[LMH]

The part that's getting lost here is that when civilians ask if it's real or not, they are asking out just basic knowledge of Cobra's. What they are really asking for the most part is, "is it original". The answer is "no" unless it was built at AC Cars Limited in the 60's.
In the case of continuation cars, if asked "is it real" and you answer yes, you are intentionally mis-leading them by playing on their lack of knowledge to ask the right question. Correctly answered, you should tell them it's real but not original. It shouldn't be made into something it is not.
Larry