Shelby Cobra redirects here. See also the Shelby Mustang Cobra

1961 AC Bristol-Ace Cobra

427 Shelby American CSX 4109 Cobra Continuation Signature Series #3 of 4

The AC Cobra was a British sports car built in the 1960s. It was not the first car to combine a lightweight European chassis and aluminium body with a big American V8 engine, but it is possibly the most famous. The later, larger-engined cars are still among the highest-performing road vehicles ever sold. The Shelby Mustang is a performance muscle car from the 1960s. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 534 pixelsFull resolution (1000 × 667 pixel, file size: 92 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)1961 AC Bristol-Ace Cobra from www. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 534 pixelsFull resolution (1000 × 667 pixel, file size: 92 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)1961 AC Bristol-Ace Cobra from www. ... 427 A/C Shelby America CSX 4109 Cobra Signature Series #3 of 4 Motors were engineered and developed by Ernie & Bill Elliot with Ford Motor Co. ... 427 A/C Shelby America CSX 4109 Cobra Signature Series #3 of 4 Motors were engineered and developed by Ernie & Bill Elliot with Ford Motor Co. ... 1963 Jaguar E-Type, a classic sports car 1963 Chevrolet Corvette was based upon European sports cars A sports car is an automobile designed for performance driving. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... The Liberty V8 aircraft engine clearly shows the configuration A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders. ...

History and Development

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. The engine was a pre-World War II design of BMW which by the 60s the company knew was considered dated. Bristol decided in 1961 to cease production of its engine and instead to use Chrysler 313cid (5.1 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 liter Ford Zephyr in all of its cars. Shelby, in September 1961 airmailed AC a letter asking them if they would build him a car modified to accept a V8 engine. Shelby had previous experience with Anglo-American hybrids, having raced an Allard. 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 endeavor. A.C. Royal Roadster 1924 A.C. 16/70 Sports Drophead Coupé 1935 A.C. ACE 2-Seater Sports A.C. Greyhound Saloon 1962 1999 Cobra Replica 1971 AC Frua AC Cars Group Ltd. ... Bristol Cars is a manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars, based at Filton, near Bristol, England. ... The straight-6 (also inline 6, I-6, or I6) is an internal combustion engine with six cylinders aligned in a single row. ... The classic 1951-1962 AC Ace. ... Carroll Hall Shelby, (born January 11, 1923 in Leesburg, Texas) is an American racing and automotive designer. ... For other Ford related cars called Zephyr, see Mercury Zephyr, Lincoln-Zephyr, and Lincoln Zephyr The Ford Zephyr was a car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom. ... The Allard Motor Company was an English car manufacturer founded in 1936 by Sydney Allard. ...

An artists rendering of the first AC Cobra, with the 260in³ engine. Note the narrower track and smaller wheelarches with flattened lips

AC agreed, provided a suitable engine could be found. It was, in the form of, Ford's 260 in³ HiPo (4.2 L) engine - a new lightweight, thin-wall cast small-block V8 tuned for high performance. In early 1962 the first engineless AC was air-freighted to Shelby's Los Angeles facility, where it was fitted with an engine and transmission in less than eight hours and taken out on test. Carroll Shelby claims the name "Cobra" came to him in a dream. Image File history File links Shelby_Cobra_260. ... Image File history File links Shelby_Cobra_260. ... “Ford” redirects here. ... The Windsor engine is a 90-degree small-block V8 from Ford Motor Company. ... A small-block engine is a North American V8 in a family of engines which generally have less than 6 liters (360 cubic inches) of displacement, although some derivatives have grown larger (up to 400 cubic inches, 6. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

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 liter Ford Zephyr. As a matter of fact, the extensive rework of the AC Bristol's front end which is often attributed to Shelby was done by AC for the Ford Zephyr version. The most important modification was the fitting of a stronger rear differential to handle V8 power. A Salisbury 4HU unit with in-board 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. In short, the front end of the new cobra was entirely AC Ace 2.6 apart from the mounting of the steering box which had to be moved outwardly to clear the wider V8 motor. For other Ford related cars called Zephyr, see Mercury Zephyr, Lincoln-Zephyr, and Lincoln Zephyr The Ford Zephyr was a car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom. ...

