Before I got the corvette that I have now I had an '03 Cobra, plus 2 previous stangs. I have some youtube videos of it, some playing and some dyno footage. Not sure how much you know about these cars already so here is my .02. For me, it was a pretty fun car for the money but needed too many upgrades to get it where I wanted when I had it at about 500hp. Easy to hop up, but I found too many things had to be upgraded as more performance was added. The IRS in particular is a big weak link, hates drag racing but it will take on the corners. It needed subframes right out of the box cuz it flexes so bad. So I would check to see what upgrades have been done for fuel management and drivetrain to handle the increased power. I have seen guys snap off half-shafts and blow differential covers off in stock trim so it's worth upgrading and looking into. Definitely want to test drive a few and make sure the trany shifts quickly, if not the synchros may have worn, as mine was( only had 17k on it when I bought it) but didn't really notice it till I drove my friends cobra and his shifted so much better. So I guess the previous owner of mine drove it a bit hard. So those are some things I would look at mechanical wise if I was buying one aside from obvious things like overall condition of paint and interior. Have fun with your new ride if you get it.
