SpeedTV.com Book Review: “THE COBRA IN THE BARN: Great Stories of Automotive Archaeology”
Written by: Gregg Leary Charlotte, NC – 1/23/2006

Author: Tom Cotter
Foreword:Peter Egan
Publisher: Motorbooks Inc.

Review by Gregg Leary

Peter Egan is the perfect choice to introduce us to Tom Cotter and his book. Egan writes for “Cycle World” and “Road and Track.” His words are more poetry than prose. In the foreword to Cotter’s new book, “The Cobra in the Barn,” he tells of co-driving a Cobra Cotter had purchased in California back to Tom’s home in North Carolina.

“Tom lives, thinks, reads and breathes old cars more deeply than anyone I know,” Egan writes. “On the cross country odyssey, Tom’s head swiveled slowly back and forth like a radar dish, sweeping over the houses, fences, backyards and buildings. ‘Don’t you wish,’ he said, ‘that you had X-ray vision so you could spot all the neat old cars that are probably hidden away in these small-town garages and old barns?’”

Egan answers, “Of course I did. I’ve had that very same thought a thousand times. We all have, even if we’ve never put it into words. Finding that car in a barn and making it run again are as close as most car buffs will ever get to God.”

Amen.

Finding buried treasure seems to be a universal quest, be it for hoards of coins, pirate loot or Spanish gold. Sometimes one finds the automotive equivalent of Mel Fisher’s “Atocha,” … the untold riches of El Dorado …sometimes, however, the emptiness of Al Capone’s vault … a rusted out Cadillac Eldorado. Cotter collects true stories from both ends of the spectrum and from all over the globe. Dramatic before and after photographs document most of the discoveries.

In the Introduction, Cotter quotes Ritchie Cline, whose Imperial Palace Auto Collection in Las Vegas contains some of the world’s finest automobiles. “There are still some undiscovered Rolls-Royces, Bugattis and Dueseys to be discovered. There are great cars sitting in little garages all over the world, still owned by guys who bought them thirty or forty years ago.”

Cotter offers tested and proven methods to help the reader in his search:

1. Drive down dead-end streets. As Robert Frost said in “The Road Less Traveled,” “because it was grassy and wanted wear,” there are treasures waiting for you on those dead-end roads.

2. Go looking in winter. When leaves are off the trees, your vision through the
“forest” of decaying garages and barns is better than ever. Suddenly, you might catch a peak of something hiding back behind all that junk.

3. Let everyone know you’re a car nut. You’d be surprised how cars come out of the woodwork just by getting the word out.

These suggestions alone are worth the price of the book, but we’re still only
in the Introduction—the hors d’oeuvres. The “meat” of the book is the stories. There are over 50 of them. Don’t be a glutton. You don’t have to devour them all in one sitting. Snack—a story or two with your morning coffee. Take a Cobra to lunch. Dine with a Delahaye from Czechoslovakia. Savor the flavor.

A Hawaiian Cobra with 18,000 miles had hibernated in a garage for 35 years. Its saga gives “The Cobra in the Barn” its title.

“It took us two hours to uncover the car. It was a 1963 250 GTE, and had thirteen years of junk piled on it.” “Ferrari Dreams” become reality.

A cutline under the photo of “The Tomato Farm Jag” made me smile—”The Jag then sputtered to life with the push of the starter button, launching the tailpipe’s surprised rodent residents across the garage floor.”

“A Propane Gas Delivery Man’s Discovery.” “Cobra CSX2149, the 149th Cobra produced, was stored in an Indiana barn for nearly thirty years. The raccoon living in it was angry about his eviction, but he had been a bad tenant, having eaten much of the original leather interior and carpet.”

Marlene Dietrich’s 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom rematerializes after more than half a century. Paul Newman’s D Production National Champion 1971 Triumph TR6 is located appropriately enough in a garage near Watkins Glen. The sagas are short sprints to the psyche … normally only a couple pages long…great for this reader’s ADD attention span.

Since I gave you Cotter’s suggestions on how to find the car of your dreams for free earlier in this review, you must buy “The Cobra in the Barn” to learn “Dr. Zagato’s Secret for Buying Not-for-Sale Cars.” This book is a gem for those who yearn to find their own automotive treasure, and a great read for those of us who only want to get a vicarious thrill as we read about others enjoying their automotive archaeology.

I give it four lug nuts out of five.

“THE COBRA IN THE BARN: Great Stories of Automotive Archaeology” is available in the SpeedTV.com bookstore.

Gregg Leary is the Researcher/Writer for “Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain” and Book Reviewer for SpeedTV.com.

Leary was track announcer for Hooter’s IHRA Drag Racing at National Events in the USA and Canada and entertained event crowds during “down time” by conducting “crowd participation” and product giveaways with the Hooter’s Girls. He was Marketing and PR Director and track announcer at Lake Erie Speedway.

As Photo Editor, feature writer, columnist and swimsuit calendar chief photographer for “Sports Jam Magazine,” Leary covered Auto Racing, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association. He has photographed dozens of celebrities from A-Z…including Mario Andretti, Jim Brown, AJ Foyt, Ken Griffey Jr., Michael Jordan, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Mark McGwire, Paul Newman, Walter Payton, Alex Zanardi and Presidents Gerald Ford, George Bush and Bill Clinton. Gregg’s wife, Lynn and daughter, Caitlynn live in Jefferson, Ohio and his son, Sean is a student at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.

Leary has conducted motivational seminars and performed stand up comedy around the country. He is a graduate of Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio and Exeter University in England. Gregg has hitchhiked 40,000 miles through 36 states and 10 European countries and is a licensed pilot and skydiver. Leary is available for motorsports consulting on a limited basis.

Contact him at gleary@speedtv.com .