The Shelby Cobra is travelling into the twenty-first century powerfully as ever, looking hip and happening just like it did in the sixties and still generating buzz. I was in my heyday in the mid-sixties when the Cobra roared on to the popular scene, so my generation spans the lengthy Cobra era. Durn it, I wish I was still as hot and desirable today as the Cobra continues to be! If you ask 100 men the question: "Of any sports car, which one would you most like to have in your garage?" it's absolutely mind-blowing how many--from guys back in the day to guys now that weren't even born in '67--will say "A Shelby Cobra!"
Cobra production in some iteration never really ceased, from the sixties' British AC roadsters all the way to new models being built today by Carroll Shelby's company in Las Vegas. So it's remarkable that, with so many originals still existing, they still fetch a pretty penny at auction and rare versions will bring up to the millions. While most of us aren't in the bracket to get an original Cobra, the dream is readily available in kit car or replica form from literally hundreds of sources. I saw a (presumably partially finished) Cobra replica on eBay today and the current high-bid was $255! Nothing against eBay and Craigslist, but if you're thinking Cobra and looking around those places, you're definitely missing the whole point and don't deserve to have a Cobra anyway! That's just my opinion, but I know I'm right.
Look at Places Like Boss Replica Motors
Base criteria for a Cobra kit or replica source company starts with a solid reputation built on true respect for what this vehicle actually is. With a history as compelling as the Cobra's-- a whole library of books can be collected about how the Cobra was developed from a "secretary's car" to an international high-performance racing contender--Boss Replica Motors (BRM) and its brother company Bernie's Auto Body Ltd., in Burlington, Ontario, Canada have earned a ranking in Canadian Cobra history because they've been an active part of the 50-year Cobra story from the beginning up through the present day.
Stan Ward founded and still heads Boss Replica Motors; in 1966 he painted famed Canadian racecar driver George Eaton's competition 427 Cobra himself in Bernie's Autobody garage (it was then called Halton Autobody) before George raced it and won The 1966 Sundown Gran Prix at the Toronto Motor Speedway. Stan and BRM are keeping the authentic Cobra tradition alive today by offering a select number of quality replicas to qualified buyers today.
And buyers do need to qualify if they want to build their own Cobra. Unlike most manufacturers, who offer a couple of turnkey builds but get their bread and butter from kit components shipped to anybody who thinks they can turn a wrench, BRM wants their product completed to the high standard they hold for their Cobra product. They make no bones about the fact that assembly of a hand built BRM Roadster takes more than 1000 hours to complete and requires a high degree of mechanical skill.
The BRM website shows a gallery of photos demonstrating the sophisticated equipment and methods used to build an actual production BRM 302R Roadster, which is intended to explain why you need to convince BRM with a formal application and a documented resume that you have the skills and resources to build your own BRM 302R Roadster. Not many make it past the cut; one customer who furnished photos of his build process was a certified master fabricator in the aerospace engineering industry, which gives an idea of the level of BRM home builders who pass muster.
Unless you have the resume, the equipment, and the thousand-plus hours of time, I advise to use BRM in the function they do best - working with customers to select the components that will customize their Cobra to the highest level of expectations. BRM's almost limitless selection of options and features -if it's for a Cobra, they have it - all the way to the top-of-the-line Cobra paint finish you will get from Bernie's, will ensure that the Cobra in your garage will give you the authentic Shelby Cobra experience. And that's what you guys have really always wanted, because a Cobra isn't really a car, it's an experience.
