I traveled out to the 2017 London Cobra Show for yet another great day on the main streets of London, OH with hundreds of Factory Five and other make Cobras. The day starts earlier with a parade/cruise into town… nowhere else will you see so many Cobra replicas in one place thundering down the street with a police escort. The build-up to the Saturday car show is a week-long of cruises and track days that more than a handful of people participate in.

The big day is Saturday, and Saturday night is the awards dinner. This year, the club donated $100,000 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! I was assisted in the Factory Five display by the great guys from the Factory Five Build School (Quentin, Jim, and Scott), Chris Ronni, and a whole host of Factory Five customers including Henry Renaud, Jeff Miller, Jeff Kleiner, Karen Salvaggio, Garry Bopp, John Tongish, Sten Johnson, and so many others. Pete from BluePrint Engines was at the show to answer customer questions about their engine packages for Factory Five builds, and Chris from FormaCars brought his award-winning Mk4 Roadster and 818 Sports Car to the show.

The London Cobra Show is a great place to reconnect with friends from the forum and the Factory Five community. I was stoked to see Jeff “Da Bat” Miller and his trusty sidekick Robin, a.k.a. Jeff Kleiner.

The weather was absolutely perfect. Clear skies and cool temperatures in the low 70s all day long. The event got lucky as the remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy pounded the area the day before with more than 3″ of rain.

Some great VIP guests were on hand this year. Above: Racecar driver John Morton. Below: Sherry MacDonald and her son Rich (right) with myself and Karen Salvaggio (left). Sherry is the wife of late and very great racecar driver Davey MacDonald who was killed at the Indy 500 in 1964.

Factory Five is about father-son projects and showing off the 600+ HP car you just built!

I can promise you that this little girl’s dad is counting the days until he can do a father-daughter Factory Five.

Above & Below: We brought our newest Gen 3 Type 65 Coupe street car and race version, our 289 USRRC/FIA Roadster, our Mk4 street car, and our famous half mobile Mk4. Factory Five customer Karen Salvaggio brought her brand-new Gen 3 Type 65 Coupe all the way from California!

It was a perfect day to check out Factory Fives close-up.

The running and driving, completely functional Mk4 “Half Mobile” is a crowd favorite everywhere it goes.

Factory Five Chris Ronni brought the big rig out with all of our cars.

Old Bob here built an absolutely beautiful Gen 2 Type 65 Coupe.

Roger and Me. But this story is a lot better than that one about GM!

Factory Five customer Frank Winship and his beautiful Factory Five Roadster was giving charity rides all day. He gave more rides than any one else logging 50+ blasts down the street with passengers for charity.

The London, OH police are on hand to make sure the charity rides are fun and SAFE for everyone.

Factory Five customer Henry Renaud did a great job helping out in the booth and showing off his Robin’s Egg Blue Factory Five Mk4.

Factory Five customer John Takvorian celebrated his birthday at El Vaquero. One of the great things about the London Cobra Show is re-connecting with friends.

The parade is simply awesome! And the weather made it even better.

I am Batman!

The Ohio Cobra Club manages this show keeping it fun, safe, and something that should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Blue skies + blue Coupes = Paradise.

Above & Below: I was honored to have had the chance to add my name to some serious craftsmanship.

Gordon Gross from the Ohio Cobra Club was in charge of the track day at Mid-Ohio. He was also in charge of the charity rides. I like the sticker on the back of his car that says, “Four out of five of the voices in my head tell me to go for it!”

The line for Cobra rides was long all day throughout the entire day and everyone left with a smile on their face.

The rain-out on Friday meant that Factory Five customers invaded the local go-kart track.

The London Cobra Show is much more than a few photos or videos can even convey. It is a group of big-hearted car guys and gals committed to raising money for a great cause and having a ton of fun doing it. See you next year in London!

Dave Smith
President

Photos courtesy Karen Salvaggio.