Cobra Man: The Automotive Odyssey of DICK COHEN
From Corvettes to the Ken Miles GT40
by Jim Kreuz with Dick Cohen
“There is a long list of automobiles that Dick wishes he’d kept, yet he realizes it wasn’t possible unless he’d quit purchasing them. And he knew that was never going to happen.”
A seemingly regular guy who “began his adult life in 1963” by heading west from his native Boston to enter college in Kansas where he subsequently earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in education, taught fifth grade for a time, and met and married his wife Rebecca. This guy, Dick Cohen by name, had a penchant for cars coupled with a talent for flipping them, more often than not in his favor. That, combined with luck, meant that Rebecca never seriously objected and, in truth, enjoyed being behind the wheel of her share of Dick’s interesting rides. More to the point, Rebecca has been a partner in all her husband has accomplished as Kreuz makes clear in later chapters. And, yes, they are still married to one another as this book telling of many of those Cohen-owned cars published.
Cohen’s story isn’t without its “What Was I Thinking?” moments especially when he opted to go “from a respected, tenured college professor position to being the co-owner of an auto salvage yard.. . . Even his father, an MIT graduate, was distraught.” But that didn’t stop Cohen.
All photos circa early 1990s. Rebecca and Dick top left with the “Ken Miles” GT40 after they’d sold it.
Chapters enumerating various cars include chapters devoted to the Shelby Mustangs and Cobras, the Corvettes, and more. Along the way Cohen “and his combination friend and business partner Gary Nufer” made sure they learned properly how to handle these machines by attending “a number of driving schools, including a three-day Skip Barber Competition Course in 1984. They both qualified as professional drivers. With their auto salvage business doing quite well, they were able to pursue their love of racing while Dick taught night classes at the University.”
The most famous of the Cobras that passed through the duo’s hands is undoubtedly the GT-40—P/1015 that Ken Miles drove at Le Mans in 1966. No surprise, then, that many pages are devoted to sharing its story for those readers not already familiar with all that transpired. Even for those who do know the story, as co-author Jim Kreuz is adept at wordsmithery, it is enjoyable reading.
Both Cohens and partner Gary Nufer enjoyed vintage and drag racing. Left page is Dick at Hallett in the ’80s. Right shows Rebecca about to make a drag run in Tulsa with her husband seated beside her (although with no helmet or proper restraints, he likely didn’t passenger throughout the drag run). Also circa early ‘80s.
Not all of the car stories Kreuz tells are related directly to Cohen. Case in point is the story about Carroll Shelby’s 1959 Aston Martin drive with which he won that year’s Le Mans because it involved one of the people who worked on another car and was interviewed by Kreuz. What he related during the interview was too good not to include in the book along with photographs his interviewee provided too.
Cohen didn’t—and still doesn’t—have tunnel vision when it comes to cars. Over the years he figures he’s bought, owned, and sold—or otherwise possessed—well in excess of one hundred interesting autos. It takes Cohen and Kreuz fourteen chapters, illustrated with 180 or so color and b/w images, to feel they’ve adequately told of and shown a sufficient number of them. Their concluding fourteenth chapter is “Miscellaneous Muscle Cars and Leftover Stories.”
But just as the reader comes to the conclusion (well past the book’s halfway point) that this book is going to be all about the cars in The Cobra Man’s life and reveal little to nothing about the man, the ninth chapter proves that wrong! For there the reader learns of Cohen’s achievements in dimensions and fields other than cars.
Sample page pair from 16-page color insert. These predominately show a couple types of Shelbys except top right is the ’63 Corvette Grand Sport serial number 004.
Along the way readers see and read of Rebecca and Dick’s daughters Amee and Andee and watch them grow. Subsequently readers also see and meet Andee’s mate, Steven Holzman and their offspring Ellis and Hayes noting that Cohen is already diligently indoctrinating his granddaughter and grandson in the attractions of automotive enthusiasm.
Having eventually—1991 to be exact—resumed his teaching career with greater frequency than periodic night school courses, Cohen joined the Lynn University staff. He eventually became the Dean of its College of Education. He also helped develop Lynn’s Masters and Ph.D. programs with its student body naming him 2000’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year. Not a bad achievement for a one-time junk yard owner, eh?
Ostensibly retired in 2011, hmmm, can a person of Dick Cohen’s energy, curiosity, and engagement—not to mention his drive to find, purchase and ultimately resell at a tidy profit—ever really just sit back and watch the world go by?
Copyright 2026 Helen V Hutchings (speedreaders.info)
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