A Cobra is a pretty sweet street car. A Cobra covered in candy apple paint is even sweeter

“I clearly remember saying to my mate Geoff when he first bought the car that he was the luckiest guy I know. Now I’m that guy,” says Barry Tetley, the owner of this stunning candy-coated Cobra replica. I don’t think many people would disagree with that assessment.

He had wanted a Cobra for as long as he can remember, so when Geoff bought one, Barry was understandably a bit envious. Throughout the time the car was in Geoff’s ownership, Barry always thought of it as his future car. With its rough-and-ready black finish and yellow nose cone, there was no doubt the Cobra meant business, especially with the roll bar extending down between the seats.

It’s Now Or Never

Although the car was Geoff’s dream machine too, it wasn’t long before he figured out it wasn’t quite right for him. With a young family but just the two seats in the car, it didn’t work. “We couldn’t even leave the kids at home and the wife and I go for a drive, as she would have to look after the kids,” Geoff says.

He knew his friend had always dreamed of owning the car, so Barry was the first person it was offered to, and although it may not have been the perfect time for him to be buying, he knew it was now or never. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of someone else driving ‘my car’ if I passed the opportunity up,” Barry says now. Needless to say, the deal was done and Barry was living the dream

Although at the time Barry didn’t know it, he’s since found out that when the car was built back in 1987, it was as a street-legal race car. Apparently the owner went to Graham Berry (now Kiwi Race Cars) with $80,000, which was a lot of money back then, and specced the car with the best bits available at the time.

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