what are you looking to do in the car? if you want straight line i'd 100% go GT. i know a new GT can handle twisties just fine, just not sure what it takes, thats not my bag. but there is definitely people here that could point you in the right direction.
everyone has a terminator. the new GTs are far from dogs, with a couple bolt ons and a gear swap mid 12s are capable. less insurance for GT also.
the terminator is on a chassis that was designed in 1978. its been around the block quite a few times. its a good chassis, but the s197 is miles better IMO.
they also say the IRS for the terminator can be good for drag racing, but its costy to set it up to get good results. to get a good rear out of the s197 just swap the upper control arm and both lowers. around 400 bucks.
then if you wanna go all out, go with an anti roll bar, and adjustable
panhard bar. your looking at under a grand, and have a real done up rear
suspension.
the s197s also come with 31 spline axles. i don't know whats in the cobra stock, but 99% sure in my old sn95 GT they were only 28 spline.
the terminators also got a 10 year old interior. looks almost exactly like it did in 1994.