Badge

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. Toward the end of 1962, Alan Turner who was the chief engineer at AC 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 springs suspension. The new car went into production in early 1963 and it became known as the Mark II. The steering rack was borrowed from the MGB while the new steering colum 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 of 1964). By 1963 the leaf spring Cobra was losing its supremacy in racing, Shelby tried fitting a big Ford FE engine of 390 in³. Ken Miles drove and raced the FE powered Mark II car and said that the car was virtually undrivable, naming it 'The Turd!' A new chassis was needed! The new car would take the designation Mark III. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 895 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Cobra Badge File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 895 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Cobra Badge File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Ford FE engine was a Ford V8 engine used in vehicles sold in the North American market between 1958 and 1976. ... GT40 Mk II front. ...

The new car was designed in cooperation with Ford in Detroit. A whole new chassis was built which featured 4" main chassis tubes (instead of 3") and coil spring suspension all around. The new car also had wide fenders and a larger radiator opening. It was powered by the famed "side oiler" Ford 427 engine (7.0 L) developing 425 bhp (317 kW) and attaining a top speed of 163 mph (262 km/h) in the standard model and 485 bhp (362 kW) with a top speed of 180 mph (290 km/h) in the competition model. The production of the Cobra Mark III began on January 1st 1965, two prototypes had been sent to the United States in October of 1964. Cars were sent to the US as unpainted rolling chassis, and they would be finished in Shelby's workshop. Although an impressive automobile, the car was a financial failure and did not sell well. To save cost, some AC Cobras MK III were 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 privaters and went on to win races all the way into the 70's. 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 a million and a half Dollars. The Ford FE engine was a Ford V8 engine used in vehicles sold in the North American market between 1958 and 1976. ...

AC Cobras had an extensive racing career. Shelby wanted it to be a "Corvette-Beater" and at nearly 500 lb. less than the Chevrolet Corvette, the lightweight car did just that. The Cobra was perhaps too successful in the performance department and reputedly contributed to the implementation of national speed limits in the United Kingdom. An AC Cobra Coupe was calculated to have done 185 mph (298 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[1]. However, government officials have cited the increasing accident death rate in the early 1960s as the principal motivation, the exploits of the AC Cars team just highlighting the potential risk. The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car that has been manufactured by Chevrolet since 1953. ... The M1 motorway heading south towards junction 37 at Barnsley, South Yorkshire. ... Sir Jack Sears (born February 16, 1930) is a British former race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. ... The 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 32nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 20 and 21, 1964. ... A.C. Royal Roadster 1924 A.C. 16/70 Sports Drophead Coupé 1935 A.C. ACE 2-Seater Sports A.C. Greyhound Saloon 1962 1999 Cobra Replica 1971 AC Frua AC Cars Group Ltd. ...

Cobra replica

Although extremely successful in racing, The AC Cobra was a financial failure, which led Carroll Shelby to discontinue importing cars from England in 1967. AC Cars kept producing the coil springs AC Roadster with narrow fenders, a small block Ford 289 and called the car the AC 289, it was build and sold in Europe until 1969. 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 handsome steel body designed and built by Pietro Frua. With the demise of the Frua, AC went on building lesser cars and fell into bankruptcy in the late 1970s'. The company's tooling and eventually the right to use the name, were acquired by Autocraft a Cobra part reseller and replica car manufacturer owned by Brian A. Angliss. Autocraft was manufacturing an AC 289 continuation car called the Mark IV. Carroll Shelby eventually 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. Despite this there is no doubt that every Cobra made in the '60s was manufactured by AC Cars in England. Shelby merely imported and modified the cars into their final form. Carroll Shelby's company Shelby Automobiles, Inc. continues to manufacture the Shelby Cobra 289, FIA 289 and 427 S/C vehicles at its facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. These cars retain the style and appearance of their original 1960s ancestors, but are fitted with all the modern amenities. In 2006 Carol Shelby's own Shelby Cobra sold at an auction in Arizona for £2.8million^[1]. Image File history File linksMetadata Ac-Cobra. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Ac-Cobra. ... Carroll Hall Shelby, (born January 11, 1923 in Leesburg, Texas) is an American racing and automotive designer. ... A.C. Royal Roadster 1924 A.C. 16/70 Sports Drophead Coupé 1935 A.C. ACE 2-Seater Sports A.C. Greyhound Saloon 1962 1999 Cobra Replica 1971 AC Frua AC Cars Group Ltd. ... 1971 AC Frua The AC Frua is certainly one of the rarest and underrated automobile of the 1960’s and early 1970’s. ... Pietro Frua (1965) Pietro Frua (May 2, 1913 - June 28, 1983) was one of the leading Italian coachbuilders and car designers during the 1950s and 1960s. ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ...

