he significance of the multi-media presentation that wasshown after dinner at SAAC-1 in

Oakland in 1976 is hard to explain tosomeone who wasn’t there. Only about 500people were. The guy who put this extrav-aganza together was SAAC member andCobra owner Drew Serb. It had not beenpreviously announced. Although it took al-most a year to put together, it was sprungon everyone at the evening program as asurprise. With a huge screen, eight rear-mounted projectors and speakers the sizeof refrigerators, Serb’s production wouldrequire new adjectives.

Why was that? Back then there wereslide projectors, 8mm and 16mm movies—and nothing in between. In 1976 therewere no powerpoints, jumbotrons or sur-round-sound. You could put together aslide show and separately play pre-

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Another Bucket List Entry: the Newest Cobra Museum is a Must-Do— Rick Kopec

The centerpiece of any Cobra museum is the Daytona Coupe. There are only six originals; threeare currently in hands of owners outside of the U.S. and two are already seeing museum duty. For-tunately, Mike McCluskey produced twenty-five exact duplicates. This one is owned by SAAC mem-ber Bill Denbeste.

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recorded music on a tape deck along withit, and if you wanted to add narration thatwould have to be live, done on top of every-thing else that was going on. But Serb hadother ideas. When fellow Cobra ownerRoyal Krieger told him that the newlyformed Shelby American Automobile Clubwould be holding its first national conven-tion in nearby Oakland, California, Serbpitched the idea for a multi-media show atthe evening program: huge screen, multiprojectors and eardrum-breaking sound.How could anyone turn that down?

The first order of business was collect-ing 35mm slides of Cobras and Shelbys.Serb had a lot, and word went out thatSAAC was looking for slides for the con-vention. Most who were planning to attendwanted to see their car on the screen,imagining it would be a straightforwardslide show because that’s all they knew.Slides were also shot of black-and-white8˝x10˝ factory press photos and period racephotography.

Serb had experience putting togetherpresentations for large corporations andknew the hardware existed to combinesound and photos, and use a tape deckwith a separate track that would sendpulsed messages to the carousel projectorsso they could be synchronized to advancewith the sound track. It was crude bytoday’s standards but back then it wasrocket science.

The 500 or so people attending dinnerand the evening program were oblivious tothe huge, 12´x 36´ white screen set up atthe back of the Oakland Hilton’s main ball-room. Everyone’s attention was riveted onthe guests of honor, seated at long tablesat risers at one corner of the hall. Abouttwenty former drivers, Cobra team mem-bers and former Shelby employees had ac-cepted invitations but everyone’s eyesseemed to drift to Shelby.

After the plates were cleared and thelights went down, the pulse-poundingmusic began. Photos flashed on the screen,singly, two at a time, four or eight, con-trolled by the beat of the music. Whensomeone recognized their car they let outa loud “whoop” and friends began clapping.That happened again and again, from dif-ferent parts of the audience. Voice-overnarration briefly related the Cobra storyand near the end Glen Campbell sang“Country Boy,” a metaphor for Shelby, him-self. A magic spell was cast over the roomand when the last slide faded to blackthere was complete silence. After everyonecaught their breath there was a long roundof applause and when it finally died down,one voice said, “Can we see it again?” DrewSerb made that happen.

His multi-media show was such a re-sounding success that Drew Serb wasasked to pack everything up and haul itback east to Hershey, Pennsylvania forSAAC-2. Some new slides were added, re-flecting East Coast cars. The show wasrecreated again at SAAC-3 in Pasadenaand Serb’s arm was twisted to put it on afourth time, in 1990, at the evening pro-gram for the Palm Springs vintage raceCarroll Shelby Tribute. And that’s the lasttime it was seen. But no one who has seenit has ever forgotten it. It makes that kindof impression, even in these days of power-points and You Tube.

In the early 1970s, when Drew Serbwas gravitating to Cobras, project cars fas-cinated him. He was not afraid to tacklecars that had been severely damaged orwhich others might consider written off.Buying a car like this, restoring it and thenselling it provided money to buy others.Over the years he not only gained experi-ence in Cobra repairs but amassed thekind of spare parts inventory that otherowners dream about.

