[Jack21]

I did rewrite history when I put my Cobra together. Building a Cobra allows us to do that. The seats from Classic Roadsters, arguably the best "Factory" seat of any Cobra already came with high backs, lumbar support, side support on my butt, and adjustable head rests. All I did was replace the vinyl part on the seat and back with cloth. Don't burn myself on it or stick to it in Summer, don't freeze on it in Winter, and it dries faster and doesn't get smelly if it gets wet in the rain.

Was never fond of the somewhat Spartan original dash, controls, and instrument layout. Was even less enamored with the CR "Factory" dash layout. Have very non-original, street rod'ish dash with instruments I can read without taking my eyes off the road, controls where my hands normally go reaching for them, finished in a red stained Zebrawood veneer.

Have ceramic coated heatshields on the sidepipes that look factory, and not even one snakebite to date. Think I had the only Cobra at DVSFII with sidepipe heat shields.

Ask yourself, "Suppose Shelby and Ford would have collaborated on giving Corvette a competetor in sales, instead of (or in addition to) Ferrarri on the race track in the late '60's and early '70's, even to the present day? How would the Shelby/Ford Cobra have evolved?"

So rather sticking to the purely '65 - '66 reproduction motiff, I added some presumptious evolutionary changes to the car. The above being examples, 17" wheels and tires as others. Granted; hardly original, but it wasn't meant to be. It was meant to improve the car as a daily driver, cruiser, and sports car that could be comfortably driven on road trips with significant other as passenger and occasional driver.

Think we see this more in street rods than Cobras, but that was the intent. And I got exactly the results I wanted. I'm 60, wife is 55. We feel 28 and 23 again cruising the countryside with our Cobra. Need I say more? Yes! You build your Cobra to do and be what you want it to do and be. It's your version of nostalga that should guide you to your end product.

Resale value? Well, the car is a '66, but our kids are fighting over it already. Ha. Ha.