An obsession?

NAAAAAH!

Of course, if you recognized the text that went with the picture of that Cobra, you've got the same affliction. The first car I fell in love with was a Matchbox model of the Lamborghini Miura, an absolutely gorgeous mid-engined (transversely mounted V-12!) exotic. Of course, I spent my formative years riding shotgun in a 1960 Thunderbird (the one that looked most like the Batmobile), so I imagine my fate was sealed early on.

As for my obession with the Cobra - my introduction to that exemplification of everything that makes a car a CAR, and not just transportation came in the movie "The Gumball Rally". "The Gumball Rally" is a great movie about a bunch of car nuts who race from New York to California that for some reason never gets mentioned when car magazine editors vote on great car movies. It's worth the price of the rental just to see Raul Julia play an Italian Formula 1 driver ("Frahnco ess reh-dee. The rehs meh bugeen."), but most importantly, all the cars sound RIGHT! You can tell the difference between the Porsche and the Cobra and the Ferrari (a beautiful Daytona Spider, by the way). This is especially important if you've ever been bothered by shows that have a car screech its tires on grass, or insert the sound of seriously modified motor winding to about seven grand when the beat-up cop car Caprice takes off.

Well, since the web is visual medium, and you probably didn't click on that picture on the other page to read about the car, how about some more pictures?

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm the proud owner of this black and silver Cobra replica. This one was built turn-key by Classic Roadsters, and has seen service driving from Houston to Dallas, multiple times from Houston to Austin, turning laps at Texas World Speedway, and even autocrossing in Austin. When I happened across it, it was motivated by a stock 1985 Mustang GT engine. Naturally, that's (so far) where all my "cobra money" has gone. The engine is still a 302, but it's received Ford Motorsport aluminum GT-40 heads, the Ford Motorsport B-303 cam, and Edelbrock Performer RPM manifold, and a Holley 650 double-pumper carburetor. For any other 2500 pound car, that would probably be enough, but if the stars line up right, the next step will be a 351 stroked out to 427. Why 427? If you have to ask ... ;-)
NOT ANY MORE!!! In September of 2000, the aforementioned 302 was replaced by a 351, thanks to some very mechanically capable friends and a wonderful (and understanding) wife. Here are the specs:

74 351 Windsor block, bored .060
KB-151 pistons (Ford I-beam rods)
CompCams 282S solid lifter cam
Edelbrock 6025 RPM heads (2.02/1.6 valves)
Crane 1.6 roller rockers
Edelbrock Torker II intake
Holley 650dp (68/76 primary/secondary jets)
Mallory HyFire IV/c ignition firing a Promaster coil through a Unilite distributor (and bearing the distinction of being the only computer in the car!)
Comments? Suggestions?
The motor is a clone of one we put in Rob's Pantera (pictured below) except for the 650dp - he's running a 750 with vacuum secondaries. The rev limiter on mine is currently set at 6000, and it bounces off that with glee. Once I solve some exhaust leak problems, I'll change the limiter and see if this motor pulls as hard to 7k as Rob's does!

By far, however, my greatest automotive adventure has been in the car below. If you've ever wanted to or have gone on a cross-country road trip, I invite you to follow the link:

Of course, there was one other event in which the Cobra played a key role: