First announced in the now defunct magazine Fabulous Mustangs, the SVT Cobra Owners Association (SCOA) was formed in April of 1993. Originally set up as a self help organization, with the sole goal of passing information from member to member, the SCOA evolved into one of the largest world wide speciality car clubs. The first issue of VENOM, the SCOA's official quarterly newsletter, was mailed to 53 charter members and other interested parties in July of 1993. When Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) got wind of us, they helped out by providing information and giving the SCOA access to the Special Vehicle Engineering (SVE) engineers that developed & built the Cobra. Soon, Ford's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) jumped aboard, along with some companies from the aftermarket, including Performance Parts INC, Extrude Hone, Parrish Insurance and Global West, who give our members discounts on their products and services.
Today, membership is over 900 members in every state, Canada, England and Europe. Our members range in age from their late teens to late seventies, male and female, from stock to wildly modified, from everyday drivers to stored vehicles, from show cars to race cars. From its humble beginnings as a 12 page, xeroxed copy, VENOM has grown into a 16 page, professionally printed newsletter filled with technical information and SCOA event news.
Through its network of regional coordinators, the SCOA runs at least one national convention each year, and many other regional events sprinkled around the country. These events are as varied as the interests of our membership. Some are shows, others are autocrosses, while others are open track events or drag races. Many are combinations of the above! In 1994, our first convention was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in conjunction with the MCA Mustang 30th Anniversary Show. Over 50 members attended this event. We ran two events in 1995: the first was at the All Ford Nationals in Carlisle PA, and the second was at Road America in Elkhart Lake WI. In 1996, we had our first national convention at the Mid-America SAAC event in Tulsa OK in June, and our second was at the 20th Anniversary MCA show in Atlanta on the Labor Day weekend. 1997 saw the SCOA return to Tulsa for our national convention. Regionally, we ran events in CA, CO, NY, PA, NJ and IL.