2007 London Cobra Show - Biggest & Best Ever

Skill and luck made the 7th Annual London Cobra Show the most successful ever. The multi-day spectacle was the largest in its illustrious history. More than double the money was raised toward research to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. A total of 280 cars took over the towns of Columbus and London during the weekend festivities, making it the largest kit car show in the country.

The Ohio Cobra Club organizes, produces, and now has officially created the largest replica event in the U.S.-the London Cobra Show. What's so ironic about this fact is that the honored marque is the Cobra, yet the show's open to GT40s and Daytona Coupes, but it's mainly for the most popular kit car ever created, the Cobra roadster. Other national shows across the country are open to every conceivable kind of replicar ever built, the Carlisle Nats and the Knott's AHA being the two most prominent, but these two shows don't draw nearly the same amount of participants or spectators. Say what you will about the Anglo-American Carroll Shelby creation, it's every bit as omnipotent in the replicar arena as the '32 Ford is to the street rod hobby.

For those participants who were part of the two days of racing and driving instruction at Mid-Ohio sports car course on Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday was the day to check in at one of the several host hotels in Columbus to pick up the London Cobra Show '07 registration packet at the Super 8 Motel. Thanks to the magazine's top-notch marketing and publicity department, each goody bag had a recent or current copy of KIT CAR. We wanted to make sure all the London Cobra Show participants had some interesting reading material during their vacation in Ohio.

Hosted by FFCobra.com and Gas-n Performance (www.gas-n.com), we enjoyed a barbecue feast in front of the Hampton Inn Thursday night. Friday morning, showgoers could choose from three different cruising opportunities: the Hocking Hills Scenic Tour; the United States Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base; or the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to watch various teams practice racing on the 2.4-mile, 15-turn road course. Last year, we watched the Hocking Hills scenery whiz by from the passenger seat of a FFR roadster. Since we'd been there, done that, we rode with Steve Coburn in Henry Renaud's Ford diesel pickup to the USAF Museum at Wright Patterson AFB. Both Henry and Steve are former security police in the Air Force and quite knowledgeable regarding hi-tech military hardware from the past and up to the present day. It was as if we had a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum with these two Air Force men leading the way. What a great way to visit!

The three cruise groups hustled back to the host hotels that afternoon to freshen up for the next bit of fun, beverages, and a bounty of food at the nearby Quaker Steak Lube & Tune. A cavalcade of Cobras, GT40s, Daytona Coupes, a Minzilla, a couple of GTMs, and Olli Hempel's Manxter made it over to Quaker Steak for some early evening celebration. We took a few photos, but we had to depart early to take some feature photography in the twilight, when magic light makes any car look just right.

Saturday morning, the show participants met at the Speedway Motors filling station at 8:30 a.m. for the parade cruise into London. As usual, the local gendarmes gave the almost 300 replicar-filled parade a VIP motorcycle police escort into town. We arrived in time to see all the four-wheeled snakes lining London's streets, making the area look as if we were back in the simpler times of the '60s, when gasoline was 29 cents a gallon for super high-octane leaded.

Though this was the largest London Cobra Show ever, it was also the best organized. The Cobra and other replicar-related businesses that comprised the vendor midway appreciated how well laid out their exhibiting areas were. The firemen, who volunteered to work the ladder truck so spectators could get a bird's eye view of the quarter-mile burnout fun runs down Main Street to raise money toward research to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis, explained how much they enjoy the London Cobra Show each year. The town's citizens, who are invaded every summer by these venomous vehicles, get to take part in the Cobra spectacle and realize increased commerce in their Midwest townships. And most importantly, more money is raised to help fund research to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

By 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, the show and Cystic Fibrosis burnouts fundraiser in London was officially over. Participants made haste to the host hotels in Columbus to freshen up for the barbecue dinner, VIP speakers, live auction, and Unique Motorcars 427 SC Cobra raffle car winner announcement at the end of the night. Not long after our meal, Ms. Pat Kellison, personal assistant to Carroll Shelby in the early '60s and executive secretary for Dan Gurney at Gurney's American Eagle Company, shared with us some of her memories of her days at the two race car companies. Then Dennis Olthoff showed us vintage racing photos of his dad, Bob, who raced Cobras and Ford-powered racecars with much success throughout South Africa and England in those same glorious '60s. The last of the speakers, Ford racing engine builder maestro Bill Parnum, owner of Southern Automotive, talked about his days of drag racing and collecting 427, 8, and 9 big-block Ford V-8s. He slaked our collective appetites for horsepower and torque, if only for a moment. The climax of the evening came when lucky Maryland resident Jim Harding won the Unique Motorcars 427 SC.

As incredible as it may seem, there was even more to this multi-day extravaganza on Sunday. The OCC produced an autocross for those clever Cobra owners who wished to try out their skill at the cone-filled autocross course. A morning shower might have prevented a few contestants from racing the clock, but plenty showed up nevertheless.

This group shot of Daytona Coupes may be the largest gathering ever. There were acouple of owners at the show who couldn't make the shoot. Those who could are:Back Row to Front Row (L to R):Rob Burton, Rehoboth Beach, DE-FFR (light blue)Eric Webb, Vienna, VA-Superformance (blue)Bob Hephner, Tipp City, OH-FFR (blue #15)Joe Anitra, Bloomingdale, IL-FFR (red #55)Terry Holstein, Belmont, OH-FFR (dark blue)All Pro Motorsports, Muncy, PA-Shelby 7000 (blue)Kim Wilkinson, Milford, MI-FFR (light blue)Scott Shumaker, Clio, MI-FFR (black)Katherine Lindsey, Leesburg, VA-FFR (black)

We appreciate all the arduous effort that every member of the Ohio Cobra Club put forth to produce the London Cobra Show. It's KIT CAR's favorite event of the year, not simply because it's the largest replica car event, but because it's the most fun, and it raises so much money for research to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Covering this event is never work for the magazine; it's pure fun. If you couldn't be a part of LCS 2007, plan to go in 2008. For more information on next year's event, visit www.londoncobrashow.com, www.clubcobra.com, or www.FFcobra.com. Until then, check out some of the action in this article and expanded coverage on the KIT CAR Web site, www.kitcarmag.com.