HARRISBURG, Pa. – Lonny Maurer has his son to thank for getting him interested in building collector race cars. The 53-year old president/CEO of Bellco Community CU got the idea of building a replica of a 1965 Cobra when his son Andy was two (he's now 20 years old). "I thought as he got older it would be something we could build together and I'd eventually give him as a high school graduation gift." Unfortunately, says Maurer, "Cobras are not Andy's type of car even though he's awestruck when he looks at these types of vehicles." That may sound surprising to anyone who knows anything about race cars. Cobras were originally built and designed by Carroll Shelby. Maurer said the Cobra was supposed to be capable of competing with vintage race cars on the European scene like the Ferrari and Lamborghini. All Cobras were virtually hand made and were never mass-produced. Only a few Cobras exist today, and Maurer said those that are around "are very valuable." Andy's lack of enthusiasm for the Cobra hasn't quashed Maurer's interest in completing his project or for that matter acquiring other classic cars. He's been working on his "repli car" Cobra "aggressively" for three years. He's not sure yet if his hard-top Cobra will be silver or platinum. The interior will be maroon and it will most likely have translucent stripes with a maroon hue to them. He also owns a 1987 Corvette as well as a vintage '92 Dodge Viper which Maurer says was the next generation of the Cobra. Maurer emphasizes that his collection is not for everyday driving – he leaves that to a 1999 Toyota Tacoma. He takes the cars out for "Sunday jaunts" and turns a lot of heads on the street especially when he's driving his "Viper Red" Viper. -

[email protected]