Text and photos by Steve Temple

While there are all sorts of car clubs around the country, we’re drawn to Cobra clubs in particular, as we’ve found they are more inclined to actually do stuff together, rather than just parking their rides and sipping beer over them. Of course, Happy Hour does happen at the Bay Area Cobra Club’s events, but members also relish some epic drives, about a dozen in all during the year.

In particular, the annual Snakes to the Lake takes place in late August, now in its 21st year. Heading east from the San Francisco Bay area, they gather for a brief lunch stop, and then roar through the forested foothills of the High Sierras on winding route 50, arriving en masse at South Lake Tahoe. 

We barely caught up with them kicking asp as they rumbled past Echo Summit, and then met up later at a motel in town. The entire weekend featured a series of runs to various scenic destinations around the lake, allowing members to take in all the sights of this “Jewel of the Sierras.”

We came across several Cobras of note at the event, and plan to highlight them in upcoming issues. In the meantime, here’s a quick overview. And if you have a Cobra in the Norcal, join the club!