Photos by Juan Lopez-Bonilla

For 11 years now, the Ohio Cobra Club has been attracting all sorts of charming snakes, this year for a three-day bash held on June 25 to 27. While a fun and fabulous event, underlying it is a serious effort to raise money for fighting cystic fibrosis. And this year’s charity effort culminated with a surprising finale.

Despite having to brave some wet and clammy conditions, the initial turnout of cars was still strong with 177 cars on hand out of some 185 registered in all. The Kentucky Cobra Club showed up in force to lend a hand as well. On Thursday evening the rains parted for the cruise-in at the Submarine Shop, a great way to start the event.

Tents popped up at the hotel parking lots, and folks rekindled old friendships and checked out the upgrades on all the Cobras. They also got the the first glimpse of the 2105 raffle car, a 20th anniversary black Superformance. By sunset, the OCC announced that nearly all of the raffle tickets had been sold.

The next day started with an overcast sky, and a chilly new cruise was added to the Amish Village. In anticipation of wet weather, the autocross at the Circleville track was moved up to Friday, and the Factory Five Racing team took to the Circleville track to kill some cones. Karen Salvaggio, owner/driver of the Warrior Princess, was present as well, and drove many of the Cobras. 

By two o’clock the skies opened up, and it poured rain all through the afternoon and evening. So Friday night’s cookout and cookie contest was held under the tents. Salvaggio shared her amazing life adventures in wrenching, teaching, driving and the races she has been in, with some 200 wins.

Saturday morning even more cars started to arrive at the Speedway station to line up for the parade to London. An assortment of 102 cars made up of Cobras, Daytonas and GT40s staged together in a fine drizzle, and by 9:00 am the Show officially got underway, with a local sheriff leading the way.

In London the sun popped out as the Cobras roared in, vendors were all in place and the wind was picking up. Main street started to dry out, it was still chilly in the high 50’s—who would have guessed in June? Around 10 o’clock the last raffle ticket sold.

The charity ride-along line on Main Street was starting to grow, but the pavement was still damp, so the rides were pushed back for a time, as Main Street had water coming up through the pavement. At noon it was decided to allow the brave drivers to give charity rides on the slick pavement at 25 mph, with 113 rides given before the rain came back and they had to stop.

Under the tent Saturday night the BBQ was hot, and attendees stayed dry. The Speakers for the evening were Superformance’s Todd Andrews and Factory Five’s Dave Smith.

The 2015 raffle car, a 20th anniversary Superformance Cobra, helped the Club sell a record 10,000 tickets. This enthusiastic participation allowed the OCC to write a check to the local Cystic Fibrosis chapter for $111,000—bringing the Ohio Cobra Club’s total donations over the years to more than $1 million!

So who got to drive home the raffle car? Joe T. from Cleveland. Next year’s car was also announced: Factory Five #1 20###sup/sup### Anniversary Mk 4. So don’t miss out on all the fun next year, come rain or shine—and a chance to win a Cobra.

CLUB SANDWICH

While the London Cobra Show is sponsored by the Ohio Cobra Club, many attendees are welcome as well. In fact, it seems that all of North America fitted under the canopies of the visiting Kentucky Cobra Club. Well, not exactly, but with standing room only, attendees could shake hands with Calgary, Los Angeles, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, and North Dakota—and the list goes on. 

Old friends and many new ones wandered into the KCC umbrella of camaraderie and decided to stay. Even the show’s guest speaker, Karen Salvaggio (of Thunder Valley Racing), pulled up a chair and stayed a while. The club’s switchboard rang off the hook with people asking if there are any more free memberships. Of course there are! Bring your enthusiasm and a smile and you are good to go.   

The KCC visited the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB on Friday, which is so big, members would have liked to take their cars inside. An just like the KCC, there’s no admission charge.  

Adding to this very special event, one of KCC’s very own, founding member Monika Jackson, a native of Germany, took the oath of US citizenship on Friday morning in Louisville, Kentucky. And the next step after the ceremony saw Monika and Sam racing to join Cobra friends under the KCC canopy. What is more American than that? 

It rained a bit (or maybe a lot) but rarely on the calvacade of Cobras. Wet weather never seemed to dampen smiles or bother the festivities. The Ohio Cobra Club exceeded all  standards this year, cooking up a festival of fun and contributing handsomely to the war on cystic fibrosis. Kudos to all the Cobras! But as always, it was all about the people.—Vince Lubbers & Juan Lopez-Bonilla