She was a basket case when we found her.  A piece of gray fiberglass, loosely mounted on a  car frame.  Parts and pieces were stacked throughout the garage.  We were assured by the seller (a retired airline mechanic) that everything was there……..as he handed us the plastic Rubbermaid container with mirrors, dials and other miscellaneous parts and pieces.

Her engine, came from a 1993 Ford Mustang donor car.  All of the paperwork was there including the dusty instruction manual from the kit car manufacturer (who by the way was no longer in business).

But, my husband had a dream and a vision.  A dream that was formed from the influence of his brother who would take him out to the drag strip every weekend.  A vision formed from his dream car, a 1969 Camaro Z28, black with gold racing stripes down the middle.  And so, as he loaded her into the car hauler another journey began.

It was a labor of love……….and patience.   Looking back our expectation was that in a few months we would be zooming around town in our sporty convertible.  We soon learned otherwise.  Car restorers are artists and you don’t rush them.  And so, the process began.

Three (3) years later we finally brought her home after winning a “Top 10 Best of Show.”   We had a blast and enjoyed all of the looks we would get.  It was amazing to watch kids hanging out of their car windows, snapping photos as we zoomed by.  Once, we even had a woman stop us in the grocery store parking lot and ask if she could have her picture taken next to the car!

She was sleek and fast!  Our motto (taken from a Toby Keith song) became “get in, sit down, shut up and hold on!”

We made some great memories with her and even managed to fulfill a dream of taking her on a road trip to SSI……a special celebration for my husband’s birthday.

But, as all good chapters in our journey of life must come to an end, we said “goodbye” to her last weekend.  It was bittersweet watching my husband run through the car controls and settings with her new owner.    But, he had fulfilled his dream, had his fun and was ready to move on.

And so, as he unlatched the hitch and the new owner backed his pick-up to the car hauler, we closed the chapter of “The Cobra.”