[REAL 1]

True. But most Cobras today are not set up properly to compete at the track and when they are they are competing against cars that have benefited from 40 years of performance advancements and technology. I'm no expert but thats the way it seems to me.

And when you think about it, none of the Cobras contemporaries (performance legends themselves), ie. XKE light weight, Grand Sport, Ferrari 250 GT0s would fair any better against modern performance cars. So its unfair to single the Cobra out.

In its day, with experienced and skilled drivers the Cobra had no equal and made a legend for itself in its own time. Its the legend, which it deserved based on its performance abilities that still lives on today. The car still has an "aura" of prodigious performance of supercar levels.

I'm sure a show room stock Porsche 996 or BMW M5 or M3 would give a Cobra (289 or 427) a run for the money today (as they would a Grand Sport Vette, XKE lightweight or Ferrari 250 GTO) as many show room stock cars of today meet or exceed the performance levels of yesteryears race cars. Thats what developement is all about.

But when you put it in context, a car back in 1962 to 1968 with the performance to equal a modern M5 is pretty impressive when you think about it.