Coupe Edition - London Cobra Show Report 2012

[DARKPT]

My son and I spent the weekend in London Ohio for the Cobra Show. We were surprised by how many non-FFR roadsters and Coupes attended the show. We had more Superformance Coupes than FFRs, and had a Shell Valley, too. There was even a $helby American continuation series in their booth at the show.

When we lined up for the parade, I actually caught myself looking at my license plate as I walked up to our Coupe to make sure it was ours. I never thought that would happen! With more than 40 rows of 4 cars per row, it was a big crowd of Cobras.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7443077228_0b8ae2da6f_c.jpg

As for the FFRs, I can say that there are some guys out there who've been holding out on us. A newly minted black and yellow Coupe made the show before it even got inspected and registered. The builder did a fantastic job, and I hope he sees this and comes across with some build photos for all of us.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5323/7443079454_7d1a72c613_c.jpg


There was also a replica of the Champ Car pace car that FFR used to have. I thought it was the same car until someone told me differently.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7137/7443078974_c22312b79b_c.jpg


This FFR was finished 8 years ago and is holding up very well.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7251/7443078258_81d35f853c_c.jpg


I walked right by a light blue FFR Coupe, but still managed to get it into a picture. It is near the right edge of the picture in a special parking spot. My son saw it up close and said that it was very well done.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7443078608_10a03de598_c.jpg


Dave Smith's Coupe was there, but the crowd at the FFR booth was so big that I never got a good picture. Speaking of the FFR booth (trailer, whatever), Jeff Kleiner and some others pitched in to run the FFR booth all day Saturday as a travel snafu prevented FFR from sending their own folks to attend. They are some great salesmen (and women), and I know they'll get the recognition they earned for showing the FFR colors.


This Shell Valley looks great despite problems that the builder had with the previous owners of that company. He fabbed up some original parts to make the kit work, and has an amazing Keith Craft engine under the hood.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7256/7443074498_a455f34384_c.jpg

[DARKPT]

The Superformance brand was well represented with no less than 4 Coupes. Our roadster brethren gave the red Coupe a push start as the parade into town began due to some electrical problems. All I could think of as the roadster owners dashed back to their cars was "Wow, a LeMans start to a parade? Now THAT's hardcore!"

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7116/7443077604_a307bceebb_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8168/7443076720_6d9bd07b74_c.jpg


Two blue Superformances sit on the other side of the street in this pic. Number 93 was giving charity rides to anyone with $10 to spend getting a big, goofy grin.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7135/7443074174_f174a81fda_c.jpg


The silver Superformance attended the Mid-Ohio Vintage Racing Cruise-In.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7443076122_fe5cb7c39d_c.jpg


That's our blue and white Coupe sticking its nose out of the crowd at Mid-Ohio

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5450/7443075738_2be3b3e6c6_c.jpg


Speaking of Mid-Ohio, a pace car led the Cobras on to the track for 2 laps at lunchtime. My son snapped my favorite picture from the week.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7443074950_394f05baf8_c.jpg

If you ever get a chance to go to London, you definitely should. I've attended plenty of car shows over the years, and thought I'd point out the things that (to me) made this event really special:

1: London residents seem to love the event. They were sitting in their yards every other house for miles leading into town to watch us go by. The show itself stretches into neighborhoods, and even though these folks couldn't get out of their own driveways (and obviously couldn't park in the street) I didn't see one sour look or a single "Keep off the grass" sign. No one made negative comments about the cars, either. The charity rides ran throughout the show, and while 427's spinning rear tires may be music to our ears, I'm sure its not everyone's cup of tea. Still, the show is allowed to give the rides year after year.

2: In return, both the Cobra folks and the visitors to the show kept things very neat. I didn't see a single piece of trash dropped.

3: The Ohio Cobra Club knows what they're doing. They picked the perfect place for hotels and socializing. The catering for the Saturday dinner was the best I've had at any event, and the evening's entertainment was definitely worth the drive. Allen Grant fit in very well with the OCC folks, and gave us all plenty of his time. There was even a recorded greeting from THE George Lucas, Allen Grant's former crew chief.

4: Maurice was thanked a few times for his work on the raffle car, but he deserved many more thanks. What an awesome commitment to the cause of Cystic Fibrosis!

5: I know now how those folks manage to hand over $100,000 checks to Cystic Fibrosis. What a generous and friendly group! I'm sorry we missed the flying pancake breakfast on Sunday. There's always next year...

You can find larger versions of these pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53614858@N05/sets/72157630288867534/


Dan

[riptide motorsport]

Nice pictures. Someday for me too.

[DARKPT]

Here's a short video we compiled from our trip. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/XF2XsYl9ZLI


Dan

[loeffler1]

Pretty doggone neat. It amazes me what you guys can do with computors. I don't even know how to post photos of my build!!!

Bill

[rj35pj]

Great video!!

[FMJ]

Made my day!

-Fred

[John Dol]

Awesome, thanks for sharing. Was that our friend Jack Lawrence at about 2:32 in the cop car??? LOL

John

[Joe]

Nice photos and a great job on the video Dan..:D