Dick Cohen of coastal Delray Beach, a classic car collector and retired professor, is surrounded by models but still covets the real thing: a 1969 Shelby GT350 convertible. He says it’s fun to drive. His shirt is a remembrance of a famous race car he once owned. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Retired college professor and serious car collector Dick Cohen just sold the last two cars in his impressive collection: a 1968 Shelby GT350 convertible and a restored 1964 Corvette convertible fuel-injected.
These days, the Delray Beach auto aficionado drives a 2025 Range Rover Sport. His wife, Rebecca, drives a 2021 Mercedes convertible.
“But I’m still looking,” Cohen says. “I want a ’69 Shelby GT350 convertible. I’ve had a lot of them in my day, but I just want one last one. They are fun to drive. They only made 194 of them, and I think they’re way undervalued.”
Starting as a student in 1962, through his years co-owning four salvage yards in Little Rock, Arkansas, with partner Gary Nufer, until today, Cohen has owned or co-owned with Nufer about 200 classic vehicles.
These included at least 15 Shelby Cobras; more than 50 classic Corvettes; 50 Shelby Mustangs, and three early Ford GT40s, including the legendary P/1015 that Ken Miles drove across the finish line at Le Mans in 1966.
During Cohen’s salvage yard years, 1980-1991 — when he and Nufer bought, sold, collected and raced cars — he estimates that they purchased about 18,000 cars for parts and resale.
Cohen, 82, has a wealth of interesting stories to tell, and they can be found in the book he wrote with Jim Kreuz: Cobra Man: The Automotive Odyssey of Dick Cohen, from Corvettes to the Ken Miles GT40 (mcfarlandbooks.com/product/Cobra-Man/).
People always want to know about the Ken Miles GT40 Le Mans car. Here’s a condensed version:
Cohen and Nufer first saw the GT40 in 1985 at the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca. Then, it was owned by Les Lindley. “We knew that it had to have been at Le Mans,” Cohen said. And that got the two thinking. Later, at a race in Memphis, Nufer approached Lindley and asked if he still had it. “Les said he did, but would never sell it, so Gary gave him a deposit slip and said, if you ever decide to sell it, call us,” Cohen said.
A couple of years later, Lindley was ready to part with the GT40, and Cohen and Nufer bought it. At that time, they only surmised that it was the car that Miles drove. “We had no idea, no insurance and we let other people drive it. We were just having a good time and raced it all over the place,” Cohen said.
Eventually, Ronnie Spain, an authority on the GT40s, was able to authenticate it. They sold the car in 1990 to Brian Mimaki in a multicar deal, where, in addition to a significant amount of cash, they received an Alan Mann lightweight GT40 and two 427 Cobras.
After selling the salvage business, he and Nufer divided their co-owned collection, and Cohen moved to Palm Beach County, bringing with him three Cobras, the Alan Mann lightweight GT40 and his wife’s 1979 930 Porsche.
Before his salvage yard career, Cohen, with a doctorate of education, was a tenured professor at the University of Arkansas. He returned to his career in education in Florida, eventually becoming Lynn University’s dean of the Ross College of Education. He retired in 2006.
In his retirement, he’s by no means done, he says. He’s still looking, hankering, wheeling and dealing.
For new collectors, his words of advice: “Be careful. You’ve got to authenticate the car and be sure what it is.” For experienced car collectors, he advises: “You’ve got to be quick.”
For those who want to know more, he encourages them to read his book.
— Christine Davis
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I grew up in Chelsea, Massachusetts, with my twin brother, Phil, and older brother, Earl. Phil and I had a twin acrobat revue, which took us to New York to perform on Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour. At the time, we were the youngest professional acrobats in the country.
When I was 9, my parents divorced, and we went to live with our father, John. Growing up in a lower-middle class community, we formed tight bonds, and I am still close with many of my friends from there. Our father, an MIT graduate and chief meteorologist at Boston Logan Airport, placed a strong emphasis on education. He chose to live in Chelsea so he could walk to work whenever needed — a small detail that reflected his discipline and dedication.
More than anything, he taught us that, in life, it’s not what you say but what you do and how you do it. That principle has stayed with me ever since.
Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A. I have spent my career in education as a professor and dean at several universities. After earning my doctorate from the University of Kansas, I began teaching at the University of Arkansas, where I later received tenure. At that point, I took a leave of absence to pursue a unique opportunity with a college friend, Gary Nufer, in the auto salvage and classic car collecting business.
My passion for classic cars began in high school and eventually grew into a remarkable second career. My business partner and I collected and raced notable vehicles, including the Ken Miles Ford GT40 — later featured in the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari — all over the United States. That experience remains one of the highlights of my life.
Among my professional achievements, I was appointed dean of the College of Education at Lynn University and honored as Teacher of the Year by its student body. More recently, my life story has been published in Cobra Man: The Automotive Odyssey of Dick Cohen, from Corvettes to the Ken Miles GT40, a reflection on both my academic journey and my lifelong passion for automobiles.
Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?
A. I’ve come to believe that success in life often comes down to timing — being in the right place at the right moment. Equally important is surrounding yourself with the right people and learning from strong mentors who guide and challenge you along the way.
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Delray Beach?
A. When our oldest daughter, Amee, graduated high school in 1993, and after selling our companies, we moved from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Boca Raton, after years of visiting friends in South Florida. Living near the ocean had always been a dream for my wife, Rebecca, who grew up in Dodge City, Kansas. When our youngest daughter, Andee, graduated from high school, we decided it was time to turn that dream into reality and moved to a home along the Intracoastal in Delray Beach.
More than 26 years later, we’re still in east Delray and can’t imagine living anywhere else. Rebecca takes full advantage of our surroundings, walking six miles along the beach several days a week. I walk along A1A daily with my childhood friend from Chelsea. We truly feel fortunate to call this place home — it really is paradise.
Q. What is your favorite part about living in Delray Beach?
A. What I enjoy most is being just moments from the energy of downtown Delray — the restaurants, the atmosphere — and having the ocean in view every single day.
Q. What book are you reading now?
A. I’m currently reading Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans, recommended by my co-author, Jim Kreuz. He knows me well.
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
A. My favorite music, any time of day, is classic rock ’n’ roll from the 1950s and 1960s — there’s simply nothing better, in my view.
Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. “Life is a two-minute drill” has been a long favorite. My new favorite line is “I didn’t forget, I just forgot.”
Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A. In addition to my father, John Meyer Cohen, who was my first mentor, Bill Collier was my first professional guide. I met him while teaching special education and fifth grade at Miller Elementary School in Dodge City. After observing one of my classes, he returned the next day with a brochure for an assistantship/fellowship position at the University of Kansas master’s program in special education. That simple but thoughtful gesture set me on a path I never could have imagined — and ultimately shaped the course of my career.
At the University of Kansas, another influential mentor, Richard Schusler, asked me to serve as his graduate teaching assistant during my doctoral studies — an opportunity that further deepened my commitment to education.
Later, Gary Nufer — whom my wife knew from Dodge City — encouraged me to join him in the auto salvage and classic car collecting business. That decision became another pivotal moment, opening the door to an entirely new and rewarding chapter in my life.
Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. Brad Pitt, who starred in this year’s car-racing film F1.
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