I can’t speak to anything about the GT350 tours, we haven’t had a GT350 in decades. I do have friends that participate in tours with old Bentleys, the Going to the Sun Rally, and different groups (sometime overlapping) original Cobra tours in multiple countries. From what those people tell me Cobra touring we have experienced is not all that different. Cobra touring from my participation’s frame of reference, with an original Cobra. (We participated with a Cobra tour group in Arkansas this past May 2019.)
None of the tours we have participated in have been club sponsored events. None of the tours we have been part of were car shows. In each case we were invited by the organizer(s) that we previously knew outside of any organized club. Friends inviting friends to a small attendance event, logistics get much tougher to deal with past about 14 to 15 cars. A fun group gathering can become tiring work all too easy as the number of participants increases. (Speaking for myself the hassle of more than a dozen cars trying to make a timely group fuel stops especially during a cold rain, find parking in a one stop light small town or remote road side dinner for lunch, or just trying to stay together in public road traffic starts subtracting fun from the trips.) Been there done that myself back decades ago when I organized regional MCA event. I never got to meet everybody or look at most of the cars. They are often 600+ to 1,200+ trailed miles away from home. The Cobras are often driven hours to days in rain, mud, down gravel roads, freshly paved roads, and or snow. Yes, I said day driving in the rain and I meant from like 08:30 in the morning until maybe 16:30 that afternoon with a lunch stop. Tours continue no matter what the weather. Some tours take off for one or more nights on the road so the car is loaded with weather protection gear, extra clothes, fuel additive(s) to deal with country cross roads fuel available, tools, spare parts; definitely not car show preparation and detailing. Driving and visiting friends, making new friends with similar cars.
The tours that we have participated in are more about the people than their cars. Getting to drive the old cars without dealing with car show crowds is fun. In most cases the only time we get to visit with most of the participants are during these events. Texts, emails, and phone calls only go so far especially when participants live between as far apart the east coast and Alaska. Meal times and evening social gatherings allow lots of catching up and surprise not every subject involves the cars parked somewhere outside. We get to sit and visit with friends from last year or several decades back. We talk about families. We talk about the friends no longer with us anymore. We talk about car events we participated back all the way to the 1960s. The tours we have enjoyed have not been public history or technical seminars beyond simple questions from local bystanders. Club events are often hours of long technical Q&A sessions if you stay anywhere near your car.
In simple terms, these events have not been organized club events, have not been commercial enterprises to make money for organizers, and have not been planned as public car shows. A Cobra owner plans a tour and asks if we want to participate. That’s it. That’s all. Conceptually I don’t see it much different than let’s say somebody inviting some friends or close neighbors for a back yard BBQ. When we invite close neighbors over for a meal we don’t advertise an itinerary to the general public.