...In the 60's the cars were MSO'd as "Shelbys" Over the years some have morphed into "Fords" or "Cobras". For example in the old days in New York if a new car dealer sent in a MSO and registration form (understand there were NO titles in NY until the 1973 model year) and had put "Ford" in the "Make" box the clerk would have typed "Ford" as the make even though it did not match the MSO. The registration SHOULD have had make "Shelby" and model as "Cobra".
A friend of mine had his CSX33XX registered as a "Ford" to allow cheaper insurance, no idea what would have happened had there been a claim...
Obviously as long as the CSX number is legit it will not make much difference if it is titled as a "Ford, Cobra or Shelby" but correctly it is NOT a Ford automobile. Ford did not manufacture or sell the cars, Shelby did via franchised dealers who just happened to be Ford dealers. I sold a friend a new 1982 Jeep via my Ford store and when we sent the paperwork in to the DMV it came back registered as a "Ford"-seems the clerk used to putting the "Ford" make in the large pile we had sent never even looked at the MSO other than for the VIN. Took 2 years to get it corrected...
Rick
