I think that the people who argue for the Chevy due to the fact that the Windsor SB V8's were never in the car...and due to the fact that many of our replicas have square tube frames...and due to the fact that many of our replicas are fiberglass...
ARE MISSING THE POINT.
Forever, the Cobra will have ties to Ford. There are no ties to Chevy unless you count Carroll Shelby kicking the $hit out of the chevys in the 60's.
There's really not much more to it than this:
90+% of the time, a Chevy motor is used (whether in a Cobra replica, in a 32 Ford replica, in a street rod) because it is cheaper and easier. There's nothing wrong with that, but it is true. The remaining <10% may use them because they truly find them to be a superior motor or have something truly unique.
Some Chevy guys don't like it, but the analogy of "would you ever see someone put a 351W in a Corvette? A 427 S/O in a '70 Chevelle? No.
The point was made that the Corvette was a GM car designed by GM to have a GM powerplant. And that the Cobra was never really a Ford, it just happened to have a Ford in it (as a second choice).
Whatever. How it got to be what it is ... immaterial. It is what it is and it should remain what it is. Beyond that, do whatever the hell you want. That applies to everyone! Because at the end of the day it is YOUR car.
I look at it like this... if you have to ask, then for God's sake put a FORD in it. Because if you care what other people think, you'll not want to spend precious time at every show or cruise answering why you put a sb chebby in. And while you're at it, put in a 427 S/O and buy a CSX, too. Because if you care what everyone else thinks, you may as well just have the real thing.
But if you don't care one bit, then put whatever you want in it. Put a Grand National turbo 3.8 in it. The guy that has that car is COOL. He didn't do it because it was cheaper or easier or more convenient (I don't imagine he did, at least). That car is BAD and it's *different* !!
At the end of the day, a 351W is a more exotic motor than a Chebby 350. And at the end of the same day, a Cobra (whether it's fiberglass, aluminum, or cotton/rayon mix dry clean only) is more exotic than all but the most exotic early 60's Corvettes. And even then it's up to personal taste.
I think 90% of the time the chevy engine is a copout. Of course I think everyone on Club Cobra falls into the other 10% so don't go casting stones at me.