AC Cobra replica

Shelby worked with the Chrysler Corporation from 1989 to 1991 to help develop and style the Viper supercar and in the late 1990s, developed his own Series 1, a composite-bodied high performance car powered by the 4.0 L, DOHC, 32-valve V8 from the Oldsmobile Aurora luxury sedan producing 320 hp (239 kW). A more powerful supercharged version was available in limited quantities as well. The Viper and Series 1 are considered to be the successors to the Cobra, although the Series 1 was/is more like the Cobra than the Viper is, while the Viper's big, raw, and powerful pushrod V-10 engine is much more like the Cobra's 427 than the Series 1's quad-cam 4.0 V-8. AC Cobra, photographed by owner in South Africa in 2002 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... AC Cobra, photographed by owner in South Africa in 2002 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Chrysler Corporation was a United States-based automobile manufacturer that existed independently from 1925–1998. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... 1998 Shelby Series One The Shelby Series 1 was a high-performance roadster designed by automobile legend, Carroll Shelby. ... The Oldsmobile Aurora was a luxury car made by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors and launched in 1995. ...

Coupes or Coupé

Peter Brock's Daytona Sportscar on the day before his fatal accident

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. It has now been completely rebuilt and now sits in private hands in England. The third significant Cobra-based coupe was the Willment Cobra Coupe built by the JWA racing team. Mike Mc Cluskey of Torrance California (one of the best Cobra restorers in the world), builds an exact replica of the racing Shelby Daytona coupe, these cars are exact reproductions of the originals. Also, a road-going Shelby Daytona Cobra replica is being manufactured by Superformance, a well known kit car company. These cars use Peter Brock's bodywork designs, scaled up by 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. Peter Brock's Australian namesake, the race car driver, was killed while driving an GM-powered replica of a Shelby Daytona Coupe in competition in Australia in 2006. The Peugeot 406 Coupé, designed by Pininfarina 1990 Mercedes-Benz 560SEC coupé, noted for its large, angular design 1997 Rover Vitesse Coupe, club coupé Rover P5 Coupe, a traditional four-door coupé Mercedes CLS, a modern four-door coupé Gala-Coupé of Leopold II, Brussels 1970s Sunbeam Alpine fastback coup... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2272x1704, 1805 KB)Peter Brocks Daytona Coupe, taken the day before he died. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2272x1704, 1805 KB)Peter Brocks Daytona Coupe, taken the day before he died. ... For other persons named Peter Brock, see Peter Brock (disambiguation). ... Peter Brocks Daytona Coupé - photo taken the day before the accident in which he was killed The Daytona Sportscar (sometimes referred to as the Daytona Coupe) is an Australian built reproduction of the famous Shelby Daytona coupé from 1964. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans) is the worlds most famous sports car endurance race, held annually at Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans, France, in the French Sarthe département. ... The Shelby Daytona was a coupe based loosely on the Shelby Cobra roadster. ... The 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 32nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 20 and 21, 1964. ... Superformance, LLC (Superformance Replicars) is a small American automobile company that builds, designs, and imports supercars and replicars. ... Simplified space frame roof with the nearest unit polygon hightlighted in blue A space frame is a truss-like, light weight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. ...

