The Cobra @ 40 / FE's Forever articles

[TerrysSPF]

Just an FYI for those interested: I picked up a Muscle Car Review magazine (put out by Car Craft) the other day and found a couple articles in it that weren't advertised on the cover.
One called: "The Cobra at 40", has an interview with CS, and a handful of pictures of the old Shelby factory (rows of engines, Cobra's, and GT-350's @ LAX), as well as some pictures of the new Shelby American factory and CSX4000 series cars.
Here's a quote from some of the interview: Cobra.......no other automotive shape has been more duplicated. CS: "You mean COUNTERFEITED!!!!" says Shelby, whose anger is unmasked when the replica question arises. "I'm not going to sit idly by and watch as my life's work is stolen. Ten years ago I asked the replica car builders to donate $1000 for every car built to my charity for children undergoing organ transplants. They told me to go screw myself!". After several court battles, Shelby has indeed recaptured the Cobra name and sent a warning shot over the bow to Cobra replica builders. Factory Five, the largest producer of replicas can no longer use the Cobra name in their advertising or on their cars. That is the exclusive domain of Shelby American who continues to build Cobra-emblemed cars.

They also have an article called: "FE's For Ever". They talk about original 427 FE's (as well as SO's and other Ford BB's), how to build them up, what $ they are going for today (they mention a NOS 427SO block selling for $4050 on EBay) and they REALLY get into Shelby's Alum 427 block / engine / parts offered by Shelby American. In fact, I wonder if 'Ol Shel didn't twist their arm a little after his interview, wanting them to print this "advertisement" (which is what the article ends up being) for his engines / parts in the same issue as "Cobra's at 40" was to appear in. It's funny, they talk about how expensive an original 427SO block is, but when they start pushing the Shelby block, they never mention how much $ it sells for! All in all, both are good articles though.

If anyone is interested in picking up the magazine, it has a picture of a '68 Z-28 convertible on the cover that says "The Rarest Camaro on the Planet". It doesn't mention anything on the cover about the Cobra or Shelby articles, so it's easy to overlook it. I just happen to be an old Camaro fan so I checked it out.