AC enters the fray

[SSS]

Originally posted by REAL 1
SSS: No. You are incorrect. The shape wasn't "always" in the public domain. Shelby abandoned the car and stopped production and never sought to protect the "shape". It then fell into the public domain.

Had Shelby aggressively protected the car from being copied by replica companies from the get go and had he stayed in business from 1968 forward I think the result would be much different, at least here in the States.

That's your opinion, and I don't agree with it. The 427 Cobra body cannot be disconnected in shape from the 289 Cobra body which cannot be disconnected in shape from the AC Ace body which cannot be disconnected in shape from the Ferrari 166 Barchetta body. That's why Shelby can't claim it. Tojeiro has more claim to it than Shelby, but I don't think he's been petty enough to try to sue over it. He wouldn't win either, anyway. If Ferrari tried, that would be an acknowlegement of the Cobra, which I'm sure they'd just prefer to forget about.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the Cobra is the car that has such an industry built around replicating it. No one person or entity can lay claim to the shape as their idea. It's always been that way. It evolved through many different people and entities, not least of them being Carroll Shelby, SAI, and Ford. As the courts proved, about all they can lay claim to is the name Cobra (as used on an automobile), logos, and such.

FYI, I saw the other day that the Cobra golf club company has a driver with a model name of 427. The head size may be 427 ccs. I thought that was a funny coincidence.