Best response to, "Is that an original?"

[jhv48]

I guess I just don't get it.

When asked if mine is "real", I just respond, "I wish", or "if it was, it would be parked in my living room". Most people just laugh and either make a remark about how beautiful the car looks or ask further questions.

Why is this such a big deal to some of you? 99% of the people who ask are genuinely curious if they are seeing an original Shelby Cobra. So, answer truthfully and then see what happens next.

If you're so hung up on pretending your fake, replica, or kit car (pick one) is an original, then go out and buy an original. Then, when you get asked if your $500,000 original is a "kit car", you can justifiably correct them.

Some of you need to get over yourselves!

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by jhv48

I guess I just don't get it.

When asked if mine is "real", I just respond, "I wish", or "if it was, it would be parked in my living room". Most people just laugh and either make a remark about how beautiful the car looks or ask further questions.

Why is this such a big deal to some of you? 99% of the people who ask are genuinely curious if they are seeing an original Shelby Cobra. So, answer truthfully and then see what happens next.

If you're so hung up on pretending your fake, replica, or kit car (pick one) is an original, then go out and buy an original. Then, when you get asked if your $500,000 original is a "kit car", you can justifiably correct them.

Some of you need to get over yourselves!

Right on Jim. I just try and answer the questions honestly and friendly. No snarky answers or guessing games needed.

This thread has a nice 5 year run, but what else needs to be said?

[lamaluv]

I get "The Question" often, especially when my car is parked near a shiny new looking Cobra. My ERA is over 30 years old with a 20+ year paint job and plenty of patina. After looking at the other cars people often say "this one must be a real one". My usual answer is " No, but if it was, I would probably be afraid to drive it because of the value." If they are interested in replicas we discuss the various manufacturers but most just want to know if it's an original.

[rms427]

I have about as many folks ask me which kit/replica it is. I don't take it as an insult. They are just curious. They know what a cobra is and are surprised when I tell them it's original.

[Wbulk]

X2 jhv48

Ten years ago I took some pictures of Kirkhams original Cobra that they based their company on at a big car show in Utah. It is a plain Navy blue car with black pipes, black roll bar and quick jacks. Hardly anyone was around the car or knew what it was. Isn't it interesting that replicas for the most part are not copies of what the originals really looked like but have a lot of bling on them. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate really nice custom cars. The owners should just never be offended if someone asks if is real. Perhaps they didn't make it look plain enough.

[Jaydee]

Jaydee:
I have a nice sign that I hang on my roll bar and reads as follows:
Beware of getting toO close the sidepipes are extremey hot and cause snakebites. If you have any metal and contacts the car you will be zapped by an electric alarm which will put 50,000 volts much like a tEaser through your body. If you touch the surface the wax I use has a skin penetrating substance that will cause a terrible rash ALL OVER YOUR BODY!!!! LOOK ALL YOU WANT, TAKE ALL THE PICTURES AND VIDEOS YOU WANT- BUT HAVE THE COURTESY OF NOT TOUCHING. BY THE WAY YOU ARE BEING RECORDED IN CASE YOU SCRATCH IT WE WILL FIND YOU!!!! Any questions?

Are you sure they can still see the car with a sign that big.
One owner here uses his car everyday. I asked if he was worried about scratches, He said most kids would key a merc or Bm, but would just admire the Cobra. He went back to his car in a carpark, to find someone sitting in it. He rushed over thinking they were stealing it. But instead, there was a kid just with big eyes and dreaming of having one.
JD

[Nedsel]

Originally Posted by Wbulk

X2 jhv48

Ten years ago I took some pictures of Kirkhams original Cobra that they based their company on at a big car show in Utah. It is a plain Navy blue car with black pipes, black roll bar and quick jacks. Hardly anyone was around the car or knew what it was. Isn't it interesting that replicas for the most part are not copies of what the originals really looked like but have a lot of bling on them. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate really nice custom cars. The owners should just never be offended if someone asks if is real. Perhaps they didn't make it look plain enough.

