[DougD]

Evan and all,
Here's a thought to muddy the original/replica waters a bit...

If we classify the '60's Cobras as authentic originals because they were built by AC and Shelby back then, then I would propose that a CSX4000 fiberglass-bodied car is actually more Shelby, and therefore more authentic, than the original '60's ones, and more authentic than the new aluminum replicas from either SAI or Kirkham. Here's the rationale:

The '60's originals were assembled from components supplied by numerous vendors, just as they are today. The vendors vary, but most of the individual parts of an aluminum Cobra were not then, and are not now, manufactured by SAI. For example, aluminum-bodied cars receive frames from Kirkham (and possibly others), bodies have been sourced from Kimmins, Kirkham, and who knows from what other sources. Fiberglass CSX4000 series cars, on the other hand, have more Shelby-built parts on them than the CSX2000, CSX3000, or aluminum CSX4000 cars. For example, the frames are welded together at Shelby's shop in Nevada, not by AC or Kirkham or anyone else. The vast majority of the parts to build a CSX4000 are direct replacements(often identical) for the original cars. (To advance this theory, you have to be willing to accept the new CSX cars as genuine Shelbys, but as new models available today.) Part for part, a fiberglass CSX4000 has more Shelby-sourced parts than even the originals!

My Nomex shorts are on, let the flames begin!