Someday, many decades from now, after all historical records of the late 20th and early 21st centuries have been extinguished by the great internet crash of 2012, someone will be trying to figure out what happened. As paleontologists are combing through the remainder of scrap yards for clues about what we did here, they may come to the conclusion that the Shelby Cobra was the second most produced car of all time after the VW Beetle.
The reality, of course, is that the real Shelby Cobra is exceedingly rare, but the look may well be the most replicated of all time. There are also plenty of Ferrari and Lamborghini "replicas" that are mutated to fit on existing platforms like the aforementioned Beetle and the Pontiac Fiero, but the vast majority of the faux-Cobras look so much like the real thing, that all but the most dedicated observers cannot tell the difference without close inspection.
In a little corner off Woodward Ave just south of Maple Rd. were at least two dozen "Cobras", and not one appeared to be the real thing. None the less, these are generally blindingly fast cars and usually just as thrilling to drive as one of Carroll's babies.
Back in the waning days of the Carter administration, Chrysler was in an all-too-familiar position. The company was on the verge of insolvency with a lineup of products that almost no one wanted. That time, they just managed to avoid bankruptcy court. But as the company got a batch of government-backed loans, they were proclaiming a new line of cars that would pull them out of the gutter. Before long, the K-cars arrived and for the next decade most of the company's lineup was derived from those roots.
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As we strolled down Woodward Ave. this morning shooting all the the wild and wacky machinery idling along, we spotted a little gray Chevy Cobalt on the opposite side of the street. While everyone is welcome to participate in the Woodward Dream Cruise, this was no ordinary Cobalt. It sprouted an absurdly tall rig from its roof that instantly gave it away as a Google Street View machine. It's not clear if the driver was just enjoying the ride or actually collecting data that will appear in Google Maps soon, so we'll be checking frequently in the coming weeks to see if the Woodward Dream Cruise has gotten the Google treatment.
One of the cooler aspects of the Woodward Dream Cruise is that its completely open and unmoderated. It's the ultimate "run what you brung" event. Hundreds of thousands of people sit along the edge of the road and watch everything from bikes to trucks go by and the juxtaposition can be fascinating. Seeing a giant yellow high riding pickup truck with the front end of a Chevy Kodiak bearing down on a custom vinyl wrapped Smart is definitely an interesting sight.
While some of the machines trolling along Woodward Ave. today could easily compete in a Concours event, there are there plenty of others that would be shunned from such places. These machines that have been fixed up and heavily modified from their original specifications fit right in in this environment. Such is the case with this MINI. It certainly sounded meaner than any MINI I've heard and as it passed by I realized why. Apparently the old British lump under the hood had been replaced by something a wee bit more modern, in this case a Honda VTEC engine. We don't have any deets, but the car is for sale so if you're interested it might be worth a call.
As we made our along Woodward Avenue this morning we spotted what may be the ultimate "Cruiser" on the road today. Trolling along right in front of a golden Lamborghini Murcielago was a Gibbs Aquada. For those who haven't been paying attention the Aquada is the latest attempt at an amphibious car. Gibbs recently set up shop in Auburn Hills MI as they try to get this land and sea machine into production. In the meantime when this driver gets to the end of Woodward Ave, he can keep right on driving on into the Detroit River and cruise on.
