Pictured at his Cobra Experience Museum in Martinez, Orindan Drew Serb will be one of many owners displaying 15 original Shelby Cobras at the annual Orinda Classic Car Show on Saturday, Sept. 7. Following the car show is the kick-off of the Cobra 1000, an annual 1000-mile driving journey started by Serb and his wife Janet 35 years ago.
Drew Serb’s long-standing passion for the Shelby Cobra began when he was in high school and saw the car featured in magazines.
“I just thought they were the coolest-looking cars,” he said, but when he first heard the rumble of a Cobra engine on the freeway, “It was so impressive. I mean, I was hooked.”
Fifteen Cobras, two from Serb’s Martinez museum dedicated to Shelby American cars, will be making an appearance at the Orinda Classic Car Show on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Following the car show is the kick-off of the Cobra 1000, an annual thousand-mile driving journey started by Serb and his wife Janet 35 years ago. Participants from as far away as Delaware and Alaska will be driving their Cobras in the event.
The drive is for original Cobras, said Serb’s daughter Emily Lambert, managing director of the museum. “They usually do it in four days, roughly 250 miles a day.”
Each car carries its own tools, luggage and anything else the drivers want or need.
“There’s no frills along with this trip,” said Lambert. “You’re responsible for your own stuff and following the map from point A to point B … they usually go as a group.”
Serb, a resident of Orinda since the early 1980s, founded the Cobra Experience museum in late 2014. The 25,000 square-foot space features not only the iconic Cobra, but also Mustangs, a Daytona Coupe, a King Cobra, “a whole menagerie of things,” said Lambert.
Over the years, Serb’s passion drove him to gain knowledge of Cobra repairs and begin collecting spare parts and memorabilia.
Serb previously owned a company for 45 years that built large-format sound systems for NFL stadiums, rock and roll bands and classical events. When his business had to make the move from Hercules to Martinez in 2014, the new building provided the space for his museum.
There are between 25 and 30 cars on display at any given time, of which about half belong to Serb. But an even more unique aspect of the museum is its extensive artifact display.
Ford racing engines, Cobra and GT40 wheels, chassis, photos, posters and even a custom 40-seat movie theater featuring a historical film round out the Cobra Experience.
“We actually have a shop scene as it was from Shelby American in the ‘60s,” said Lambert. “So we’ve got a lot of those actual machines in there that you can look at.”
The Shelby Cobra, produced during just a handful of years in the mid-1960s, bridged the gap between European aesthetic design and raw American engine power. The concept was hatched by retired race car driver Carroll Shelby, and the first Cobra was introduced in 1962, featuring a body designed by the British AC Cars and an engine by Ford.
“There were 998 Cobras built originally in the ‘60s,” said Serb. “They went from ’62 to ’66, only four years,” making the Cobra “the most copied car on the planet.”
Racing Cobras, street Cobras, the Shelby GT350 and GT500, the prototype Sunbeam Tiger, a “Superformance” Cobra used during the filming of “Ford v Ferrari” and a Lotus make up the collection of cars in Serb’s museum.
Cars are also rotated in and out of the collection. The Cobra Experience is open every third Sunday of the month, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Managing director Lambert recalls growing up amid her father’s captivation with the Cobra.
“It’s fun to be able to see the excitement and the success that we’ve created throughout,” she said.
Not only do Shelby Cobras come in a range of colors, but also with specialized cockpits. Many are outfitted for the racetrack, with specialized gauges, seats, harnesses and a minimalist cockpit where function is more important than form. You can see rare examples of Shelby Cobras in a multitude of variations at the annual Orinda Classic Car Show on Saturday, Sept. 7.