Friday, October 2, 2009
There are many different things the Selby Cobra did for America. It was competitive in world races at a time when the Ford GT40 was shunned as being too British, winning major events in a landslide. Many have tried to repeat the success of such a homegrown machine, but so far none have succeeded. Unless you count the numerous continuations, kit cars, modern interpretations, and freelance designs that have popped up over the years, which brings me to the subject of this article.
The first thing that you think of after thinking of the original Cobra is most likely the numerous kit cars out there. From the name brands that offer accurately enough styled kits with (often Chevy) V-8 underpinnings, to the companies that make sub-par recreations based off of Civics and Fieros, they all have one thing in common. No wait make that two things. They all try to recreate the original Cobra and try to come up with names that won't get Carrol Shelby on their heels with lawsuits. From Factory Five Racing to Superformance to Street Beasts, these kits are everywhere. I think that one writer, who I can't recall at the moment has it right, saying that if we were wiped out and beings discovered the remains one day, it would seem like Cobras were the most-bought car on Earth, and the ones with the Shelby ID numbers would just be thought of as another brand that sold them. One thing I object to in these kits is the common use of Chevy 350 V-8s. I mean, if you want an automobile that drives like a Cobra, looks like a Cobra, and doesn't make you look like an idiot when you're hood is opened up, you better put an authentic Ford 260, 289, or 427 in it. I know that you could fill up the entire internet with comments to the contrary and moans about Ford part supply, but that's just my viewpoint.
The second type of modern Cobra I'd like to discuss in this post are the ones that are made to be modern supercar version the car, such as the Iconic GTR, the AC MK VI, or the car shown above, the Gardner Douglas G350. All of these but the Iconic have LS-series Corvette motors, where the Iconic GTR has a clean-sheet motor designed by the company itself. GM Performance Parts probably wouldn't exist but for numerous kit cars and homegrown supercars. These cars are costly to develop, and many a company has gone down in flames with not one of their cars sold. AC itself, the nameplate for the Cobra depending on who you ask and the basic provider for the car Carrol needed to get it all started in the first place, is struggling to get by and its recent history is even more dramatic than the history of Vector, with many tales of fleeing from countries and several court cases tied to one event. Iconic has more hope of succeeding, backed up by the fact that they've got money behind them and a car that was developed completely in-house.
There are also many artists' dreams out there. From furniture to auto proposals, there's always some dreamer out there rendering the next Cobra. Here's one of my favorites done by Vaughan Ling, a college student who's done lots of rendering work, and in a weird coincidence, has a Datsun 240Z like mine, dash cracks, missing stereo and all. His idea is different than many, going about things the way the retro Mustang does. You can see his other work on his blog, http://vaughanling.blogspot.com/, but the subject of this is his 2009 Cobra Concept. He doesn't want to make a complete copy, but he wants to copy the essence of the car without mimicking it (I'm talking about you, Dodge Challenger!) or copying it outright. His idea is more extreme than Iconic, more extreme than Gardner Douglas, making the Cobra look modern.
We can be sure that there will always be fake Cobras, new Cobras, continuation Cobras, modern interpretations of Cobras, etc., but I still hold firm to my belief that nothing beats the sheer driving feeling of the originals, The AC Shelby Cobra 260, 289, and 427 that dominated their day.
