The 427 Cobra Years...The Beginning

Unemployed, near Broke and Losing Heart! Yea, I'm over 30 now but hey, at least I have the Porsche...one dream realized at least. What am I going to do for a living? I have a Wife, two Kids, a Dog and Car Payments to make...starting to lose sleep now.

How it it ever come to this?

My Dad has been following my Porsche project closely and asked me if I could build him a Cobra Replica. I was worried about having to sidetrack one project to start on another, but it was some work after all (Family Discount, so not much Cash!).

I located an old 'Roach' of a Cobra Body with a lot of the parts missing, but the price was right. Dave and I brought home this piece and Tania started wondering again..."Is this guy ever going to quit and get a real Job?"

I made some arrangements with another friend to use his garage to build the molds and the work began. I remember it was a hot summer in 1990 and the work went on until Fall.

I pulled the first body for my Dad's car and now possessing some Cobra Body Molds, thought I was in Business. I formed a Company and called it Can-Am Motorcars and started to advertise in the local paper as a Cobra Kit Builder...Or so I thought! Double-click the pics to get the full size.

I tracked down an old Home-made Cobra Frame through another friend and got a deal at $300 bucks. I stationed this puppy beside my emerging Porsche and also began working on it to the rolling Chassis stage...Things were starting to come together for me.

An older gentleman was driving by regularly and one day spotted the chassis. He stopped in and introduced himself...and decided this would be a good hobby for him in his retirement age. It seems that I have my first Sale! Wow, that really puts wind in the sails and I started putting in overtime now. I was always raised with the knowledge that Hard Work Pays off and it now seemed true to me.

I had now outgrown the Garage and needed some proper Commercial Shop space. I cooked a deal with my Dad to borrow a little of his shop in Langley. This is where we finished off the first Cobra car.

Things went well and the phone started ringing a little at a time, the only other manufacturer in the area was a guy in North Vancouver...I was not afraid of a little competition.

My Dad finally got fed up with the Fiberglass fumes and asked me to move on...well, I guess it was time anyway. I signed a lease for another shop in Langley with no real work to pay the bills, starting to lose sleep again. I had to take on any kind of work just to make my monthly payments and my wife Tania was a real help during those tough times!

With the 'Old Man's' car finally finished it was time to build our own car for demonstration purposes only (Yea, Right!). Tania says "We can't afford this right now...or ever!" I somehow convinced her that it was now or never, it will pay off in the end. A little 'Salesmanship' on my part got the nod to go ahead.

Guys, it really helps to have your Spouse on your side!

Life can get quite tense otherwise. With our 'Demo' now completed and a proper Shop Environment, we can now concentrate on building Kits and Cars!