Dream Drive
By: Nick Graham (Nikoby)

It's 6:00 a.m., slightly foggy with a mild breeze. I'm standing outside, cup of coffee in hand, absorbing the cool air getting ready for my first drive down the coast. As I stand there in front of my car with my garage door open, periodically sipping my coffee, looking over the lines of the topless beauty sitting there asking to be let loose, I can't help but start to drift away in thought about how I always believed my first "Cobra" experience would be.

Finally, as my coffee cup empties, reality snaps me back and this very real morning drive is upon me. I walk around the car to the driver's door, "My Door", all the while imagining what the drive will be like. The stares I might get, the never-ending questions I might get from envious onlookers. My imagination peaks as I open the door and hear that distinctive "click" that only my favorite car in the world makes. Even more as I ease myself into the very low cockpit, with the snug fitting seats, and strap myself in. Even more as I insert the key and turn to the "on" position hesitating to catch my breath prior to firing it up. I think I feel my heart race a little and believe that there are heightened senses in my fingertips as I fiddle with switches on the dash preparing myself, and my ride, for what seems more and more equivalent to the feeling I had just before my first sexual experience. Now with my eyes slightly glazed over, my fingers fall to the key once again, my left foot depresses the clutch, my left hand takes grip of the steering wheel in hopes that the tactile feel will keep me in touch with reality as I get close to this euphoric, first-time experience. Then…as if with a mind of its own, the key turns under my fingers and suddenly the sounds of rumbling thunder fill my eardrums and every sense in my body is tingling as I feel the vibrations from the engine bay emanating throughout the car. I'm suddenly questioning the sanity of this entire event. Wondering if I should go through with it. There's a form of fear surrounding me as if I were innocently walking through the woods and stumbled upon the sound of a Rattlesnake and not knowing what to do. Questioning why I decided to walk down this path. As I get my fear in check, realizing that it is only adrenaline, I grab the gearshift and shove it in first gear. Finally, being fully aware of my surroundings, as the blood re-enters my brain, an enormous smile fills my face. I blip the throttle ever so gently as to not disturb my neighbors any more than I already have; I ease out the clutch and creep forward. 

Out of the garage, down the driveway, and out onto the deserted street. As I slowly drive down the street through my neighborhood at this early hour, there are few signs of life…an elderly man retrieving his morning paper waves to me with the paper, and a lady walking her dog. This brings a smile to my face as she stares at me in my rumbling car as if I have disturbed her peaceful morning and as her dog stares at me from its ever so familiar "hunched" position, I can't help but think, "Yep, scared the sh*t out of that poor dog", and that if I blipped the throttle, the lady would probably join the dog in the "business" of self-cleansing, but thought better of it and just waved as I crept by. Making it to the main road, I began to realize that the weathermen were right, "It was going to be a perfect day." The sun was clearing up the light fog. I drive down the main street and course my path to the coast. Each time I accelerate from a stop, the entire romance starts over as I work through the gears and hear the exhaust note…Roar…snick-snick…Roar…snick-snick…Roar. It's a new form of music that my car is creating just for me and only I can understand and fully appreciate. 

Suddenly, my heightened senses detect the unmistakable smell of the ocean. I realize that while in the driver's seat of this car, time passage goes unnoticed as if what normally takes twenty minutes now only takes twenty seconds. I quickly feel fear that this day is going to pass by too quickly and become only a fading memory. So quickly maybe as to feel like the memories happen even before the actual experience. Hoping the opposite, I continue on and reach the coast. As I take in the smell of the ocean and exhaust and the sounds of the crashing waves and idling engine lope, I am reminded of the long road it took me to get to this point. I decide to pull off at one of the numerous viewpoints along the ocean to savor the moment. 

Leaving the car idling, I gingerly exit out of the snug seat and "click" the door shut, and there it is again, that unique click sound I heard earlier, and again it brings a smile to my face. I slowly step back and look over my car, taking in all the lines and curves as I slowly walk around her. What a gorgeous machine. A perfect photo-op with the car staring back at me with its front wheels slightly turned outward, its parking lights aglow, and the waves crashing behind her under the brightening blue sky casting perfect sparkles off the pristine paint work, I now regret not having my camera. Now that my moment of admiration is over I start to get that itch to feel the power of this gorgeous creature once again, so off I go heading further down the coast. As I drive down the coast I am careful to focus on every single experience and remember every nuance of the road and catalog it accordingly so I can be sure to relive this moment perfectly, again and again, as it has been preserved perfectly in my mind. Keeping at a moderate speed, I enjoy the curves of the coastal roadway trying to find each apex. And with each apex I find I become more one with my car. Except for the occasional straightaway that avails itself and I take advantage of, realizing that the overwhelming power of this car never needs to be fully unleashed to experience pure excitement, I keep my speed constant as light fog patches come and go. This car, by its nature, regardless of how much power it has, offers the purest driving experience available. This enlightenment I have must be from some convergence of myself and the soul of this graceful beast of a vehicle.

The hours tick by as moments and I realize that my maiden voyage is about to end. All the feelings are still in check however, the euphoria, the excitement, the fear, the anxiety, and the accomplishment and pride that I finally made it to the place that at times seemed impossible and entirely out of reach. As I pull back into my garage with all my Cobra paraphernalia staring back at me, I am unfortunately brought back to the reality that as great as this drive was, it will not come close to my maiden voyage when I actually have a Cobra instead of the topless vehicle I have now. I can't wait until that first drive down the coast comes to pass. The dream continues…

Yours truly,
Nick Graham
a.k.a. Nikoby