Yeah the Superperformance seems to be the one to get in my price range. The aluminum body ones are north of $200K.2 totally different cars. My friend got his Superformance Cobra earlier this year with a Roush 427. Is an absolute animal!! Been on the track with him and it’s an experience like no other. As far as Superformance goes, it’s head and shoulders above some of the Cobra kit cars. Phenomenal build quality, perfect paint job, and excellent fit and finish. With all that being said, I’d personally stick with the 500. You’d probably have more opportunities to drive the 500, no putting the top on a Cobra.
@Zoo You've summed it up well. Maybe I'm just being fickle for sure. I tend to do that with my motorcycles. Lol If I could afford both that would be the answer. Maybe get a Twister Orange Cobra along side mine. lolBob, I have zero time driving a Cobra, original or replica. However, it seems to me a Cobra will be driven by you in the same manner as your GT500, so ???? trade. Maybe just to have something different or..........? So I feel your angst about making a trade. The Cobra is a beautiful, beast of a race car, but then my GT500 is too. Also, when I owned my '66 GT350S I never got my fill of driving her. Had I been able to afford two cars when my daughter was born I would have kept the GT350 and become a two car family. I feel the same about my '22 GT500. It's such a great piece of engineering and it performs SO WELL, that it's like a real flesh and blood extension of me. It's a genuine treat to just look at my GT500 and an absolute epic sensory overload to drive her. Thanks to all those in this thread who posted the wonderful Cobra photos.
Great advice @Zoo and I'm sorry to hear of your wife. Life is short indeed. I drove my 2013 Boss 302 in School Bus Yellow to the dealer to test drive the GT500. This was in the height of of Covid so I got to test drive alone. I pulled out of the driveway, jumped on it, and within 1000ft knew I was going to buy it, Lol Got back and tried my best to not show the excitement on my face, but they knew I was going to buy it. Lol Used 2020 with 474 miles on it. I was sad a bit on giving up the Boss (and still am sometimes) but overall very happy with it.FWIW Bob, I think it's very important that you are happy with your decision. But that doesn't mean it's easy to be able to say two years down the road, (pun sort of intended), that you will say "boy am I glad I did this." In my personal life, when ever I had an important decision to make, after all the research, lots of thought, talking to persons in the know about what I was considering it all boiled down to "How did I feel about it." No science, GANT charts, or VENN diagrams - just how I felt. That method never disappointed me. I.E. I knew after reluctantly giving up my beloved GT350, that some day, some how I needed to own another Shelby. Why did I feel that way? Obviously, in large part because of the GT350 experience. I was single and never been married when I bought the first Shelby. The feeling of driving it off the lot at Muldoon Motors in Pensacola, FL was pure joy, great anticipation of the fun I was going to have, and that I was driving a rare piece of high performance automotive history. And having been single since April of 2014, (my wife died from ovarian cancer), there is no reason not to indulge myself, so here I am, a thrilled and very happy owner of another Shelby. Plus when you join a group of folks who are passionate about the same thing as you, you add an extra dimension of enjoyment due to the forums like this one, and by attending the events where you get to meet people who share your interests. Bottom line - be happy!
Thanks for the lead @AZ21GT500! I assume you are in Arizona? Here in CA we have a much much smaller selection of Cobras we can register. If an out of state car it must be registered as a "1965 Cobra" on the title. If not it needs to have gone through the "CA SB101" process where you can build it, but have to go through DMV, California Highway Patrol, and the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) for an inspections. Then your 2023 build can get a SB101 Certificate to be smog exempt and you can register it. CRAZY crap here in CA.Bob if the itch just won’t go away then I would look at a Factory 5 kits which were between 40/50k built used when I was looking. They aren’t the top of the Performance or as clean as most others but if you can swing it keep the 500 find a gently used Factory 5 and then paint it to match your 500. Best of both worlds!
Lol yeah that is a polarizing color for sure. Sort of like Twister Orange. LolOff topic, but I see your Boss was the SBY color. I thought those were sharp, but my wife hates the color. I think part of her distaste is influenced by the name because she always calls them SBY vice just yellow. What was Ford thinking when they used that name. Anything relating to a school bus doesn’t invoke a thought of good handling or speed or even good looks! 😩😊
@TexShelby that is Cobra porn right there! Lol Very nice clean setup! I agree with the all the comments above about the Cobra being loud, not comfortable, etc. but that might be part of the allure. Lol I think one the things I miss most about my 2023 Boss it the manual transmission and the more visceral driving experience. The GT500 is so fast and so refined, maybe too refined if that can be said about a car.I had a Superformance (only way to go when buying a cobra replica in my opinion), I purchased it in 2005 to satisfy my childhood dream. I had it for 10 years and then later purchased the 2020 GT500 I have now. The Superformance truly was an amazing car, incredible raw horsepower/torque and head turner like no other. For me, especially now at my age (50), I appreciate the comforts of the GT500 (a/c, technology package, etc...) compared to the cobra. Loved and miss the cobra but extremely happy with the GT500
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WOW What a great shot for sure. Another reason to buy one is I have to have my son guide me into my garage as I have maybe 6" of mirror clearance on each side and with my old eyes it feels more like 3". (probably a joke in there somewhere)
This is the BIG thing that folks who think they are saving the planet by buying an E-Car. Forget the Electricity usage and where it comes from, the mining of the minerals to make those batteries is an environmental nightmare. Those mines in Africa and China with questionable labor and environmental practices are consuming huge amounts of carbon footprint to make those batteries.And don't get me started on people driving those things while juice coming out of their walls comes from the coal plant down the road.
