As per the hint in last week’s post, I am proud to present a brand new Muscle Car of the Week that features one of the most badass vehicles ever made, the Shelby Cobra. I’m not sure why, but it has taken me nearly 40 installments of this series before I decided to feature the legendary Cobra. Seeing as I am way past due I hope to give all readers a plethora of information on this beast of a car that was meant to kill the competition. Before we jump, Carrol Shelby had a standing bet with potential Cobra customers. He placed a $100 in front of them on the dash and if they could reach forward and grab it before the Cobra 100 mph, it was theirs to keep. Shelby never lost a dine. Now jump.

Anyone who has ever spent 5 minutes of their lives listening to someone talk about cars from the 1960s has undoubtedly heard the name Cobra. Likewise if you watched Barrett-Jackson highlights you probably know that Carroll Shelby’s very own 800+ horsepower twin-supercharged 1966 Cobra Super Snake sold at auction for $5.5 million. But first, a little history on the more humble beginnings of the Cobra.

During the early 1960s Detroit was obsessed with racing in all of its forms. It did not matter weather you were talking about the high-banked oval tracks of the fledgling NASCAR, the slick 1/4 mile drags of suburban America or the twisting turns of international racing venues such as the legendary Le Mans. Starting in the 1950s, a young driver by the name of Carroll Shelby was tearing up the tracks in anything he could get his hands on, however when a heart condition forced him out of racing, he turned to the production of race cars instead.

Auto Carrier (AC), an old and storied English firm reduced to making invalid carriages, had recently lost an engine contract and was on the verge of discontinuing their two seat roadster when Shelby petitioned them to keep building their chassis for his new V8-powered sports car. After negotiating a low-liability contract with Ford brass for their new aluminum truck engine, and organizing the shipping of AC bodies over to his Venice Beach, California shop, Shelby American began cranking out Cobras. Although these hot new cars had a few problems in their initial races, they soon began to dominate their arch rival, the Corvette Stingray. Everything else on a short track, too

The first Cobra’s were powered by small block Ford V8s that had a displacement of 260 cubic inches. A couple years into the production run however, the new 289 Hi-Po V8 was introduced and was significantly tuned for racing. As with any muscle car in the 1960s, as the decade wore on, horsepower and displacement increased accordingly. After success internationally with a 427-powered Cobra, Ford decided that it wanted Shelby to put out a big block coupe for sale on the street in 1965. Dropping the fire-breathing 427 side oiler V8 into the street Cobra made it some kind of monster. The kind that was able to scorch rubber in all four gears. More over, it held a variety of acceleration records, including the 0-100-0 mph trophy, for nearly two decades until the mighty Porsche 959 came along.

By the time the year 1966 rolled around Shelby had work up to his ears in the form of the Cobra, Mustang GT350, GT-40 and was finalizing plans for the 1967 GT500. The 1966 Cobra could be ordered as a racer in disguise or a more streetable machine from the dealer. The race version featured a hood scoop and muffler-free side pipes that had a nack for blowing out the eardrums of the driver and passenger. The street version was a little more subtle as there was no hood scoop and the pipes exited the rear of the car enabling the driver and passenger to sustain some form of conversation. Probably something along the lines of, “Again! Again! Do it again!”

Betcha didn’t know that in 100 of the 1966 Cobras a 428 Police Interceptor engine was installed due to a back order on the 427 V8s. Although the Police Interceptor did not have the gobs of horsepower available on the 427, it did feature more torque and a broader powerband that made it easier to drive around town. Lease issues and problems with Ford would sadly spell the end of the Cobra before the close of the decade. The last Cobra to be sold left the showroom in 1968 and although few in number, the Cobra certainly made its mark in the world of high performance. Thank you Carroll Shelby.

The Cobra legend continues thanks to many replica shops, including the only one Licensed by Shelby America to produce continuation chassis, Superformance.

Thanks to Jerry’s Cobras and my favorite publication Muscle Car Review for some information.