Back to California

Those who have been following my DIY activity lately have probably noticed that I've been a little sparse with the posting the last couple weeks. That's because I've been travelling with the family, and with two small children it doesn't leave a lot of spare time to put together quality posts, but I did manage to snap a few pictures of the trip. Where did we go? Well, San Diego, California of course. It's funny because our travels were for business (my wife's) that has no relationship with our former residence there just a few months ago. Go figure. It was nice though since we were able to visit with family and friends that we have in the area and it was a nice opportunity catch up with them and enjoy ourselves a little.

I've been dying to talk about this little thing right here since we arrived in town and had to put gas in the car for the first time. This my friends, is how much fuel was selling for when we arrived. At $4.199, it was almost a whole $2.00 per gallon than the $2.259 I last filled up with before we left Raleigh, which also makes it almost double the cost (86% more to be exact). To put this in perspective, this fuel price disparity means that in Raleigh, it costs me about the same to drive my pickup truck per mile as it does in San Diego to drive the little compact SUV we were in. That's right, a little 2.0L turbo 4-cylinder costs as much to operate here as a 6.8L gas-guzzling V10 does elsewhere.

It was a convenient reminder of one of the reasons we left the great state of California. Things can often cost double, triple or quadruple the price that the same thing can be had elsewhere in the US, which can make enjoying the nice weather, the beaches and the beautiful scenery a bit of a chore when you live there. Lucky for us, this was just a brief stay, and so we were still able to enjoy it in spite of all that.

One night I was fortunate enough to have dinner with just the kids and me, so I took them to a classic San Diego restaurant, the Bali Hai, where they have a wide selection of tropical drinks. The one you see here is called a Gilligan's Island, and I must say that it was delicious. I had their Korean chicken, and the kids each had steak stir fry from the kids menu. The place was such a hit that they wanted to go back for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of the trip. I opted for the hotel restaurant for most of those meals, but we did make it back with their mother for one more dinner.

Speaking of the hotel, here's the view off the balcony attached to our room. The Santa Anna winds were blowing from the east, which would have made it unbearably hot inland, but out here on the water it was simply a nice warm beach-friendly day. I took the kids to a nearby park, the beach across the street and the pool; along with lots more outdoor exploring while we were here visiting.

I couldn't help but snap a picture of this vestige of a bygone era, especially since a friend of mine has a very similar Cobra. It's kind of rare to see one with this paint scheme. I spotted it at a local coffee shop, a couple different times actually, which means the owner drives it often. I like seeing that. Cars weren't meant to be stored away in a garage and rubbed with a diaper. They were meant to be driven.

This one is a kit car, which becomes obvious when you see the replica Halibrand wheels. You'd be very unlikely to see a real Cobra being parked at a coffee shop like this, but the 5 lug nuts and wide modern rubber is a dead giveaway. They are still quite pricey in kit form though, so it's encouraging to see someone enjoying one of these impractical cars so often. If you've never driven or ridden in one, no matter which V8 you might find under the hood (even with a wheezy stock 5.0l from the 80's, these are still very fast cars), they are a blast to drive and I highly recommend it. Lightweight, torque and power that you could never fully use legally on the street, and handling that I find to be amazing for such an old design.

A little known fact about the Cobras is that even though the engine is mounted up front, it is a front mid engine sports car. The engine is mounted completely behind the front wheels and so the weight is biased significantly to the rear tires, and with no roof, the center of gravity is quite low. You can get a sense of this when you sit in the cockpit and see how far from the center of the car the pedals have been shifted to make way for that big V8. The back of the engine block sits about mid-thigh. The transmission shifter is so far back that the lever needs to be bent almost at a right angle to get it to where your hand can use it. When you get under the car, you can see a tiny little driveshaft going into the differential. Any further back with the drivetrain and you've have to couple the transmission directly to the diff.

I have read lots of stories from automotive journalists about how hard one of these cars is to control, but I didn't find that to be the case in the one I drove. That was surprising to me because it had a real 427 side-oiler, the heaviest powerplant found in the originals, which was massaged to make quite a bit more power than even the real Shelby did. Yes, it'll get sideways in the blink of an eye if you're not careful with the throttle, but compared to any other 60's-era muscle car I've driven, this thing has very predictable handling, puts the power to the ground and corners quite well. The traction control, stability control and antilock breaking systems are your brain, so you have to use it when driving one of these. This one was on coil-overs and modern 305mm wide rear tires, but with a jaguar-style independent rear suspension, it was actually an inferior suspension design to the original double control arm suspension, and still rode and drove like a modern car in my opinion.

Anyway, we had a great time in San Diego. I probably enjoyed our time there with the kids more in a couple of weeks visiting than I did the previous two or three years living there. Pictured above is my friend's Cobra, and yes I did get an opportunity to drive it briefly on the trip while helping him out with a little carburetor tuning. Fun in the sun the whole time. It sure is still a great place to visit, and I'm glad we got the opportunity so soon after leaving. I'm also glad to be back home now.