First and last ride with dad

That’s my dad and I in someone else’s hand built Factory Five Roadster. I’ll let past me sum up the day:

“Incredible is just one word I could come up with to describe both the ride and Dave’s generosity. I was planning on just a short ride with all right turns leading back to Dave’s house. Imagine my surprise when he suggested I take it back to my place to share the entire moment with my family. The side pipes were excellent in letting them know something special had pulled up in the driveway. Both boys were sold on building one ourselves. My wife asked if it had airbags, but she’s still on board.

My father was overjoyed. His condition has limited his ability to carry on a conversation, and he rarely initiates one. That wasn’t true yesterday; he was gushing about the car for the entire ride and continued to explain how great it was to my wife while I gave the kids a ride around our neighborhood (they didn’t really fit in the Simpson harness, so no main roads for them).

Thanks to everyone who has my family in their thoughts and prayers and offered to help out. And thank you for all the personal compliments. It’s easy to be a good son I think, after all, you just follow the rules that were laid out for you. The real challenge for me is in being a father that raises good sons. Dwelling on that now, it’s clear that my success there will also be a result of my father’s work and that what he taught me will continue to get passed on by my boys when they become fathers.

Reflecting on what Dave did for us yesterday – I think the least he did was to loan out his car. And that’s taking into account the hours and hours he put into it, the fact that he loaned it to a stranger, the time he made in his own schedule for us to drive around for well over an hour. The scale Cobra 427 model he gave to my dad as we left as a way to tell everyone else in the home what he took a drive in that day (yeah, he did that, amazing huh?). Even with all that I think there are two things that he did that were even greater.

One, he gave my family a chance to create a special, lifelong memory and fulfilled one of my dad’s lifelong dreams. Two, and I think this is the most amazing thing, he’s provided an example of generosity that hundreds of us will remember and, given the opportunity, try to duplicate. At the very least, it demonstrates that for every inconsiderate person that causes grief to individuals with their actions, there’s a guy like Dave who inspires dozens with his actions. Dave is one of those people that renews your faith in mankind and I think that’s the greatest thing he did yesterday.”

A favor

Right after the holidays in early 2008 I got a strange call from my mother. She and my father would be getting a divorce. He was one the phone, but didn’t want to talk about it or answer any questions I might have. My mother respected this and wouldn’t get into any details with me, concerned that it would upset my father, something I noted wasn’t really her chief concern anymore given his starting divorce proceedings.

The long story of what followed that call can be summed up in three words – Frontal Temporal Dementia. I’m not telling that story here, just touching on the part where a Factory Five Roadster came into it. It was late October 2008 when I posted this to the forums. Back then, Factory Five hadn’t been sued by Carroll Shelby over the use of the term Cobra and so that was what everyone called their roadster.

“I’ve been hanging around the forums for a while now as I research my build. Said build won’t kick off for at least a few more years – the time at which my sons will be old enough to participate. The father-son build being the key reason I’ll be dropping the coin on an FFR.

Unfortunately, my father won’t be able to join us in the build. He was recently diagnosed with Frontal-Temporal Dementia and the disease is progressing rapidly. I had thought he would have more time, but now I’m not so sure. He could still be alive next summer, but I’m not sure how aware of his surroundings he would be.

He has loved Ford his entire life, his first car out of high school being a 1963 or so (don’t really recall) blue and white Ford Falcon Sprint convertible. I do remember taking rides in it and when he sold it in the 80s. He’s never had a ride in a Cobra and it’s something I’d like to do for him while he can still appreciate it.

So, I’m looking for a Mass Cobra owner who would be willing to give my dad a ride this coming weekend (11/1 or 11/2). I live in Westford and my dad is in an Altizmer’s facility near Emerson Hospital in Concord MA.

Thanks in advance.”

There was an immediate outpouring of offers and support, but nothing prepared me for what happened next.

Discovery

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I can’t remember exactly how I learned about Factory Five. I believe it was a result of browsing a forum about dream garages. It was 2007 and I’d just moved to a new house with the first two-car garage I’d ever had. I was excited about the potential for that garage and so I spent hours exploring what other people had done to their garage.

At some point, one of those posts diverted away from the garage improvements and into a conversation about the Shelby Cobra sitting in the garage. The owner corrected everyone – it’s a Factory Five Roadster and he’d built himself.

Well, that was an intriguing statement for a number of reasons and it quickly led me to a second rabbit hole – the Factory Five forums. I started to read the in progress build posts by Sergio, ChevyGuy, etc. and over time it occured to me that this was something *I* could do. I could build my own car in my own garage. Even better, I could knock out the back wall of my garage and add a third bay with plenty of room for a tool bench, a fridge, a tv, and those tool chests that let everyone know you’ve graduated from shade tree mechanic, turning wrenches as a way to save a dollar – or a hundred – to a serious hobbyist.

As with all things, reality intervened and none of those things happened. I would wait more than a decade before starting to build my roadster. But I’d be driving one in less than a year.