[Cobra #3170]

Just an opinion,

New cars are clearly superior to original Cobras as well as 99.9 % of the replicas. The Cobra suffers from a short wheel base, narrow track width, poor torsional rigidity, terrible suspension geometry, bad aero and most important of all, tires and wheels that are absolutely no match for modern 18-20" wheels and wide tires. I have owned a 2002 Z06, a 2005 Viper and now a Ford GT. All of these cars would destroy my Cobra when it was new in 1965 under any conditions. The biggest short fall is in the tire department. Any 15 or 16" diameter tire that will fit on a Cobra including full racing slicks is inferior to the new wide radial 18-20" street tires available on new cars. Unfortunately, the new tires require good suspension geometry to work properly and the Cobra’s (most) do not have that because of packaging limitations. The Cobra is also very difficult to drive because of the short wheel base, high power to weight and narrow track so an equal driver in a modern car will be faster. Other factors like power brakes, power steering, ABS, traction control and active suspension are additional disadvantages.