[bwana50]

My opinion: I respect CS for what he did (both behind the wheel and in creating the Cobra), but he seems to have gotten greedy lately. I think it's telling that he didn't start suing until lately - well after the first replicas appeared on the scene. In his shoes, if I really wanted to protect my product, I would have gone after the replicas makers as soon as I got wind of what they were up to. Otherwise, it appears you didn't care until there was real money involved. Also the fact that, initially, the replicas were not "taking" money from him - he'd already sold all his Cobras. Now that he's selling Cobras again and the replicas are competing for business, he wants to sue 'em.

I don't know what the legal aspect is on car design. Music and printed works are obviously protected by copyright; is a car's shape similarly protected? I believe that was the crux of the most recent suits, and apparently the answer was "no".