Another complete newbie

[Adrenalinehunter]

Right then.

After 30 years of saying "One day I'll get a Cobra", and now that the bloke around the corner seems to have sold his, so I don't get my weekly fix of seeing one, I've finally told myself that I have to take the leap and do it! (Ironically, my cousin was once married to a very divisive, now deceased, member of the kit car world. I'm sure that lots of you will know who I'm talking about but, despite his weaknesses (my abiding memory of him is him not lifting a finger every Christmas Day, whilst everyone else was running around preparing, and then clearing up from, lunch!), I'm guessing that it was him that sowed the seed in my 12 year old mind!

So where do I go from here?! Do I know which car I want? No, but I'm keen to accept advice. Am I mechanically skilled? No, but I'm willing to try to learn. Do I have lots of time to build something? No. Am I just a glory hunter who wants to look good in a Cobra? Maybe, but I do think that it's a bit more than that!

I can almost hear the hardcore amongst you groaning, and saying "here's another naive 'can I just get a new one off the peg please, oh and can you also tell me everything I need to do - it's presumably dead easy to give me all the advice I need' blokes who's clearly entering his mid-life crisis"!

Ultimately, I don't know where to start but I thought that the first step would be to say hi (I feel like I'm at my first AA meeting!). Ideally, I guess I should be frequenting as many shows as possible, and sitting in as many cars as possible, but the current Covid climate presumably makes that challenging.

I'm also not sure what amount of work I should sign up to. Realistically, I'm guessing that a complete build might be beyond me but can a newbie, with minimal/no mechanical experience manage a part build, or should I sell the wife and buy a shiny new one that somebody else has done all of the hard work for? I'm guessing that's only up to me to decide.

Any thoughts, or advice (even if it's 'Dont be so daft - this forum is for people that actually know what they're talking about, not townies with their heads in the clouds!) would be hugely welcomed.

Thanks,

Matt (in Bedford)

[Walsh3328]

Hi Matt

Welcome to the group. The cobra for you really depends on your budget and what you want from the car.

Your welcome to come down to us and chat cobras go out in ours but being so far south from you I would stop off on the way down at the other manufactures on the way.

There is a huge range of cobras from rebody BMW z3 to full original Kirkham and everything in between.

What I say to people when they walk in is what do you want at the end of your build? Then work back with budget being the next item.

If you want please feel free to call and chat.

Dan

Tech Autos

[Adrenalinehunter]

Thanks for this Dan - I like the idea of starting with what I want at the end. Realistically, I think I'll only really know that after I've sat in a few. I do think that space might be a factor. I'm 6ft. 2 and 100kg and the only one I've driven (my wife hired one, down your way, for my 40th) was a squeeze for, of all things, my feet! I had to throw my shoes away afterwards as they spent 6 hours squashed into the foot well!

My parents live in Andover so, presuming life gets somewhere back to normal and I can visit them, I'll maybe schedule a visit to you, whilst I'm down next.

Thanks again

[tonym]

For the larger frame try the pilgrim sumo or crendon, both having larger than average cockpits. They are the only two marques that fitted my larger than ample body. Saying that though, AK sportscars made me a one off chassis to give me as much room in the cockpit as possible and I found it very accommodating. So, if you're buying ready built or part built then keep the above two marques on mind, if you're building from nothing then ask the manufacturer you pick if they can make an changes during the construction to fit you better, some will help, some may not.

[jon1d]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the mad house of cobra nuts. You will have honest, knowledge opinions.
You need to do a list of what you would like to end up with. As most of us in builds or buying do change there minds.
Budget is your starting point as this will categorise the manufacturers in scope.
Build yourself, buy or commission build?
Some people get great enjoyment from the build process. Time is money. You can build it a lot quicker or a commission build will turn round a build a lot quicker.
I suggest you sit and try for size the manufacturers that you can fit in.
Ask lots of questions which will probably raise more questions.
Cheers Jon

[Grumbleweed]

Hi Matt and welcome to the club!

Just a quick email to say that i started building my Pilgrim Sumo mk3 back in June last year and I’m pretty local to you (25 mins from Bedford) happy to assist in anyway once you’ve made your decision!

All the best, 2021 looking good for you already!!

Greg

[Firestarter29]

Hi Matt, and welcome. There’s a number of drivers your size (like me)so there are cars to fit but there are some odd things to consider- Steering wheel size, footwell / pedal box size, seat height and width (runners or bolted to floor) all make a difference to getting in and out, and comfort whilst driving. Not having the windscreen surround in the centre of your eyeline helps too. Big feet / boots don’t help.

There’s a few cars near you, at least one in Bedford, one in MK a couple in Cambridge and quite a few in Northampton, yr welcome to come over and have a look at my old Pilgrim mk2 when the virus permits, or there’s usually a dozen at the East Mids monthly meet.

[Adrenalinehunter]

Thanks for all the replies. My wife has said she's glad that nobody has suggested selling her....I was kind of hoping that would be advised as the best option!

I'll wait for things to settle and get researching asap.

I think I've seen you before, David. I used to live at the top of the High Street in Roade, and used to regularly ogle a yellow Cobra that was outside my house, in the queue for the roundabout!

[drammyboy]

I'll wait for things to settle and get researching asap.

I found a bargain here............

[Rudolph]

Hi Matt - I too am 6'2" and (sadly) nearly 100kg with size 11+ feet, but I fit in my Crendon very well (www.crendonreplicas.com). It is important to get something you can drive comfortably otherwise you have built it for someone else to enjoy. I recall the aborted visit to a Lotus dealer when I sat in an Elan many years ago and looked out over the top of the screen, so do take time to at least sit in the completed cars and check pedal positions, and that you can actually climb in and out without scratching the paint or falling onto hot exhausts. In mine the additional room for the driver is offset by the tightest possible space for the 447 cu in block - life is always a compromise. Good luck - let us know how you get on.