The Shady History of Shelby Cobra Replicas

pick a car show anywhere in the world any time of day or night with any assortment of high-end Exotics or budget builds no matter what kind of Automotive fetish you're into chances are there'll be at least one Shelby Cobra in attendance parked in front of a gaping crowd who has only one question is that an authentic Cobra the real deal with only a thousand Originals built and over a hundred replica Brands it most likely isn't in fact the Cobra is reported to be the most copied car design in history over 60 000 fiberglass clones have been printed out with many more added each year but what makes this such a legendary Performance Machine who builds the best copy of it and why have it smooth curves and roaring V8 captured the attention of so many enthusiasts 70 years after the original my name is Carol Shelby and performance is my business for the Cobra was replicated more than a viral video there were still countless iterations of the model and although it's most well known as an American Muscle icon its roots stretch all the way back to 1950s England and one man in particular John togiro an English engineer who began his career building garbage trucks and later manufactured airplane chassis during the war using that experience along with some self-taught welding skills he began modifying and building his own performance race cars one day tojiro was shall we say inspired when he saw a Ferrari barchetta he decided to build his own version with a similar italian-inspired style but the underpinnings of a slightly more affordable British mg you could call it fate or destiny but I find it ironic that the most copy design in history began as nothing more than a loose imitation Ferrari but the Kanto jira built was ultimately a success and the end up selling the rights to AC cars who put it into math production as the AC Ace from there it caught the attention of American Carol Shelby who asked to put a Ford V8 in it finally granting the upgraded model its famous Cobra designation the new AC Cobra began competing in racing tournaments around the globe and the rest is history the gorgeous Ferrari derived Bodywork the Thundering American V8 and the successful racing career combined with appearances and countless films and even a few songs has granted Shelby's Cobra legendary status as one of the most iconic designs of the 1960s but sadly only 998 original cars were produced making them not only incredibly rare but also staggeringly expensive in 2016 for example the first Cobra ever built chassis number CSX 2000 sold at auction for a record-setting 13.75 million dollars the highest amount of any American car at the time and although that figure seems astonishing when compared to other cars of the era it really didn't come as a surprise to anyone Cobras have historically gone for large sums even when still in production back then they were sold new for seven thousand five hundred dollars or about double the price of a comparable C2 Corvette which explains why there was such a demand for replicas even as early as the 1970s Dax cars was allegedly the first to create a faithful Recreation of the Cobra the fiberglass molds company even went as far as hiring tojiro as a company director to oversee development this ensured the resulting car would be as close to the original as possible although the expensive aluminum body was exchanged for the cheaper composite that Dax was familiar with fiberglass as an automotive material was growing in popularity during that period And even some of the original Cobras were re-bodied with new composite Parts due to the original aluminum shells cranking or rusting as they aged this demand from both genuine Cobra owners and DIY enthusiasts helped fuel much of the sales for early kits and dozens of of garages follow Dax into the world of Automotive plagiarism two nobody's surprise all these replicas caught the attention of Carol Shelby and as he watched the first production cars Skyrocket in value he decided to try and put the Cobra back into production in 1992. using leftover parts from the original assembly line he intended to sell these continuation models at a lavish 500 000 a sum validated by the fact that he would use authentic leftover chassis from the 1960s making these not ordinary replicas like those offered by Dax but genuine Shelby Cobras the only problem was he didn't have any original chassis left over just a handful of unused serial numbers so Shelby enlisted a company called McCluskey LTD to create 43 replica chassis which he intended to give the old vins effectively claiming that they were real parts from 1965. the entire scheme was uncovered by the Los Angeles Times in 1993. who contacted AC cars to confirm that the frames were not original as Carol claimed but the customers didn't even care Robert peckel who told the LA Times that he spent nearly half a million on his continuation Cobra said he wasn't even angry that his car didn't have an original 1960s chassis the fact that Shelby had been involved in the manufacturing was enough to make it authentic in his eyes regardless of where the parts were sourced baffled in his attempts to create false Originals Shelby decided he would instead go after other companies who are in the business of building replicas in 2000 he filed a lawsuit against Factory Five Racing for trademark infringement claiming that their Recreation was illegal Factory Five had been founded in 1995 and offered a fiberglass replica of the Cobra which today is sold for 15 grand and comes with a cad design tube chassis the massachusetts-based brand is considered the number one manufacturer of replica and kit cars with an expansive lineup including Shelby's Daytona and a few of their own original designs over a series of legal battles lasting a decade the court ultimately ruled that factory 5 should be disallowed from using names like Cobra 427 and Shelby to promote their products but that the overall shape of the Cobra's design had not acquired distinction to Warrant legal ownership and although that's a lot of legal jargon the point does make a lot of sense if you think about it the Cobra itself was hardly an original design in addition to the Ferrari barcata it shares plenty of styling cues with Austin Healey jaguar and pretty much everything else made during the era round headlights chrome bumpers and curve fenders might have been done best by the Cobra but it wasn't done first so despite Shelby's continued litigation until his death in 2012 the legal precedent had been set anyone was allowed to build and sell a copy of the Shelby Cobra and copy it they did if the Cobra was a hit among young enthusiasts in the 60s those fans are now retirement aged and willing to dip into their pensions to fund an All-American dream with so many Brands popping up to sell you a replica kit it's hard to know which is the best but here are a few of the popular options Backdraft racing and super performance both offer DIY fiberglass kits for 52 000 and 55 000 respectively you get a pre-welded frame independent rear suspension and a custom stainless steel side Pipe exhaust as with most kits the engine and transmission will need to be supplied and installed by the customer if you live in the UK Pilgrim Motorsports and AK Sports cars offer the basic equivalent to these American kits and for more budget-minded Builders the affordable option is probably Factory five's mark IV Roadster having survived Carroll Shelby's lawsuits the brand now offers their base Cobra Kit for 14 990 although unlike the costlier competition it doesn't come with wheels and paint what began as an affordable way to replicate a pretty design has now grown into an entire subculture of Automotive enthusiasm so the next time you see a Shelby Cobra Rumble past you can know that it probably isn't the real deal but that replicas can be just as fast just as pretty and to that owner just as special thanks for watching

Channel: Quickshift Cars

Views: 99,626

Keywords: quickshift, quickshift cars, quick shift, quick shift cars, shelby cobra, ac cobra, ac ace, ac aceca, ac a.c.e., shelby cobra kit, shelby cobra replica, cobra kit, cobra replica, best shelby cobra kit, best shelby cobra replica, shelby cobra kit car, backdraft racing, superperformance, factory five racing, factory five cobra, factory five mk4, ffr mk4, pilgrim motorsports, dax cobra, ak cobra

Id: Xw6eQL3fVv8

Length: 8min 53sec (533 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 31 2023