Most Cobra owners have little interest in fine details.
There are Cobra, 427 Cobra, and GT40 owners that start efforts to return typical average cars to more day one configuration but only a few.
The person that buys an average Cobra and just keeps it two or three years just is not going to care all that much in my experience.
Last but not least, buy an average Cobra, spend ten years and tens of thousands on “original” parts and the value at auction has not changed at all. Buy a car spend $150,000 or more on it and you still have probably not changed its market value. From that perspective, why bother on details unless you plan on keeping the car the rest of your life no matter what the ‘market’ does.
Yes, I do understand your above statements as being so, as this has also been my observation of many of the cars that I have seen. This I can only attribute to the fact the these owners apparently are demonstrating their ability to afford these vehicles (for example particularly when referencing Cobras & GT40's), but are not really true enthusiast of the past period in history of the time when these cars were making such history. Although as being experienced today, the current investment value opportunities will in the future be a continued history of the cars, but it is not the celebrated history that is the impetus for these considerations; but perhaps is becoming and is or will be the driving force for value from here though.
I'm not against realizing the these cars were modified in period, and I do actually find such "in-period" modifications (particularly for performance & racing) acceptable (perhaps I'm considered a "Day-Two" guy
) and my original posting was voicing such as I presumed that the Weber set-up as pictured perhaps really wasn't "original" or "day-one" as the car first appeared, but rather displayed how the vehicles really were used at the time of there greatness, and not just by O.E.M. supported instances, and should be appreciated as such. But rather in my first posting I was commenting on the fact that although I don't expect that these cars as raced in this period of their greatness should necessarily be restored to day-one condition, but perhaps greater sins that should not be present, for example say: an MSD red painted coil mounted with a chrome bracket, a set of bright yellow Accell wires, a new bare bright aluminum radiator and I don't like the looks of the cheap, pin-thru the radiator mounted plastic electric fans , a polished carburetor with the red Edelbrock badge staring at ya, Jet-Hot ceramic coated headers, two hundred pounds of every hose being stainless steel braided with colorful hose ends and other obviously not in period stuff.
Not necessarily looking for perfection in every little nit, but just hopping for some to try a little harder at, even if it ain't original, providing a more reasonable in period presentation.
Scott.