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Just a tidbit for you to get "green" over....my senior year of high school (1965-66) my wife's best friend's father bought a 427 Cobra. I'm not sure if it came stock with the 2-4bbls, but that's what it had when I saw it the first time. Evie Moffat was her name, come to think of it. We lived in a very small Northern California town (Loomis) where every kid was high on muscle cars and hot rods instead of drugs back then. Our town only had two small, old gas stations, and several of my buddies worked at "George's Union" on the "main drag", which was actually old Highway 40 going from Sacramento to Reno.
Evie's dad brought the Cobra over one day for all of us to see (and hear). None of us were experienced enough to get behind the wheel, but he let George take it for a blast up the street. In those days no one had 10" wide tires on any hot rod or anything else. They looked enormous...especially on such a small car. Now, a number of the guys had big HP cars like Max Wedges, 409's, and other major muscle. But all of them were 3500-4000 lb heavy metal and pretty much straight line slugs. Not many Corvettes or anything like that because they were too expensive. But all in all, it was a more-than-typical race (drag) car paradise.
So, George climbs into the driver seat, and Evie's dad next to him. George gets out on the "highway' with our Constable, old Percy, keeping an eye on things. The road was clear so George blasts off heading North toward the old grammar school. He was gone so fast we stood there with our mouths open. None of us had seen that kind of acceleration off the Sacramento Drag Strip. None of us had seen it up close. George and "dad" came back for another run, this time with "dad" in the driver seat. Percy turned on his cop lights to keep any school kids or moms off the road. This time we went up to the "Frosty" to see the car go by (about 200 yards). Yeah, right!
"Dad" gives the big 427 a few revs, runs it up to (I'm guessing) about 3000 rpms, and drops the clutch. The wheels barely spun (unlike our rubber-melting antics when we raced or "exhibited speed", these babies grabbed tight and quick. Quick isn't even the right word. It was past us so fast we really didn't get much of a look except a blurr. The real thing I remember was George in the passenger seat with his mouth wide open and his eyes open even bigger (George was Japanese, so that was hard to do but fun to see). That Cobra was an absolute rocket ship!
I don't know how fast it was 0-60. Probably not measurable with our stop watches. I don't know what it's quarter mile time might have been, but it was one helluva lot faster than anything on any street ... ANYWHERE. I've never seen any car so quick, and I drove a modified ZR-1 for about 10 years with even (slightly) larger rear tires. I never forgot that sight over 45 years ago. "Dad" didn't leave the car stock; had it custom painted...42 coats of a purplish hand-rubbed laquer that was dazzling. He was taking it to the Sacramento Autorama when one of the fuel lines came loose and spewed 100+ all over the front fenders and cowl (not to mention the engine compartment). I was heading of to college at the time, and the last I heard Evie's dad was so sickened by the incident he sold the beast. I'm sure to this day he kicks himself at the thought of letting a $million car go to someone else. But if there was a "once-in-a-lifetime" ride to have and have fun with, this was the one.
That picture sticks in my mind today: the blur of the Cobra, George's open mouth, and all of us gaping as they flew by. George's Union station is long gone, and George passed away a number of years back. ButI'll take that secen with me to my grave...and I'll bet the rest of the "kids" will too.
Anyway, that's my "hands on" realtime Cobra story from seeing the original thing in action and treated like the brute it was rather than a museum piece.
Edited by deja-view, 18 October 2012 - 09:10 PM.
