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I believe the original Cobra appearance was secondary and fairly unimportant. Wasn't its accomplishments on the track the primary reason for the iconic stature? I've always been under the impression that Carrol Shelby wanted to build a racecar first, then stuck some license plates on his 'frankensteins' to make it legit. For this new creation to be as successful as the original, I believe Ford would have to go out and prove this car is worthy. Otherwise they can park this car with the other Shelby hits like the Dodge Omnis and Plymouth Arrows.
Build the race car first- win the races- then offer to sell us the race cars with licence plates attached to them! We all have the ability to build a car that will outhandle outstop and out accelerate any production vehicle manufactured, just look through the members gallery. But beating up on the big boys in an international circuit- then selling the general public the car...now thats what makes a legendary car!