It's been aptly established in this thread that the Contemporary is the more accurate of the two
under the skin. How often, however, after a drive do you stand in the garage before going in and admire the
chassis of your Cobra?
The Contemporary is a fine car but the ERA is by far the better executed and more pleasing to the eye. Contemporary modified their body shape for various reasons and the result was a wonderfully accurate chassis with an unfortunately high, chunky looking body.
If one of the things you were less than happy about with your E-M was the shape and stance issues, you will find the Contemporary quite similar in that respect, albeit without the issue of tires extending out beyond the fenders.
An excerpt from:
THE BACKGROUND OF THE CONTEMPORARY... A Recap by Randall Thomas
(ed: Randall compiled this from info in part by Brian Sundue & from an interview with Peter Bayer by Jeff Gagnon in 2009, and from additional information from Jeff Gagnon in February 2011)
Like the original CSX 427 cars, the series 1 and 2 molds had a drooped right rear fender. This was corrected on the plug used to create the final series 3 molds in 1983. [My note: instead of raising the right rear fender, they should have lowered the left.]
The front and rear wheel openings are slightly smaller than the originals so that the lower profile tires in production at that time (vs. the taller original tires) looked correct in the wheel wells [My note: The combination of higher fenders and lowered wheel openings really exacerbated the perky butt look.].
The rocker panels were extended downward to cover the outer frame rails [My note: Probably the biggest problem of all - the body needed to sit lower on the chassis. Instead, they extended the rocker downward, making the car look high and chunky from the side. On top of that, the sidepipes had to be lowered to match the rocker which contributed further to the problem].
The parking light mounts were given a raised/flat mounting surface so that the lights sat straight. Finally, the front blinker mounts had a rise which was not original, in the respect of designer liberty. "Designer liberty" - it's all good, but when you take liberties with an iconic shape, don't be disappointed when it no longer has the iconic look.
Because Contemporary had the "splashed from an original" rep, many subsequent manufacturers (including SPF) found it easier to aquire and copy a Contemporary body than a REal CSX car and the DNA is readily apparent throughout the industry. Some (like SPF) recognised the design issues and went to varying lengths to change them.
At the end of the day, this only matters if you are really into the body shape thing. If not, Contemporary remains one of the most respected Cobra replicas ever produced.