Amen.

[JBCOBRA]

I just tell people it is a masochistic POS and walk away because I do not have any patients
and do not care what anyone thinks anyway. LOL

[YerDugliness]

1. "Is it real?"

"Sure is, I drive it every day, weather permitting!

Now, would you like to sit in it and have your photo taken with your cell phone or camera?"

2. "Is it original?"

"No sir/ma'am, it is just a very convincing replica. An original Shelby would never be driven on the street, they are worth $500,000 even if they are just parts in a basket. Any time you see one of these on the streets, you can take it to the bank that it is not a genuine, original Sheby Cobra from the 1960's.

Now, would you like to sit in it and have your photo taken with your cell phone or camera?"

My hopes are that with that additional bit of information, the person asking the question will not burden the next replica owner he encounters with the same question.

Yeah, I know there may be a few original 1960's CSX vehicles that MAY see some street use, but what are the chances anyone might see one? Right.....

Cheers!

Dugly

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

Yeah, I know there may be a few original 1960's CSX vehicles that MAY see some street use, but what are the chances anyone might see one? Right.....

Cheers!

Dugly

CSX2052 spends its winters at the Shelby American Collection. In the summer it is out and in the wild.

[dallas_]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

An original Shelby would never be driven on the street. Any time you see one of these on the streets, you can take it to the bank that it is not a genuine, original Sheby Cobra from the 1960's.

Maybe in Houston Dugly.

There are at least 3 originals in Dallas that are driven frequently.

[Mike Brasfield]

I like your idea Tony. I try that at each car show and I know it makes a future motorhead that will remember when he sat in a Cobra when he was a kid.

I personally never get bent out of shape with the question. Just answer, "it's a hand crafted replica that beat the original in a head-to-head match recently". They usually ask the 2nd question, "did you build it". Yes I say. Cool they say.

[tirod]

Real Shelbys are still driven on the street, raced, and even damaged. Just because someone owns one doesn't mean they don't appreciate it for what it can do.

And on the other hand, just because one chooses a different kit supplier than Shelby did, is no guarantee the end result will be better, or worse, than what he sold. Assuming all the newer kit owners assembled their cars in an vain attempt to pretend to be a "Cobra" is interesting. They look like a Cobra, make noise like a Cobra, and can perform better than one in many measurable ways. If the original run of production is limited, then others can and will take advantage of marketplace demand and supply it.

If Carroll Shelby intended to stay in business to market a line of performance cars, the end results are disappointing similar to all the others. He went out of business - there was no plan to succeed the Roadster with another model, and nothing was done to continue production past the ill fated 427. Another flash in the pan. The current suppliers of replicas have actually been in business longer in most cases. Their survival as a business is based on selling a product, and they have done a lot better job at it.

If you own one of the original AC Bristol bodied kits, enjoy it for the historic example it is - a groundbreaking example of forward thinking in the way it performed. Looks, really, not so much - it's a statement of how the public will elevate whatever the art of the automobile is, and enshrine it regardless. It's a Tojeiro copy of a Ferrari Barchetta, built by an English coachbuilder barely surviving the loss of it's engine supplier. Shelby just happened to come along with a good line and assembled them under his roof for a while.

I'd very much like to choose a supplier who will be in business and purchase a kit in the near future to put together my vision of one. I'd be glad to build it without bling, too. And then compare it on the track against a timelocked original.

Good luck. You are going to need it. Coupe = 40mph more top end.

[Danr55]

Tirod makes some interesting points. The biggest difference between most kits and the original 60's series Shelby cars is the price tag. By and large, today's cars perform better off of the factory floor than the muscle cars of 50 years ago did with all the tweeking we could give them. So where is the advantage or desirability other than in the collectability and the price tag? Perhaps owning a piece of history is the hook?

[jhv48]

Too many of you guys are hung up on this:

If it wasn't built, assembled, cobbled together (pick one) in the 60's in Carroll Shelby's shop, it ain't a real, original Shelby Cobra. PERIOD!

