Is a Shelby Cobra of more value than any other Cobra, all thing being equal, just because of the name? Sure it is, that "fact" may be disputable and controversial to some, but it's still a fact.

The Roush name carries a lot of weight, it's a good marketing tool, just like the Shelby name is. It's a good product, just like in general the Shelby products are good quality.

Is it better than a Keith Craft or Gessford built motor? No! In fact I'd put my money on a Gessford motor, if for no other reason than the personal attention ot detail that comes with it. It's like YOU personally are "involved" with the building of the engine. Thats pretty cool and very important to me.

FE Specialties
 

That's the very reason I chose Tom Lucas at FE Specialties to build my motor. I got a custom built 66' 427fe side oiler stroker, from Tom at a good price. Check my photos.

jdog
P.S. With the added plus that he's located here in Sac. And being that involved was "pretty cool"!:cool:

There's a lot to be said for name recognition if you do in fact go to sell these (I do it everyday;) ). You can say the name Roush to virtually anyone that has an interest in cars and the eyes just light up. Same thing happens when you take it to a show or event. The Nascar pull is very strong...

Alternative
 

Roush certainly has it's supporters and detractors in the Cobra market but a virtually unspoken competitor exists in LI, NY. World Products/Bill Mitchell Hardcore Racing provides a value and power alternative in the Windsor market.
I found them on [url=www.TheEngineShop.com], then sent for a catalog as the site doesn't have all the Windsor offerings that the catalog does. As they are local to me, I stopped in for a look at their engine assembly/dyno building and their warehouse/office building.
They are famous as the creators of tall-deck Merlin blocks in iron and alluminum with Merlin heads and intakes. These are cast and machined in their own facilities. World/ Bill Mitchell has a huge following in street rods, monster trucks, circle track and drag/bracket racing.
They now offer a Windsor line of castings and complete engines, carb to pan, dynoed and warranteed to compete with the Roush offerings.
True, Roush's name has cachet for Cobra guys but World's hardware is impressive and they also have several unique choices for Cobras, vintage Mustangs and GT 40's.
World's block casting has 5, splayed bolt 4-bolt mains, priority crank oiling and thicker bulkheads for up to 1500 HP applications. They are drilled for external oiling, have enlarged water jackets and allow bores to 4.155 and strokes to 4.250. The rotating stuff is all forged, the mains are billet and the cams are proprietary. Some of the bigger combos run blueprinted Dominators.Their largest combo is 460 CI. and 575HP at 9.5:1. All of these combos run pump gas except their 427 "Drag" which makes 625HP at 13.5:1. An aluminum block may be available in the near future, which is really interesting in our applications.
I'm contemplating a switch from FE to Windsor and like the bang-for-buck compared to Roush.