10-19-2003, 05:51 AM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Washington DC Metro (Virginia),
VA
Cobra Make, Engine: Classic Roadsters, Tweaked 351W, T-5Z, CRII Tech Support Team.
Posts: 1,895
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Not Ranked
The Shelby we knew 35 years ago, and the Shelby we know today are two entirely different people.
35 years ago, the man created a legend, but the legend didn't gain popularity until 25 years later. There were more Cobras at DVSF II, & III than Shelby's total production in '65 & '66. Cobras then sold at selected Ford dealers, and they were a sales flop.
Shelby today is a bitter, despondent old man, who after walking away fron the legend he created leaving the vacuum to be filled by ERA, SPF, FFR, EM, CR, etc. jumps up after a 30 year hiatus saying, "Hey, That's mine", and starts indiscriminately engaging in expensive lawsuits to reclaim what was arguably never his in the first place. Had AC, who built the cars in the first place, decided to take these "Immitators" to court, it might have made sense. But AC, who still makes these, has said nothing. Shelby, through his actions, has alienated the very market he set out to attract. I wouldn't buy a Shelby product today if it was free. For Shelby to re-enter the Cobra market (35 years hense) with a replica of his own adds to the ludicracy of this whole exercise.
But on selling a Cobra, the average buying public does not have the knowledge or sophistication that we do here. So, what is the difference between an ERA, SPF, FFR, CR? The folks scouting e-bay don't know, or perhaps even care. It's a Cobra. A Shelby Cobra (meaning the little 2 seater with the big V-8), not the Ford Mustang with a Cobra emblem on the fender. That's the differentiation.
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