This photograph shows the AC Cobra 427 – Shelby Cobra 427 – race car that was
build by Shelby American Corporation.
We also have a few photographs
available of different Cobra final assembly stages, all taken in Shelby’s Carter
Street
facility in Venice, CA. in 1964. Also racing images of various events. Even
some of the AC Daytona Coupe (of 1963).
The AC
Cobra – Shelby
Cobra cars had an extensive racing
career. Shelby wanted it to be a "Corvette-Beater" and at nearly
500 lb (227 kg) less than the Chevrolet Corvette, the lightweight car did
just that. The Cobra was perhaps too successful as a performance car and
reputedly contributed to the implementation of national speed limits in the United Kingdom. An AC Cobra Coupe was calculated to have done 186 mph
(299 km/h) on the M1 motorway in 1964, driven by Jack Sears and Peter Bolton
during shakedown tests prior to that year's Le Mans 24h race. However, government officials have cited the
increasing accident death rate in the early 1960s as the principal motivation,
with the exploits of the AC Cars team merely highlighting the risk. Although
successful in racing, the AC Cobra was a financial failure, which led Ford and
Carroll Shelby to discontinue importing cars from England in 1967. AC Cars kept producing the coil spring AC Roadster
with narrow fenders, a small block Ford 289 and called the car the AC 289. It
was built and sold in Europe until late 1969. This car with modifications would appear
again in 1982 as the Autokraft MkIV, basically an AC MkIII car with a 5.0L Ford
V8 and Borg Warner T5 Transmission. AC also produced the AC Frua until 1973.
The AC Frua was built on a stretched Cobra 427 MK III
coil spring chassis using a very angular handsome steel body designed and built
by Pietro Frua. With the demise of the Frua, AC went on building lesser cars
and eventually fell into bankruptcy in the late 1970s'. The company's tooling
and eventually the right to use the name, were licensed by Autocraft, a Cobra
parts reseller and replica car manufacturer owned by Brian A. Angliss.
Autocraft was manufacturing an AC 289 continuation car called the Mark IV.
Shortly thereafter, Carroll Shelby filed suit against AC Cars and Brian A.
Angliss, in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The ensuing settlement resulted in Shelby and AC
Cars/Angliss releasing a joint press release whereby AC/Angliss acknowledged
that Carroll Shelby was (and is) the manufacturer of record of all the 1960s AC
Cobra automobiles in the United States and that Shelby himself is the sole
person allowed to call his car a Cobra. Carroll Shelby's company Shelby
Automobiles, Inc. continues to manufacture the Shelby Cobra FIA
289 and 427 S/C vehicles in various forms at its facility in Las Vegas,
Nevada. These cars retain the general style and appearance of their
original 1960s ancestors, but are fitted with modern amenities. In an effort to
improve top speed along the legendary Mulsanne Straight at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, a number of enclosed, coupe variations were
constructed using the leafspring chassis and running gear of the AC/Shelby
Cobra Mark II. The most famous and numerous of these were the official works
Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupes. Six were constructed in total, each being subtly
different from the rest. AC also produced a Le Mans coupe. The car was a one-off and was nearly destroyed after
a high-speed tire blow-out at the 1964 Le Mans race. The car was completely rebuilt and as of now is in
private ownership in England. The third significant Cobra-based coupe was the Willment
Cobra Coupe built by the JWA racing team. A road-going Shelby Daytona Cobra
replica is being manufactured by Superformance and Factory Five Racing, a well
known kit car company. These cars use Pete Brock's bodywork designs, scaled up
to increase room inside, and a newly designed spaceframe chassis, they are
powered by Roush-built Ford Windsor (Sportsman) engines. The Superformance
Shelby Daytona Coupe is the only modern-day vehicle recognized by Shelby as a successor to the original Coupes. From the late 1980s
onwards, Carroll Shelby and associated companies have built what are known in
the hobby as "Continuation Cars", Shelby authorized continuations of
the original AC bodied Shelby Cobra series. Initially the car everyone wanted
in a Continuation was a 427 S/C model which was represented in the CSX4000
series. This was meant to continue where the last 427 S/C production left off,
at approximately serial number CSX3560 in the 1960s. The initial CSX4000
series cars were completed from new old stock as well as newly manufactured
parts. Gradually as the vintage parts supply ran low, newly constructed frames
