Imagine, for a moment, that the ONLY options you had for a replica were Shelby or an SPF?
They would be priced more along the lines of a Ferrari and 90% of current owners would not exist. As it was back in the day, a small very exclusive group of owners. Hmmm, that would be interesting, I'd certainly have a PICTURE of a Cobra on my wall, the garage would be empty though...
Come to think of it, SPF wouldn't exist had Shelby retained the trade dress from the beginning. In fact, modern Shelbys would not likely exist either. We would be left with only the original 1,000 or so cars! Which would sell for considerably less than they are selling for now because the history would have largely been lost. A mere "foot note" in the big picture of the car world, a good chance Shelby would have never even made a "come back" at all?