Was Boris Vallejo's "Mistress of Fire" ever a real car?

[Buzz]

Interesting discussion - how did I miss this one back in '017?

Out of curiosity, I pulled my own Franklin Mint "Mistress" Cobra out of it's case to read the card that is attached to it. Unfortunately, it only contained a bunch of trademark mumbo-jumbo in deference to Shelby's legal gunslingers who rode roughshod over the Cobra frontier back in the day.

I never did hear or really care whether there was an original Cobra actually painted by Vallejo, but I'm now also curious. The issue of outrage over the artwork and what "belongs on a Cobra" is irrelevant to me here, as we are discussing a part of Cobra culture that exists whether we like it or not.

Many things that are declared by us to be non-kosher for Cobras like weird full width roll bars and automatic trannys (an *ahem* tongue-in-cheek tribute to the c--kholster comments from the original thread ) were installed by Shelby himself on his own cars, so who are we to quibble?

As an example - feast your eyes on Tara Browne's psychedelic Cobra from the 1960's. Eye-watering by our current sensibilities to be sure; but it did exist and is part of Cobra history.



So if anyone has any new info on the Mistress of Fire, I'd love to hear it. When I have some spare time I'll do some digging myself.

[Chicagowil]

Many things that are declared by us to be non-kosher for Cobras like weird full width roll bars and automatic trannys (an *ahem* tongue-in-cheek tribute to the c--kholster comments from the original thread ) were installed by Shelby himself on his own cars, so who are we to quibble?
[/quote]

I have always said the 2 greatest Hot Rodders were Dr Porsche & Carrol Shelby. To them, changing and modifying something to try and make it faster, better handling, was what they were all about (and making money to support their habit- fast cars)!

One of the most outrageous paint jobs was the Porsche Pink Pig. It had the markings of the cuts of meat from a butcher shop!




each of us have our own idea of what we like in paint jobs and finishes. To each his own!