[misfit41]

it is my understanding that shelby never approached gm for help on the cobra as is often said,the corvette based sports car was a totally different project a few years before the cobra was a brain child,according to the shelby registry which explains it pretty clearly,
I grew up in the ford versus chevy war,,in the late 60s early 70's a stock small block chevy with a mild cam,intake,carb and headers was hotter than a comparable small block ford,but if you wanted to get where you were going ,you drove a galaxie,lots of over heating and front end problems in the gm cars,since 1955 ford had the edge in suspension,{nascar still uses the basic desgn,ALL winston cup cars from the early 60's thru the mid 90's were 1955 ford design front ends.
My take is,and I am sure many will dissagree,gm seemed more in tune to the public and gave up a lot for style and speed,Ford was more traditional,although much better engineered and stronger built,better paint,bodies,suspension,electrical ,you name it.as far as chrysler,they were and are still 3rd in comparison,some of the motors ran well,like the hemis,but ever wonder why you never see any one drive one ? they wont hold together,rotating assembly is much to heavy in those cars,the racers mostly stuck to the 413 wedge for durability.
Chevy power was easier to come by,the family car could easily be made fairly fast,ford usually had the baddest of the bad,but not everyone had them,like someone said the 390s and 406s,my dad had a 375 hp 390 in a 61 galaxie that was fast even compared to lighter cars,and bullet proof,the 427 was king,but most folks never saw one,they only compared them to a 352 and 390 which is pretty far from accurate,there were just way fewer fast,cool fords than chevys.maybe thats why I liek them so much,,hot chevys come to easy,a wicked for takes work and thought,,but it is sweet when you get there,,Tk