67 / 97
boats. Alaskan machinery of all types
is fascinating and rather homemade
looking. That’s because there are no
Home Depots in the Alaskan outback,
and equipment must be built and re-
paired in the field, sometimes during
the worst weather conditions. It’s ob-
vious from this exhibit that Alaskans
are ingenious and resourceful.
It was cool and wet. Brian and I
had coats, gloves and a blanket spread
across our legs as we drove through
moderate rain. As long as we were
driving at a moderate clip, moisture
entering the cockpit was minimal, but
the seats got really wet when we
stopped at a interesting location. How
is it that water is able to enter the
footboxes, which eventually leads to
wet carpets, shoes and socks? Such is
the romance of driving a Cobra.
It’s handy to have a cousin who
lives in Alaska when organizing a
Cobra tour there. My cousin Bill lives
in a town named after the Nenana
River, about one hour north from our
cabins in Healy. So we dropped off our
luggage at our cabins and headed to
Bill’s house for a cookout.
Bill Cotter is an interesting fellow.
A native of New Hampshire, he moved
to Alaska in the 1960s, just in time to
become involved in the pipeline proj-
ect. Eventually he became involved in
dogsled racing and competed in the
1,000-mile-long Iditarod races twenty
times, where he finished as high as
third. Bill had gone fishing a couple of
days earlier and caught some fresh
Salmon for our dinner. I hadn’t seen
Bill for probably fifteen years; the last
time was when Brian and I toured the
state in the rented camper. I had never
met his new wife, Marlyn and son,
Marwin. It was quite a scene: four au-
thentic Cobras parked in the driveway
of a house in the middle of the woods
in rural Alaska. All of us: Lee and Fe-
licia Cross, Dave Wagner, David
Karpik and Katy Rice, Brian and I had
such a wonderful evening.
The next day we became tourists
at Denali National Park, one of the
most spectacular places on the planet.
We took a twelve-hour round trip bus
ride into the interior of the park,
where we saw moose, buffalo, caribou,
grizzly bears and cubs. And we saw
amazing views of Mt. Denali, which is
often shrouded in clouds.
When the bus trip was over and
we walked back to the parking lot,
there was a group of tourists gathered
around our Cobras. At least half the
tourists we’d met at Denali were not
Americans, but from all over the
world. It was a group of German
tourists that we met admiring our
cars. One commented, “
I would like to
bring one of those back to Germany to
drive on the Autobahn! No speed limit,
you know
.” Little did we know that we
would discover our own Autobahn in a
couple of days…
After the Denali trip we donned
dry suits and took a twenty-mile raft-
ing trip on the Nenana River rapids.
The water was cold, the paddling was
tough, but there was not a single com-
plaint to be heard. We were enjoying
Alaska to the fullest.
Our cabins, by-the-way, were
brand new and first class. They were
beautiful, well built and extremely
clean. When you’re booking rooms
months ahead of time and from 5,000
miles away, it’s a little bit nerve rack-
ing. But so far, we were totally pleased
with our accommodations.
We checked out of our cabins two
days later and continued north, then
east on the Parks Highway. The road
was smooth, wide and empty. Similar,
I suppose, to the German Autobahn.
Brian was driving and looked at me.
“
Well, why not?
” I said. We were lead-
ing the group and began going faster
and faster. Lee, behind me, went
faster. Then David, followed by Dave
Wagner in the rear. We were cruising
at 120 mph for several miles until we
decided to back off. It felt good to put
our cars through their paces.
OK, back to 70 mph.
Our journey eventually led us to
Fairbanks where we would stay for a
couple of days. This is where I would
say goodbye to Brian, who flew back to
Atlanta and back to work. It was a
week well spent with my son. I wonder
how many more opportunities I’ll have
to spend with him like this. He is an
amazing young man who has the same
interests as I do. We’ve worked on cars
together since he was three years-old.
Now he’s working in the automobile
industry, like a chip off the old block.
This was one of those father-and-son
adventures that he will remember
long after I’m gone. I’m so glad we did
it.
Fairbanks is also the city where
my friend Woody Woodruff would be-
come my co-driver. Woody is the best
friend I could ever have, and a Shelby
enthusiast to the core. He’d be flying
in from Charlotte. Before he shipped
The SHELBY AMERICAN
From the time we approached Valdez throughWhittier, Homer and Kenai, we were con-
stantly surrounded by water. I promise you that Alaska is one of the most beautiful
place on earth, and easily rivals Swiss, Austrian and German alps for scenery. And be-
cause this was a tops-down tour, we didn’t miss one inch of beauty. (
Lee Cross photo
)
Spring 2019 67