Not totally and solely directed at you Evan. Many Cobra owners are a bit anal about defending their brands but you must admit you're THE major player in this game. Your car is a Shelby Cobra, no debate about that is possible. What causes the ongoing back-and-forth is your approach and the fact that many feel you denigrate other replicas by constantly casting your car as having a more pedigreed or elevated status than the others.
People who don't value the Shelby branding above the the car itself will never agree that yours is anything but a more expensive replica that came about because Shelby, surprised by the thriving Cobra replica industry and reckoning that he would enjoy a natural advantage, decided to readopt his long abandoned Cobra and jump into the replica game.
The various court rulings that came down as a result of his attempts to squeeze out the other replica manufacturers imply to most that the Cobra has become its own generic class of car based upon a certain set of distinct characteristics, primarily the shape and appearance of the body that no one entity can exclusively own.
From a branding and marketing point of view, however, Shelby owns the legal right to produce and market his product using the actual "Cobra" name, so while they're all essentially Cobras, only SAI can legally market theirs as such. Of course since they all replicate or imitate in varying degrees of faithfulness the original AC/Shelby Cobra of the 1960's, having that ability to brand theirs with that same Shelby Cobra name does imply a certain amount of cachet to enough people that they can sell at a higher price point.
No argument there and not at all difficult to understand, but one must also be able to understand the perspective that leads many to hold the opinion that a Shelby Continuation Cobra is just another (very nice, high quality) replica that happens to be sold and branded today by the current incarnation of the same company that used to make the original (read REal) Cobras back in the day. It's a sticking point that you (Evan) will never cotton to and others will never concede, so the arguing is pointless and all the animosity is just unnecessary.
If Ford and/or Shelby decided to manufacture and sell an actual, modern car based on the old Cobra name and heritage, it would be a real Shelby Cobra every bit as much as the new resurrected Camaros are real Chevy Camaros. The problem is that the Cobras made in the 60's can never again be manufactured and sold as automobiles again - by anyone - so all that remains of them now are the component/kit replicas of those cars, some of which are sold by Shelby - and they're damn nice ones that come with a lofty price premium because of the legal Cobra moniker.
You stepped up and coughed up the premium and yes, you can be technically correct when you say that you own a real Shelby Cobra. To most other people, regardless of marketing semantics and legal branding rights, the only real Cobras, which all of our cars replicate (again, with varying degrees of faithfulness), were made in the 60's and that to them is historical fact, unassailable and unchangeable; impervious to legal wrangling over the use of the brand name or the creative interpretation of such by someone in whose interest it is to establish otherwise in order to protect the perceived value of his investment.
I don't care much either way myself. I just love Cobras, and these are just my musings on this way too contentious subject. Have a great day all, and enjoy your
Cobras Shelby or otherwise.
