Hey everyone, wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jerry Koepke and I inherited my dad's (Jim Koepke) Cobra project HM1085 after he died back at the end of February this year. He bought the kit back in 2007 and enjoyed working on it for many years. We both enjoy building things even more than using, so his real joy was in working on the car he ultimately never got a chance to finish. He spent long hours working and re-working things on this car for years. Wish he could have completed it, but I'll do my best to honor his memory and do a good job finishing it off for him. Can't wait to take my mom for a ride in it some day in the not too distant future.
My dad started out working on this project at their home in Brownsville, MN back in 2007, but ended up taking it to their winter home down in Lake Havasu City, AZ some years ago. After his death, my brother and I drove out there in March where I bought an enclosed trailer and brought the car back home to Milton, WI where I live with my wife and two daughters. Since getting the car home, I've spent most of my time getting rid of other projects and making room in my small two car garage for this project. Wish I didn't have it for obvious reasons, but I'm loving working on it so far. My wife hasn't seen me very much since I got the car in the garage. My dad had probably around 90% of the mechanicals done and was just starting to work on the body. Unfortunately, his health was not good for the last several years, so there hasn't been a lot of progress for a while.
After getting it home, I decided to take the body off so I could complete all the mechanical work and get it driving, then I'll start on completing the body. So far I've been working on the exhaust, got the brakes all cleaned up, bled and working, got the dash installed again and am currently working on finishing out the wiring.
One question I have for you guys is what was the process like for you to get the car titled and insured? I'm having some issues because my insurance company needs a 17 digit VIN number, but the car doesn't currently have one. My dad had registered it and even has plates in Minnesota for it, but the registration sheet just says the manufacturer is HURR and the VIN is 085. Both my parents and I have American Family Insurance, but theirs is on a older system that doesn't care about the length of the VIN and mine is on a newer system that requires a 17 digit VIN. Unfortunately, we're having trouble locating all the paper work my dad says he kept for the car, so we don't even know where the current Minnesota title is for it and will probably have to request a duplicate. I'll have to get a Wisconsin one and I assume do something to get a valid 17 digit VIN here, but wondered if anyone else has had to deal with this or knows what the process is?
I'll have a lot more questions for everyone as I go, but for now, here are some pictures of the car as it is right now.
