Replica or a modern reproduction?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by hectorturer

A SPF, BD, Kirkham replica's are in my opinion the same as a continuation replicas from Shelby CSX. You maybe have an overpaid replica that will not be much better than any other replica out there. All are Cobras, enjoy your day!

of the 3, only the Kirkham is comparable to a csx, that is in design, construction, which keeps to the original design.

when the csx4000 cars came out, they were originally priced under $40K for an un-assembled "kit", which included a lot of high priced parts, like girlings, aluminum dana44 diff, misc suspension parts, fuel cell, radiator, fans, etc. I thought that it wasn't really that bad of a deal for what you were getting, not that you weren't getting a good value for the other replica's, but they were cheaper as well. Basically anytime you replicate anything, the more you keep with originality, generally the higher the cost to replicate, which obviously is one of the reasons most the cobra manufacturer's chose to substitute other parts.

now as far as resale value, from what I have seen, the only "replica's" that I have seen consistently sell for more than their original "purchase" price are the csx4000's, especially if you were able to purchase an early one. As the original owner, you will likely take a hit on every other replica out there, including Kirkham's, ERA's, SPF, etc.

Ned, you are such a wealth of knowledge, more than many of us put together, and probably one of 10 posters on this site that I really respect, but I differ on your view of csx4000's. First, your description of a replica refers to a single object, such as a work of art, not a group or collection. Being that ford stopped selling the thunderbird for a while, does that mean that when they came out with them again, they were now replica's? Is the new dodge power wagon really a power wagon? or a fakey do?

the way I look at it, is that the csx4000 is someone's opportunity to purchase a cobra from the original manufacturer, built exactly like it was 40 years earlier. I wish Chevrolet would build L88's again, ford - boss 429 mustangs again, '57 F-birds as well, mopar '71 hemi cuda's again, all the same as they were originally constructed. Obviously, that will never happen. Dodge is building the hemi challenger again, but how many people would prefer an "original" hemi challenger, as the 2013's are not original, or are they? But, this is the opportunity with the csx4000 cars, if you have this view, and are willing to spend the bucks. Shelby in no way could have sold the cars as completed vehicles, built to 1965 specs. Selling them as kit/component cars was the only way. If you really have the bucks, then maybe get a csx3000 car, but wait, for some of us, a street csx3000 would not be good enough, it would have to have significant racing history. It goes on and on.

All the cobra's are great cars, they're all fulfilling someone's dream. If everybody had the same car, same color, same engine, what fun would that be.