On a side streetoff 135th, east of I-95 in North Miami,and a few miles from world famous Thunderboat row, is a shop called Cobra Power. Known for it's ability to provide high HP engines on pump fuel,the company started in 1981 and is now 21 years old, & a main stay in the marine engine industry.

Cobra Power founded & owned by Randy Garciga,came to life in the fast lane 80's,when south Florida had a fuel injected boost of millionaires,trying to see who had the fastest boats.At the time, Garciga wasn't even boating,& actually worked from 11-7 nightshift at a computer based banking organization.A friend asked him to take a look at his boat, and† that's how it all started."The timing was right and I was really excited to be out on the water" ,said Garciga a 40 year old divorced dad of two teenage boys, Justin 16 and Brendan 15.

One of the first race boats that Garciga worked on was owned by Benny Callja.The boat was a 30' Phantom called Satan."We went out to test and as a young kid, it was a new exciting experience, to be able to run speeds of 85 mph off the coast of South Florida." Garciga later jumped into racing,running with a new of teams including the 47' Apache INXS,47' Apache PTM Express,47' Apache Little Caesers Pizza, & the 46' Cougar Awesome.Now however 40 % of his business is made up high performance boaters with the other 60% from boat manufactuers.

In racing these days,to reach higher speeds ,the Horse Power is restricted to small Cubic Inche ,high RPM's & expesive race fuel, couple this up with a crew to remove & reinstall engines every few races. I think racing has become unnecessarily expensive especially for the competitors.We can design an engine from 800-1000 HP that will run on pump gas and would come with a full season warranty and will require only one rebuild! Garciga says a couple of years ago he put a† number of calls to Michael Allweiss,CEO of APBA Offshore†in reference to such a platform, that could allow a number of engine manufacturers to be able to meet that standard and compete innovation.To date,Garciga says that he hasn't heard back from him..

A guarantee is is something that Cobra Power offers all clients,something† in fact ,that some of his manufacturers are jumping onboard with."Outerlimits promises it's customer that buys their new 47' with twin King Cobra's will run 110†mph + or the company has to pay for it! That's why they come to us because we can get the job done and we guarantee it ",said Garciga, who along with Outerlimits counts Cigarette,Powerplay, & Hustler as some of their best manufacturer clients."We really do appreciate the manufacturers who regularly do business with us."

Cobra Power has a number of shop areas, all related to different aspects of taking a block and turning it† into a "Monster Motor".They use a Chevy design and other high-tech components that turn their product into their most popular configurations,a 750 at a acost of $35,000.00 & a 1200 with a price tag of $67,000.000.The engines cater to both V-bottoms and Cats ranging from 35' to 50'."We go beyond anything that's out there",said Garciga referring to his support program,which give customers a 6 month unconditional warranty.For his clients who run the Northern waters with a shorter season, he doubles it.

Cobra Power purchases inventory by the pallets.The cranks,rods,and other parts are then viewed by X-ray to find any possible heat treat cracks or† factory defects.Next,blocks are tyaken to an area where thay remove over 30 pounds of material for increased cubic inches.They also port their own cyllinder heads
†to allow more air and fuel flow.In the engine finishing room,the Cobra team finishes the details before putting the engine to test on one of two dyno's,the 1000 horse power or 2000 horse power machines are available.Then,they are tweaked again,based again on the dyno results.

Cobra Power also has a complete drive and transmission sector that Garciga brags is bar none."I don't think anybody's transmissions can hold up to the King Cobra 1200 ."He adds that the company also houses a large number of parts and inventory ,such as drives,transoms, & props,because"Many times customers who are from all over the US, are here in Florida on a Poker Run run into a situation where they may need a part.We have an exchange program†to do our best to help everyone out.

Garciga mentions a number of his latest clients,a 46' Cigarette for National Marine†with twin 1200's that is fully loaded and still tops 116 MPH,a 42' Outerlimits owned by Frank Barbarino wicalled"Fire & Ice' with twin 1200's hits the 126 mph mark, and have recently puts some 750's†on a stock 38' Cigarette pushed 106 mph finally breaking them out of the mid 90's range.

Future plans are to open†the service area into a fulll service shop for all clients.He himself would like to continue to diversify into other real estate investments and would like to spend a little free time doing new projects.He buys and sells boats,but doesn't run them,he spends his time on the water with clients in theirs.
Meanwhile,Popeye's Al Copeland's engines just arrived and for Garciga,it's back to work!!

For more information on COBRA POWER,visit their website at www.cobrapower.com,or contact Randy at 305-893-5018 or e-mail:cpower@bellsouth.net or stop by the shop at 13353 NE 17th Ave North Miami,Florida† 33181.

Photo descriptions:
Garciga's latest fleet of boat purchases for resale include a 35' Jaguar Cat,a 46' Cigarette Rough Rider with triple 700's and a 47' Fountain.

Cobra Power has a large inventory of parts in stock at all times,including drives,transmissions,and props.

Credit to Poker Runs of America.

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