cars was staggering. This car sat beatifully on the road, the steering was light yet well conneced to the road, and the ride height within the car seem somehow more comfortable. It didn't sound as mean as the previous car, and the stock 302 didn't have the grunt of the 351, but it certainly drove and looked better.

The interior wasn't flash, and it was sitting way too low at the front, but there was certainly a marked difference between the handling and drivability of the two cars. I discovered that the second car was a G-Force car with the engineered chasis and jag suspension.

So that was the first weekend of my extensive research. I pondered how much nicer the second car looked. I wondered how many of these well proportioned well-engineered cars would come on to the market. After all,
you don't see many Cobras for sale, do you?

Two days later I went and bought it! So much for the tireless research! Well it had won a trophey for the best engineered hotrod at motovation, so it must have been good. And I always wanted to design my oen interior, so it didn't matter that the interior wasn't perfect, or so I convinced myself. All that mattered was that I was the proud new owner of a Cobra! I couldn't believe that I'd done it, but I was certainly glad that I did.

Well, for a while at least. There were head-splitting times ahaed!

CHAPTER 2 - THE LOOKS