[Anthony]

Now, this thread is really what clubcobra is about.

In the beginning, people would ask me if was real or not. I tried to briefly explain my car, but I never really thought they understood. Most car lookers understand either a kit-car/replica vs original, and not all the grey areas in between. After the initial couple times, I now answer, no, it's a kit car. Saves me lip service trying to explain. Sometimes they ask "who's the manufacturer", and after I respond "Shelby", they look confused, and then I go into the explanation. Now and then, more knowledgable people recognize my car as one of the "new" cobra's, and I have considerable conversations about cobra's, replica's, etc, but that is not the norm.

Now, whenever I'm at a gas station, store, etc, and people ask me "if it's real", I always answer NO, it's a fake, and usually that's the end of the conversation.

I know what my car is, and is not.

I think of the "true" kit-car, as a home built car, attatching a new style body either to an existing chassis, or a fabricated one, and then using common auto chassis parts, not original to the car that is being replicated. Kind of like a Hodge-Podge car. Obviously, many of the cobra kit-cars are way beyond this. Whether you consider cobra replicas kit-cars are up to you. I tell people my car is a kit-car and/or replica, and sometimes they then tell me "no it isn't, you have the real thing". Fine with me. Like I said before, I know what my car is, and what it isn't.