[Three Peaks]

I think a lot depends on what you are prepared to take on and what your expectations and skills are to complete the project.
If you are willing to ignore the donor car and look at the Cobra parts as the project you could sort out what the parts are worth and what it would take to finish it up. If it is a kit that is still available and you can get parts for, it might be worth taking on if the price is right.
At the least, you could treat it as a scratch build if your state will accept a "home built" or "assembled vehicle" for registration like is done here. I started with a partially completed chassis and a body and built a very nice Cobra, but it took time and substantial effort to get it to that stage. However, it started with the original type chassis I was looking for and an original shaped body so it had the two prerequisites I needed for a start.

Advice to run from this one may still be good advice, but sometimes a gem can be found in an incomplete kit if you know what to look for, IMHO.

Bob