I know all about Shelby and Kirkham's "original" shortcuts. It was fine for hack job race cars back in '65 when the goal was to stomp Enzo and win a championship. These cars were never intended to live beyond the next racing season or two.
I rode in a new car the other day, a Shelby alloy car that probably has 120k invested plus a thousand or so hours in additional labor. Anyway if you stand right in front of this car the
oil cooler looks like it is mounted crooked. It isn't... It's the "original" body mold that was about an inch out of square with the radiator opening. And yes the door hinges look like they just came off the grinding table.
The thing is these things were done to save time and money, sometimes weight but mostly time and money. There is no excuse for this in a $120k plus machine. I'm 37 years old and as such have been looking at these cars my entire life. I have yet to see two exactly alike and hence every car built in this form are original cars. Including component, continuation or otherwise.
Certainly some (all) early cars have pedigree and are obviously highly desireable. But ALL Cobras are original. I will tell you the 4000 series car I was in was nothing like the "original" cars I have been in. It was way faster, didn't shake or rattle. it's body work is straighter (except for the
oil cooler duct) It didn't overheat and It rode better, stopped faster and was very smooth all the way up to 100 mph @3200 rpm in 5th gear and I am sure it would have been well beyond that.. I suspect it may top 165 with 3.54 gears.
Don't get me wrong. It is an awesome car. But when you include the pucker factor of driving a 120k machine, the cost and the benefit, how can you go wrong with a nicer car that is 1/2 the price? Plus I have a CD player.
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