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Is the GT350 a cobra?

raceredftw

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Ok, this may sound dumb, but I've gotten into a debate over whether the 2015+ GT350s are "cobras."

My position is that the cars have Shelby Cobra badges all over them - the grill, the rear deck lid, steering wheel, etc. I understand that Ford doesn't market them using the name cobra, but you can't stick cobra badges all over the car and claim it isn't a cobra. Ford's website calls them cobra emblems (for example, when talking about the steering wheel).

The other guy argues that the car is marketed as a Shelby GT350 and that's all there is to it. He says the badges are snake emblems, not cobras, because nothing on the car calls them cobras.
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white15gt

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You will never ever see anything from Ford refer to them as a Cobra, so no, it's not a Cobra.
 

Ixse

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its a shelby. cobra refers to the "AC Cobra" back in the 60's..
currently cobra is just a character inside the shelby badge. not sure if this makes sense lol
 
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raceredftw

raceredftw

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You will never ever see anything from Ford refer to them as a Cobra, so no, it's not a Cobra.
That's the confusing part. Ford doesn't include the word "cobra" in the official name of the car, but DOES call the emblems on them "cobras" in it's marketing materials. So they have cobra badging (and Ford itself calls them cobra badges), but the official "name" of the vehicle isn't a cobra.
 

lemers

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In reference to the GT500s and GT350s (including the ones from the '60s) the term "Cobra" is a nickname derived from the badges they have and the Carroll Shebly was invovled the the development.
 

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Muligan

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As mentioned above, the Cobra name came into being in '62 when Shelby named his new roadster. Shelby American used a couple variations of a stylized cobra head on the emblems for that car - designed by Pete Brock - over the course of the model's life (in both small block and big block variants). Shelby leveraged the Cobra's reputation when he took on the task of turning the Mustang into a sports car and race winner by including it on some components, such as steering wheel centers and gas caps - though still in the stylized front view version.

The version seen on the current GT350 originally appeared on the '67 GT350 (and GT500), though slightly more detailed than the artwork used on the modern cars.

As with those cars, none except for the roadster were called "Cobra" - but it did make sense for Shelby to use the image to lend high-performance credibility to his other offerings.

So, no, the GT350 is not... and has never been.... a Cobra.

Here's the '67 version of the GT350 emblem.....

 

Muligan

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Here's a pic of the early Cobra emblem ('62 260 cubic inch cars) that is often referred to as the "flat head cobra."



And here's the later, more common version.

 

UAmach1

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This reminds me of the SRT-4 guys arguing they don't have a Neon because their SRT-4 doesn't say Neon anyplace and Dodge never refers to it as a Neon.
 
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raceredftw

raceredftw

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Thanks guys, this has been helpful (even if I seem to have been more wrong than right lol, can't win 'em all I guess).
 

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raceredftw

raceredftw

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This reminds me of the SRT-4 guys arguing they don't have a Neon because their SRT-4 doesn't say Neon anyplace and Dodge never refers to it as a Neon.
That was basically my argument here - just because the word "Cobra" isn't actually spelled out anywhere, the car is covered in what Ford itself calls shelby "cobra" emblems.

In the end, maybe this is just semantics. The "official" name of the car isn't cobra, but I'd be willing to be that most people (even most mustang owners) would call the GT350 a cobra based on the badging.
 

Muligan

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This reminds me of the SRT-4 guys arguing they don't have a Neon because their SRT-4 doesn't say Neon anyplace and Dodge never refers to it as a Neon.
No, your comparison is not valid. To be valid, the original question would have been whether the GT350 is a Mustang and would have to been responded to by people saying they don't have a Mustang because neither the horse emblem, nor the name, appear anywhere on the GT350.

A Cobra is a Cobra - either the original roadster made by AC Cars & Shelby American - or the later variants of the Fox and SN95 Mustangs that used the name under license from Shelby.

The S550 GT350 is just that, a GT350 and a trim level of the Mustang, but it is not a Cobra.
 
 




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