Dave 53
06-30-2020, 01:41 PM
Greetings,
When I was 12, my dad's friend (Gordon Gimbel) took me for a ride at Sears Point in his original that the bought brand new Cobra that's set up for racing. I remember it like it was yesterday. I'm getting one of these some day!
I took up 80 shifter go kart racing. I had some success and won a couple of championships and placed 5th in the nationals one year. Just as much as I liked the track time, I enjoyed the wrenching because I need to have a project.
1999 was the year to get my Cobra. I looked into kits and in the end, I decided I needed something a little more practical and I got a BMW M Roaster. I set it up for track work and called it my German Cobra. It made it to the track several times, but as you may know, track days are expensive and to be honest, I was having more fun on the same tracks with my go kart.
I was racing my kart and getting in an occasional track day with the BMW when kid number one was born, but after kid number 2, the BMW and go kart fell into disuse and I sold them. My wife assured me I could get another sports car some day.
As the kids got older, I tried to interest them in karting, but I guess the motorhead gene skipped a generation. I filled my need for projects with other things. Over the last several years, making cool **** for Burning Man. But, Burning Man is cancelled this year, the kids are now 14 and 17 and I'm board.
My daily driver is a BMW i3 electric car. It's wonderful, but, it's linear and digital. I need to hear some noise. I need a third peddle. I want to be uncomfortable. I need analog.
Mash it all together... Time to build a Cobra!
I went to the Factory Five web site to look at Cobras (guess we can't call a FFR a "Cobra") and stumbled across the 818. While I've always wanted a Cobra and I fit the demographic (56 year old white guy), the 818 spoke to me.
The idea of a 400+ hour project seemed a bit more than I wanted to bite off, but I started looking for a 818 donor car. That lead me to finding an 70% complete 818S with a freshly rebuilt engine and tranny with lots of parts upgrades. Sold!
Looking forward to finishing the car and getting it out on the track!
I live in the San Francisco East Bay and look forward to meeting some of you in person some day.
Don't mean to stir the pot and it doesn't matter anyway, but what's faster around the track, an 818 or a FFR Roadster?
Peace
Dave
When I was 12, my dad's friend (Gordon Gimbel) took me for a ride at Sears Point in his original that the bought brand new Cobra that's set up for racing. I remember it like it was yesterday. I'm getting one of these some day!
I took up 80 shifter go kart racing. I had some success and won a couple of championships and placed 5th in the nationals one year. Just as much as I liked the track time, I enjoyed the wrenching because I need to have a project.
1999 was the year to get my Cobra. I looked into kits and in the end, I decided I needed something a little more practical and I got a BMW M Roaster. I set it up for track work and called it my German Cobra. It made it to the track several times, but as you may know, track days are expensive and to be honest, I was having more fun on the same tracks with my go kart.
I was racing my kart and getting in an occasional track day with the BMW when kid number one was born, but after kid number 2, the BMW and go kart fell into disuse and I sold them. My wife assured me I could get another sports car some day.
As the kids got older, I tried to interest them in karting, but I guess the motorhead gene skipped a generation. I filled my need for projects with other things. Over the last several years, making cool **** for Burning Man. But, Burning Man is cancelled this year, the kids are now 14 and 17 and I'm board.
My daily driver is a BMW i3 electric car. It's wonderful, but, it's linear and digital. I need to hear some noise. I need a third peddle. I want to be uncomfortable. I need analog.
Mash it all together... Time to build a Cobra!
I went to the Factory Five web site to look at Cobras (guess we can't call a FFR a "Cobra") and stumbled across the 818. While I've always wanted a Cobra and I fit the demographic (56 year old white guy), the 818 spoke to me.
The idea of a 400+ hour project seemed a bit more than I wanted to bite off, but I started looking for a 818 donor car. That lead me to finding an 70% complete 818S with a freshly rebuilt engine and tranny with lots of parts upgrades. Sold!
Looking forward to finishing the car and getting it out on the track!
I live in the San Francisco East Bay and look forward to meeting some of you in person some day.
Don't mean to stir the pot and it doesn't matter anyway, but what's faster around the track, an 818 or a FFR Roadster?
Peace
Dave