[MidOHasp]

ROBSSNK,

It's very easy to get caught up in this forum, and I hesitate to say "caught up" because of the negative connotation. I mean it exactly as I say it, no implied meaning, no connotation.

There are so many smart people here and their opinions are infinitely valuable. But picking a Cobra replica can and should be a very subjective process, entirely up to you, based on your emotions.

Engine building, while your preferences for what you want out of it are subjective, is pretty objective. Stuff works, other stuff don't. Yet, if you talk to 100 engine builders you'll probably get at least 50 different opinions on the "right way" to do something.

Given that the car itself (minus motor, tranny) is more subjective than the motor, you gotta just feel it. Everyone's got an opinion, and more than 50% of the time (but not always) those opinions are going to be swayed by what someone has in their own garage. That's not an accusation, it's natural and realistic. If half or more SPF owners said "hands down I'd do it different next time," then that's a bad thing. Same for any manufacturer.

So, I think the best advice, and some of it has already surfaced in this thread, and much more will likely come in the next few days, is to look at a lot of them, let yourself fall in love, and make your move.

The odds of you looking back and saying, "darn it, my car is a real piece of crap. I should've gotten a _________!" are real slim, man.

These cars are all about falling in love and having abusive amounts of power under your foot to supplement a timeless shape that will never die. Not who's got what or who thinks what about whose whatever.

Someone said it well once - "Cobra people pick their teeth with a rusty nail. They don't care what anyone thinks, whether it's 'real' or 'original' or anything else."

Best of luck to you whatever you decide and have fun w/ it.

JP