Greetings from a Michigander!
I look your business like this:
I agree with those who say that a Kirkham won't be a Kirkham any more if Kirkham succumbs to a focus on profit, rather than exclusivity. You have made the ultimate name for yourself--why destroy it?!--this is something you cannot buy. You must make a change in SN if you pursue this pollution of your fine product name.
That said, this is how I look at MY businesses with products that do not possess noteriety, or just plain cannot achieve noteriety by nature of the product itself: they are numbers. Only numbers--there is no other real basis for my business decisions. It does not matter whether they are popsicles or staplers--the goal is to sell as many as cheaply as possible--to make decisions not on my preferred flavor or my favorite stapler color, but based on numbers, once I have a quality product. This is wisdom--and its the only way to succeed in business these days. You can take a stab at maximizing profits with other items--but NOT with your Cobra. *B&B and Unique are manufacturing '34 ford roadsters and electric vehicles as well as their Cobra replicas. They may do it to survive--because they do not own the creme of the crop Cobra replica company.
You may not need to do it to survive, but you DO need to do it to retain the Kirkham name. You won't be able to buy it back--once it's gone, it's gone. Money can't buy happiness--OR reputation.