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Technically, there was never a 1966 or
1967 Cobra 427 S/C. But it is easy to
confuse the year of manufacture with
the model. The problem we’ve had is
when a club member requests a letter
verifying the value of one of these cars,
we ask for the year of manufacture be-
cause the insurance carrier needs to
know this. The owner will declare that
their car is a 1965 model, citing the
MSO as proof.When you squeeze them
hard enough they will admit that their
car is not fifty years old; it was manu-
factured in 2004 (or whatever year it
was built). After a while these argu-
ments just wear you out.
SCUDDER: I don’t deal with them.
I’m happy to direct them to Kevin
Rogers, the CSX4000 registrar. Even
so, it is incredibly frustrating. You see
owners on the forum with their ‘4000s
saying, “
This is a legitimate 1965
Cobra 427 S/C and it’s no different
than yours.
” Well, everybody knows
that’s bullspit.
SAAC: Another aspect of replicas is
that so many of them have been made.
There have probably been 1,500
CSX4000s, or more, because they are
still making them.
SCUDDER: If you count up the num-
ber of manufacturers other than
Shelby over the last twenty years that
have been making Cobra replicas,
whether it is here, England, South
Africa, Australia or Europe, I bet there
are (or have been) fifty different com-
panies that have been producing
Cobra replicas and everybody who
owns one wants to call their car a
1960-something Shelby AC Cobra.
Somewhere the term replica, clone, re-
production, tribute or whatever you
want to call it gets totally lost in the
translation and if you even suggest it,
they look at you in horror, It’s like,
“
Who the hell do you think you are?
”
SAAC: At car shows, it seems like
replica owners always want to park
next an original Cobra, hoping that
whatever makes the original so special
may rub off on their car.
SCUDDER: There is a website called
ClubCobra, which is a replica-oriented
group, and there have been numerous
threads – including one that is proba-
bly twenty pages long now – that tries
to answer the question, “
How do you
deal with the question of, ‘Is that a
real Cobra’?
” Reasonable people chime
in and they say that what the person
is asking is, is that a 1960s-built car?
Just say no, this is a car that was built
thereafter and it uses all of the same
stuff. You could argue that the technol-
ogy is even better. But most of these
people refuse. They say, “
I wanted a
Cobra, I built a Cobra or I bought one;
I’m not telling anyone anything. As far
as I’m concerned, yes, it’s a real 1960s
Cobra
.”
SAAC: It’s impossible for us to change
anybody’s mind at this point. Replicas
have been around too long. They have
been accepted. There are probably
10,000 Cobra-like cars out there.
SCUDDER: Maybe more. And they
continue to be built every day.
SAAC: Obviously some of them are
better than others. Kirkhams are
every bit as good as the originals.
SCUDDER: Kirkhams are exquisite.
SAAC: When Shelby American gets
the right parts together they can as-
semble a decent 4000 car.
SCUDDER: They sure can.
SAAC: It’s gotten to the point now, in
the magazine, where I won’t put a cap-
tion under a picture unless I actually
know who the owner of the car is be-
cause it would be embarrassing to say
it was original car and later discover
it was a replica.
SCUDDER: Exactly, I understand.
SAAC: These are the times we live in.
We’re lucky we didn’t just get to the
party yesterday.We’ve been around for
quite a while. It’s been like a ride on a
really long roller coaster.
SCUDDER: Very true. And it’s been a
wonderful ride. I’m still enjoying it
after all these years.
SAAC: Where do you see the Cobra
phenomena headed in the future? Do
you see it continuing from where it is
now just continuing out as far as we
can imagine?
SCUDDER: I wish I knew. I don’t re-
ally know. I plan to hang onto my
Cobra until feel that my driving skills
are slipping and I really can’t properly
drive the car anymore. At which point
if the kids don’t want it, it will go on
the block. There is a time to say good-
bye to your car and that doesn’t have
to diminish your enjoyment of the cars
in general.
SAAC: Without trying to pump smoke
up your tailpipe, we have to say that
the original Cobra marque is fortunate
to have you as its guardian angel.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Fall 2015 339
After all these years of tracking Cobra history and Cobra owners, Ned Scudder still en-
joys the primary purpose of owning a Cobra: driving it. He can usually be found on one
of the variety of 1000-mile Cobra tours that take place annually. He’s pictured here,
with his wife of 37 years, Cree.