South African Shelby CSX4000 plant behind but progressing nicely

[randyfairmont]

I recently visited the Shelby facility in Las Vegas and was very impressed with the professionalism and knowledge of SAI. I had a chance to inspect the South Africa Prototype and could barely tell the difference between the US models. The staff was very informative and cordial, and took significant time to discuss the construction, options and differences between the 20 or so cars in the shop. My thanks to Bob Marsh and the SAI staff for their hospitality.

Bob Marsh pointed out the following differences and issues:
1. Paint: Although high quality, the paint jobs are not $8000-grade...what can you expect for $42,500? However, the paint jobs looked pretty good.
2. Prototype did not have rolled fenders, but this is one reason why they had production delays...delivered models will be rolled.
3. No options available at this time given that they are trying to "ramp up" production of stock units. If you want customization, Bob suggested that waiting would be best.

SAI is a full blown custom race shop and anyone experienced in building race cars knows that there is significant "intellectual property" and learnings related to customization of specific vehicles. For example, additional side-impact protection (roll cages) and suspension beefing requires hands on experience...South Africa will need some time to learn some of these techniques. Thus I don't see #3 as a negative, but part of a natural learning curve.

Question: Does anyone have an opinion as to whether a "split market" will develop for US vs. SA built cobras? i.e., will there be two prices depending upon the country manufactured?