One of the aspects of the Cobra worldthat he slowly realized was that as the val-ues of the cars went up, more and more ofthem were taken out of the public eye. Alot went in private collections. Unless thenext generation of Cobra enthusiasts wereable to see actual cars they would gradu-ally lose interest in them. That was thenhe decided we would create a Cobra mu-seum. And one of the museum’s central fo-cuses would be multimedia shows that

depicted the Cobra and Shelby story.Serb had become very successful in-

stalling large format sound and broadcastsystems in professional sporting venues.His company is responsible for all of thecabling and wiring for the television cam-eras, television monitors and stadiumsound systems. This makes up abouteighty percent of his business. The othertwenty percent is live rock and roll con-certs, opera broadcasts and public broad-casting projects. When a 25,000square-foot building abutting his studiobecame available he decided it would beideal for the kind of museum he had inmind. He registered as a non-profit corpo-ration and began planning what the mu-seum’s interior would look like. The firstconsideration was a forty-seat theater witha large screen and state-of-the-art videoand sound system. He was, in effect, backwhere he had started some forty years ago.Except with a bunch of Cobras collectedalong the way and a treasure trove ofCobra collectibles that he would now havesomewhere to display.

The Cobra Experience’s grand open-ing was on November 1st, 2014 and invita-tions went out to about 250 people. Therewere fifteen cars on display. Plans call forincreasing that number substantially.While the 2015 schedule is not yet final-ized, it will be open the third Sunday of themonth and for private tours. It is staffedby volunteers, notably Serb’s wife Janetand daughters Emily and Kate. Other areaenthusiasts have been eager to pitch in.

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All that was missing was popcorn. One of the things that separates The Cobra Experience fromevery other Cobra/Shelby museum is a state-of-the-art, surround-sound 40-seat theater. At thestart of the video a tiny Go-Pro video camera had been placed on a piece of straight road, betweentwo yellow lines that disappeared into the horizon. After a half-minute during which you were try-ing to figure out what it was that you were seeing, you hear a car coming before it materializes: ared 427 Cobra under full throttle, growing until it fills the entire screen and then in a heartbeatit has blasts over the camera (clearing it by about an inch) and you hear it moving away behindyou. This all happens at maximum volume and is as exciting an attention-getter as you’ll ever ex-perience. It is almost too much for your brain to absorb—much like the first time you see a real427 at speed. What follows is a twenty-minute display of Cobra images flashing on the screen ac-companied by pulse-pounding music. All very memorable. And very stirring.

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The Cobra Experience that everyonesaw in November was only a startingpoint. For museums to be effective (and toremain successful) they have to continu-ally evolve. The Cobra Experience willhave a constantly changing selection ofcars which will help to tell the story ofShelby history. Plans are for there to be ex-changes of historical Cobras with othermuseums. Additionally, the displays of lit-erature, memorabilia, posters and photosthat were at the museum were only asmall portion of what Drew Serb hasamassed over the years. The intention is toadd to what is on display.

The museum will also be available togroups for private events for as few as fourto as many as 250. There is a boardroom/library which can be used for smallmeetings and a food preparation area is onthe premises which can accommodate din-ners and banquet programs. Other func-tions include “Movie Night” (the theaterseats forty and popcorn is included). VIPgroups for 15 or more can be scheduled andthere is an outdoor patio that is ideal forcook-outs. It is expected that the museumcould host regional club meetings and theparking area is perfect for car shows.

The Cobra Experience is off to a greatstart and we recommend it to anyone read-ing this who will be in the San FranciscoEast Bay area. It’s located in Martinez,California, about 25 miles northeast of SF.The website is www.cobraexperience.organd you can contact them by email atinfo@cobraexperience.org The phonenumber is 925-558-5585.

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We’ve seen a lot of display engines in private col-lections, workshops and garages but usuallythey are excuses to show off extra parts thathave been not needed, mostly valve covers andintakes. The five engines, complete with trans-missions, lined up along one wall represent theevolution of Shelby powerplants from the stock289 Cobra 4V to a 385 H.P. 289 full competitionversion, a 427 S/C engine with the famous“turkey pan” plenum and two GT40 MK II 427engines with T44 transaxles, including one withan ultra-rare 58mm down-draft Weber setup, ofwhich only about a dozen sets were ever made.This is why you come to a museum!

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A professionally-built slot car track was donated to the museum by JimFarley from Ford. He was recently transferred to England and it wassomething he got for his son and couldn’t pack it up and take it withhim. Timing is everything.

Drew Serb, the museum’s maestro, had no trouble assembling an ablestaff. He and his wife Janet [center] are flanked by daughters Kate[right] and Emily [left], who also functions as head of the Anti-NepotismCommittee.

Everyone who gets involved with Cobras, to the point of owning one ormore, has a collection of literature and memorabilia. Sometimes you goout looking for it and sometimes it just seems to come to you. The CobraExperience has a good selection, but there is obviously room for more.We’re guessing as time goes by the walls will be filled to the point whereyou won’t be able to hang a business card. Seeing the various Cobrawheels, side by side, is really interesting.

Jere Kirkpatrick [left] and Tony Stoer [right] were part of Shelby Amer-ican’s original Cobra Dragonsnake team. Has it really been fifty tears?Well, yeah, maybe.

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