Wanting to resolve some issues once and for all.
I went back to the Shelby museum/manufacturing plant in Las Vegas today and
spoke to Wayne Stoker - Director - Administration & Finance.
I explained to him that on my first tour the guide had said the Cobra
"Continuation" car on display had sold for $800k, on my second tour the
guide said $500k.
Here's the lowdown:
Figure of $800k was wrong and he doesn't know which guide would have said
that figure. True figure is this car sells in "the neighborhood" of $500k,
the one on display sold at auction for $440k.
To answer the question why these continuation cars sell for more than an
original Cobra he says that these cars are better quality than the
originals. Each car takes over 4,000 man hours to assemble and the fit and
finish on these cars are much better than the originals. Some components
are updated as O.E.M. originals are no longer available i.e. Halibrand
wheels and seat belts
Shelby had Mike McCluksy (excuse my spelling if wrong) manufacture some
frames prior to 1995. Since 1995 McCluksy has not manufactured any frames
that have been used in the continuation series assembled at the plant.
Mr.Stoker explained they have no affiliations whatsoever with McCluksy and
it would jeopardize their operation to use these frames (what a dummy, I
realize I never asked him how many pre-1995 frames were available).
The "Continuation Cobras" are for show and display ONLY. They are, in
reality, a 1965 car and not only do they not meet current emission
standards, they do not meet current safety standards. Shelby American,
Inc. cannot sell one of these vehicles for road use, if they did they would
risk the D.O.T. closing them down, they can only manufacture the Series I
for road use.
That's about it in a nutshell. Hope this clears some things up.
If you have any questions , I would gladly try to get the answers.
Also if you would like to see some pics of the cars let me know, I have some
George "Tiger Fever" Roberts
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