and body panels were obtained from a variety of suppliers. The production of
chassis numbers CSX4001 to CSX4999 took roughly 20 years and many different business
relationships to complete. All models of Cobra produced are available now as
continuations. In 2009, CSX4999 was produced, concluding the 4000 series. Production has
continued with the CSX6000 serial numbers, featuring "coil over"
suspension. The 289 FIA "leaf spring" race version of the car is
reproduced as CSX7000, and the original "slab side" leaf spring
street car is the CSX8000 series. To date most continuations are produced in
fiberglass, with some ordering cars with aluminum or carbon fibre bodywork. In
2004, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford unveiled a concept for a modernized Shelby Cobra. The
Ford Shelby Cobra Concept was a continuation of Ford's effort to bring back the
retro sports cars that had been successful in the 1960s, including the Ford
GT40 and the fifth generation Ford Mustang. Shelby Motors built twenty two 427
competition roadsters. In 1965, one was selected and converted into a special
model called the 427 "Cobra to End All Cobras." The first one of
these (number CSX3015) was originally part of a European promotional tour
before its conversion. This conversion called for making the original racing
model street legal with mufflers, a windshield and bumpers amongst other
modifications. But some things were not modified, including the racing rear
end, brakes and headers. The most notable modification is the addition of Twin
Paxton Superchargers. This gave the car a claimed 462 brake horsepower (bhp)
and 800 Ft pounds of torque at 3000 rpm. Officially rated at 0-to-60 at 4.5
seconds, legend and lore have it as doing that in a little over 3 seconds as
one must lay off the throttle heavily just to get traction off the line.
Another non-competition 427 roadster, CSX3303, was converted and given to Shelby's close friend, Bill Cosby. Cosby attempted to drive the
super-fast Cobra, but had issues with keeping it under control. This was
humorously documented in Cosby's album titled Bill Cosby, 200 M.P.H.. Cosby
gave the car back to Shelby, who then shipped it out to one of their dealers in
San Francisco, S&C Ford on Van Ness Avenue. S&C Ford then sold it to customer Tony Maxey. Maxey,
suffering the same issues as Cosby did with the car, lost control and drove it
off of a cliff, landing in the Pacific
Ocean waters. It is to be noted that
Maxey's accident was largely speculated as suicide. It was eventually recovered
and the wreckage was bought by Brian Angliss of AC/Autokraft. Since CSX3303
was so badly damaged in the Maxey accident, it is doubtful that much of the
original car will surface in the restored version. Shelby's original model, CSX3015,
was kept by Carroll Shelby himself over the years as a personal car, sometimes
entering it into local races like the Turismos Visitadores Cannonball-Run race
in Nevada, where he was "waking [up] whole towns, blowing out windows,
throwing belts and catching fire a couple of times, but finishing."
The AC
Cobra, also known as the Shelby Cobra ,
is an Anglo-American sports car that was produced during the 1960s. Like many
British specialist manufacturers, AC Cars had been using the smooth, refined Bristol straight-6 engine in its small-volume production, including
its AC Ace 2-seater roadster. This had a hand-built body with a steel tube
frame, and aluminium body panels that were made using English wheeling
machines. The engine was a pre-World War II design of BMW which by the 1960s
was considered dated. Bristol decided in 1961 to cease production of its engine and
instead to use Chrysler 331 cid (5.4 L) V8 engines. Although untrue, it is
commonly believed that AC was left without a future source of power and that
American ex-racing driver Carroll Shelby saved the company from bankruptcy. AC
started using the 2.6 litre Ford Zephyr engine in its cars. In September 1961, Shelby airmailed AC a letter asking them if they would build him a
car modified to accept a V8 engine. AC agreed, provided a suitable engine could
be found. He first went to Chevrolet to see if they would provide him with
engines, but not wanting to add competition to the Corvette they said no. Ford
however, wanted a car that could compete with the Corvette and they happened to
have a brand new thin-wall small-block engine which could be used in this
endeavour. It was Ford's 260 in³ HiPo (4.2 L) engine - a new lightweight,
thin-wall cast small-block V8 tuned for high performance. In January 1962
mechanics at AC Cars in Thames Ditton, Surrey fitted the prototype chassis CSX0001
with a 221ci Ford V8. After testing and modification, the engine and