Continuation Cars

In 2003, Carroll Shelby International Inc. and AC Motor Holdings, Ltd. announced production of authentic Shelby/AC Cobra[2], with the production vehicle arriving at dealers in July 2004[3]. Initially available models included Shelby AC 427 S/C Cobra and Shelby AC 289 FIA Cobra, which will be branded as the CSX 1000 and CSX 7500 Series, respectively. In February 2004 the first handcrafted aluminum body shell was built. However, AC Motor Holdings, Ltd. failed to perform under the terms of its license agreement with Carroll Shelby, and a lawsuit was filed by Shelby against AC Motor Holdings, Ltd. and its proprietor, Alan Lubinsky, in May 2006. Carroll Shelby International NASDAQ: CSBI was formed by Carroll Shelby in 2003 from Shelby American. ... Alan Lubinsky is the current owner of AC Cars, having purchased it from Brian Angliss in 1996, and has produced cars sporadically ever since. ...

Super Snake

Shelby Motors built 22 427 competition roadsters. In 1965, 1 was selected and converted into a special model called the 427 Cobra Semi-Competition Super-Snake. The first one of these (number CSX 3015) was originally part of a European promotional tour before it's 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 Super-Snake modification is the addition of Twin Paxton Superchargers. This gave the car an alleged 800 brake horsepower (bhp) and 462 ft·lbf (626 N·m). of torque at an astounding low of 2800 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.

Another non-competition 427 roadster was converted into a Super-Snake (CSX 3303) 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 then 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 was eventually recovered and the wreckage was bought by Brian Angliss of CP Autokraft. He is expected to auction his restored version in the future.

Shelby's original model, CSX 3015, 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 like race in Nevada, where he was "waking [up] whole towns, blowing out windows, throwing belts and catching fire a couple of times, but finishing." CSX 3015 was auctioned off on January 22, 2007 at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in Scottsdale, Arizona for $5.5 Million plus commission (a record for Cobras, and a record for a Barrett-Jackson sold price) Carroll Hall Shelby, (born January 11, 1923 in Leesburg, Texas) is an American racing and automotive designer. ...

Movie Appearances

• The Gumball Rally (1976)
• The Hollywood Knights (1980)
• Romancing the Stone (1984)
• Bad Boys (1995)
• Twin Town (1997, 289 Cobra Replica)
• Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
• Gone In 60 Seconds (2000)
• Austin Powers
• John Doe (2002 - 2003)
• The Punisher (2004)
• Red Line (2007)

The Gumball Rally is a 1976 film about a coast-to-coast road race. ... Hollywood Knights promotional poster The Hollywood Knights is a 1980 movie written and directed by Floyd Mutrux and stars Robert Wuhl as Newbomb Turk, and also features Tony Danza, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Stuart Pankin. ... Romancing the Stone is an American 1984 action-adventure film. ... Bad Boys is a 1995 action comedy film, directed by Michael Bay and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. ... This article is about partnerships between towns distant from each other; see Twin cities for the different concept of physically neighbouring cities. ... Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) is a violent, English black comedy film directed and written by Guy Ritchie. ... Gone in Sixty Seconds is a 2000 action film, starring Nicolas Cage, directed by Dominic Sena, and written by Scott Rosenberg. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the 1989 movie starring Dolph Lundgren, see The Punisher (1989 film) . The Punisher is a 2004 movie, based on the Marvel Comics character, starring Thomas Jane as Frank Castle and John Travolta as Howard Saint, the gangster who orders the death of Castles entire family. ... Redline is a 2007 action film starring an ensemble cast. ...

TV Appearances

• Lupin III: Episode 0 - First Contact

Lupin the 3rd and Lupin the third redirect here. ...

External links

• The official Carroll Shelby website, Los Angeles, California
• Shelby Automobiles Inc., Las Vegas, Nevada
• 64' AC Coupe - Vintage Photos
• Rare CSX2345 Photos and Information
• Shelby American Automobile Club, Sharon, Connecticut
• Shelby American Collection, Boulder, Colorado
• Cobra at the Open Directory Project
• Barrett-Jackson's information about the sold 5,5 million dollar super snake

The Open Directory Project (ODP), also known as dmoz (from , its original domain name), is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links owned by Netscape that is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors. ...

Parts, Restoration and Replica manufacturers

• Mc. Cluskey Limited
• Kirkham Motorsport
• Factory Five Racing
• Shell Valley
• The modern Shelby Daytona Cobra
• Highland Daytona Racing Motorsports - Manufacturer of Turnkey Shelby Cobra replica cars