Yours may be newer, have a better frame, better suspension, be prettier, faster, handle better, more comfortable, more reliable, etc. etc. BUT IT ISN'T A REAL/ORIGINAL COBRA. Never was, never will be!

We're all driving clones, replicas, kit cars, fakes. No matter how you spin it, they're not a 1960's Cobra.

That's all a spectator wants to know. Is he in the presence of an original or not. Tell it like it is and move on! The fact that so many of you get all huffy when asked just shows that you are all wannabes, trying to live vicariously on the coat tails of the original car. And then you get all indignant when forced to admit you drive a kit car. Buy an original and then you can react with indignation when asked. Till then, you're driving a copy cat. Get over it!

But then, that's just my opinion. What do I know. I drive a fake!

[Scotchman]

Jim,
I agree totally. When I'm asked the question, I answer "no, it's a Factory Five kit car. Built it myself. Would you like to look under the hood ? "

[chucks1]

I always answer that mine is a factory built Superformance replica and then go on to explain as much or little as the questioner would like. I like talking cars, so no big deal.

The part that starts to get a little old is that inevitably the person wondering if mine is real will then go on to explain how they know someone with an original, just talked to someone with an original or just saw an original driving down the highway. Yet they had no clue that mine was a fake.

[Thor maine]

Originally Posted by jhv48

Too many of you guys are hung up on this:

If it wasn't built, assembled, cobbled together (pick one) in the 60's in Carroll Shelby's shop, it ain't a real, original Shelby Cobra. PERIOD!

Yours may be newer, have a better frame, better suspension, be prettier, faster, handle better, more comfortable, more reliable, etc. etc. BUT IT ISN'T A REAL/ORIGINAL COBRA. Never was, never will be!

We're all driving clones, replicas, kit cars, fakes. No matter how you spin it, they're not a 1960's Cobra.

That's all a spectator wants to know. Is he in the presence of an original or not. Tell it like it is and move on! The fact that so many of you get all huffy when asked just shows that you are all wannabes, trying to live vicariously on the coat tails of the original car. And then you get all indignant when forced to admit you drive a kit car. Buy an original and then you can react with indignation when asked. Till then, you're driving a copy cat. Get over it!

But then, that's just my opinion. What do I know. I drive a fake!

Yes Yes Yes!!! This is what I have been saying here , unless it was built in the 60's by AC-SHELBY-FORD its not an original period!! Cars from Shelby American there is A little gray area but very little. So those of us with kit's/replicas it will never be an original no matter that you put a 60's Ford FE or that you matched the exact number of rivets around the hood scoop or you have the batteries behind the seat or that you stencil Good Year on the tires! So the answer is always "it's a replica and I built it myself"

[Fitz]

What they said

[Silversmith]

Alot depends on who's asking! When most people ask the question "it is real" ? I usually say; it's a original "427 sideoiler"! This seems to shut down most naysayers to just whispering to there buds as they peer into the engine bay. As 99% of the population couldn't tell the differance between a 3000 series CSX & a (in my case) factory built ERA S/C sitting side by side. For those who know AC's, I gladly tell them it's a factory built replica; and almost always enjoy the ensuing conversation. In truth there are less than a 1000 original Shelby AC Cobras. All the rest are in fact. 1. factory built exacting replicas to the original; providing original style factory specs/parts were used . I say exacting as no two of the originals were built the same! 2. factory built clones whick mimic the original in most respects, with the exception of (sbf's in bb ac's) drivetrains. 3. factory partial built & supplied kits & the customer completes the kit 4. complete kits where the customer adds the drive train & finishes the kit. 5. Donor kits where customer takes parts from other existing auto's & completes the kit. No matter what number listed above your AC falls into. Almost all of these AC's were built with the same dedication to true performance cars that Carrol gave us so long ago! Enjoy your AC COBRA M8's It may not be 1 of the original 1000 Shelby AC's But that doesn't mean it's not every bit the equal of the original, or mabe even better. Long live the [AC COBRA