I'm in a similar situation as you Toad. Unlike our fearless leader Tim (Goose), my track days are well behind me. I too like canyon carving, but I'm no where near what these cars can do. I'm not sure I've had the car above 5000 rpms. Lol Bought mine withe 494 miles on it and now it has 2,800 or so. Have a cool battery tender that spends more time with the car than I do. LolLoved my 2021 GT500 in performance blue, was a dream come true for me, but sadly the dream versus reality factor came into focus as it sat in the garage month after month.
Had it over a year and put less than 2K miles on it.
i live in the mountains and there is hands down no better vehicle for carving up these windy mountain roads and bringing a scared ear to ear grin to the passengers!!
However, when you are doing 120 on a 50 mph curve and feel completely planted and in control you realize if the next corner is a slow moving tractor or deer you are completely toast!!
For me i just could not enjoy the car to its full potential and felt bad seeing it covered with garage dust between washings due to lack of use.
Maybe later i will try another one or something else, but the reality for me was just not as attractive as the dream!
@Supercharged362 What a great write-up and great way to put it. Our cars are state-of-the-art in technology, drivability, HP, comfort, etc., why would anyone want or need anything else. I took mine out this weekend and reminded myself how much fun it is. Still have the itch though and after reading your write-up, the itch is getting itchier!!! Lol Thanks again great insight into the Cobra experience and mine (if I get one) will probably mimic your ownership as well.View attachment 269208
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I am fortunate to own both. My wife said if you buy another car it better be a convertible. She had a fiat convertible in high school - not my cup of tea.
So, when this car became available, I jumped on it. After all, it was a convertible.
My car is a 2013 Backdraft RT3 with a dart 427 small block with a 5-speed tremec.
The premium for a superformance or a Shelby was not something I was willing to pay, especially knowing I was going to be driving the car.
I was also only considering used cars due to the depreciation hit at first, and then the wait times second. It would take a year before I would get it from backdraft new, and I wasn’t willing to wait.
Now, I drive my cobra. Hard. Like laying stripes from the stoplight every chance I get. This is not a garage queen show car. Even though I bring it to car shows. Even though it’s not perfect, I have to wipe the drool off of it from each show.
It’s such a fun cruiser. If you think you get a lot of attention in the 500, sheesh, nothing like the cobra. All ages, all races, all genders (lol) stare, compliment, hunt me down to give a thumbs up etc.
My insurance from Hagerty (which was the best and cheapest coverage I’ve found for this car) is $600 per year with a $75,000 insured value.
I LOVE my CFTP, I start it, I drive the shit out of it, then I go home. And I don’t have to do anything to maintain it. Change oil, please no biggie. But I feel GUILTY putting miles on it. It’s pretty, it’s rare, and It’s perfect. And I want to keep it that way.
Now, the Cobra? Usually starts easily (I hate carburetors), can only be driven in dry weather above freezing (we keep blankets in the car, no heat in ours), is loud as [email protected]&!, is slightly uncomfortable to sit in for extended times, has no technology, is a handful to drive, terrible lighting at night, might leak clutch and/or brake fluid, and I have to keep tools in the truck with a pair of jumper cables and portable jump starter battery in the trunk in case I forget to turn off the car or lights, but with all those negatives, there is nothing else like it.
When I’m banging gears from 1-2-3, and the sound when downshifting through my almost straight pipe exhaust its fun as hell.
Long day or week at work. I jump in the cobra, drive until I have to fill up the tank, and then head home. And I don’t feel guilty whatsoever, because I could sell it for what I paid for it and/or easily buy another one if anything were to happen.
Also, understand that most owners of these cars haven’t turned a wrench in their life and have not properly maintained them. Sure they might have paid a “professional” to work on it, but my experience is that 99% of mechanics have never worked on these. And if they have, they usually screw something up.
And you WILL have to turn a wrench.
All that being said, I would definitely buy it again. If I had to choose between both, I would probably keep the cobra so I could drive it like I stole it and never think about it again.
Of course, if you have 2 garage spaces, park your daily’s outside!
Im happy to answer any questions if you have any…