transmission were removed and the chassis was air-freighted to Shelby in Los
Angeles on 2 February 1962. His team fitted it with an engine and transmission in less
than eight hours at Dean Moon's shop in Santa Fe Springs,
California, and began road-testing. Production proved to be easy, since
AC had already made most of the modifications needed for the small-block V8
when they installed the 2.6 litre Ford Zephyr engine, including the extensive
rework of the AC Ace's front end. The most important modification was the
fitting of a stronger rear differential to handle the increased engine power. A
Salisbury 4HU unit with inboard disk brakes to reduce unsprung weight
was chosen instead of the old ENV unit. It was the same unit used on the Jaguar E-Type. On the
production version, the inboard brakes were moved outboard to reduce cost. The
only modification of the front end of the first Cobra from that of the AC Ace
2.6 was the steering box, which had to be moved outward to clear the wider V8
motor. The first 75 Cobra Mark I (including the prototype) were fitted with the
260 engine (4.2 L). The remaining 51 Mark I model were fitted with a larger
version of the Windsor Ford engine, the 289 in³ (4.7 L) V8. In late 1962 Alan
Turner, AC's chief engineer completed a major design change of the car's front
end and was able to fit it with rack and pinion steering while still using
transverse leaf spring suspension. The new car entered production in early 1963
and was designated Mark II. The steering rack was borrowed from the MGB while
the new steering column came from the VW Beetle. About 528 Mark II Cobras were
produced to the summer of 1965 (the last US-bound Mark II was produced in
November 1964). By 1963 the leaf-spring Cobra was losing its supremacy in
racing. Shelby tried fitting a larger Ford FE engine of 390 in³. Ken Miles
drove and raced the FE-powered Mark II and pronounced the car was virtually
undrivable, naming it "The Turd." A new chassis was developed and
designated Mark III. The new car was designed in cooperation with Ford in Detroit. A new chassis was built using 4" main chassis tubes
(up from 3") and coil spring suspension all around. The new car also had
wide fenders and a larger radiator opening. It was powered by the "side
oiler" Ford 427 engine (7.0 L) rated at 425 bhp (317 kW), which
provided a top speed of 164 mph (262 km/h) in the standard model and
485 bhp (362 kW) with a top speed of 185 mph (298 km/h) in the
competition model. Cobra Mark III production began on 1 January 1965; two prototypes had been
sent to the United
States
in October 1964. Cars were sent to the US as unpainted rolling chassis, and they were finished in Shelby's workshop. Although an impressive automobile, the car was a
financial failure and did not sell well. In fact to save cost, most AC Cobra
427s were actually fitted with Ford's 428 in³ (7.0 L) engine, a long stroke,
smaller bore, lower cost engine, intended for road use rather than racing. It
seems that a total of 300 Mark III cars were sent to Shelby in the USA during the years 1965 and 1966, including the competition
version. 27 small block narrow fender version which were referred to as the AC
289 were sold in Europe. Unfortunately, The MK III
missed homologation for the 1965 racing season and was not raced by the Shelby team. However, it was raced successfully by many privateers
and went on to win races all the way into the 70s. Interestingly, 31 unsold
competition cars were detuned and made road worthy and called S/C for
semi-competition. Today, these are the rarest and the most valuable models and
can sell for in excess of 1.5 million dollars.
The photograph that the winner of
this auction will receive is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a
wonderful era of Shelby Cobra , AC Cobra and Shelby ‘s automotive history in a wonderful way. This is your rare
chance to own this photo, it has a nice large format of ca. 8" x
10" (ca. 20 x 30 cm). It makes it
perfectly suitable for framing.
Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you
buy. For 5 or more photos, shipping is free!
All our photos are modern photos that are traditionally made from what we believe are the original negatives and are copyright protected.
(Note: A. Herl, Inc. does not appear on photo, for ebay purposes only)
No copyright expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our archives that we have gathered from various sources.
All items always sent well protected in PVC clear files and board backed envelopes.
They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace, restaurant, bar or club!
First come - first served. And you can always contact us for your requests. Please ask any questions before the auction ends.