Edley (will you PLEASE learn to spell your name!)
Why are they rude? People see something out of the ordinary like a Cobra, and you tell them it's a reproduction (which I always do), it seems to me that cost is as obvious a question as how long it takes to build. Folks know what a Vette or a Viper costs from magazines and dealers...they don't have the same readily available info for Cobras.
Now, like others have said, if someone is obviously being a dick for dick's sake, I will patiently cut the conversation short. But if they express at least some half-a$$ed informed interest, what the heck?
I say educate...don't just give them a number. Tell them the whole story.