the 1st Shelby Cobra race car a customer bought is going back to auction now that market prices are up, it's just an investment piece now, no one enjoys them for racing any more

Shelby Cobra Chassis CSX 2011 was purchased for $7,471 by John A. Everly, of Winfield Kansas, on October 23, 1962, and with that, it became the first Shelby Cobra race car to be sold to the public. Everley, a seasoned racer, traded his Ferrari 375 MM Spider for the Cobra, and it soon replaced the Ferrari as his racing car of choice.

The car was finished in red with a black interior when new, but it was repainted blue and white when it appeared at its first race, the Nassau, Bahamas Speed Week in December 1962.

Ron West, also of Dallas, purchased the Cobra in 1965 and would own it for over thirty years. From 1965 through 1967, he entered several SCCA events with considerable success, winning repeatedly and finishing several times in the top five. In fact, he finished third for 1967 in the SCCA's Southwest Division and was invited to the 1967 American Road Race of Champions in Daytona, Florida. As per SCCA rules, the dual-quad setup was replaced with a single four-barrel piece. Mr. West finished a respectable 8th in that particular race.

By 1971, the car found its way into storage although it was brought out for several SAAC conventions. Unrestored and finished in white with black upholstery, it retained its 289 cubic inch V8, with two Carter carburetors, kidney-bean Halibrand wheels, a hood scoop, side exhaust, original full windscreen, and a driver's roll bar that still bore a Bahamian inspection sticker dated 1963.

http://www.petrolicious.com/this-is-the-first-privateer-shelby-cobra-competition-car-ever-made
http://gearheads.org/is-the-first-customer-shelby-cobra-racer-worth-2-2-million/
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/4707648

- by Be For

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John just told me about an original owner 427 Cobra (CSX3349) , 5585 miles (in this 2009 video), a lot of drag racing at York US30

Photo by Joe Grippa, at York US 30 dragstrip

photo by Bill Whitley https://www.flickr.com/photos/poppybill/sets/72157638347962583/



Eight-minute promo from the full-length video available through Jim Amos' Bee On Video. This video documentary tells the story of how The Penn Brothers bought a brand new 1967 427 Shelby Cobra and turned it into a drag race vehicle. The car stopped racing in 1976 and it has been sitting in a garage ever since.

Thanks to John!

A similar 1966 427 Shelby Cobra just sold for $990,000 http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1071774

- by Be For

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1983-94 AC Cobra MK.IV

To see hairy sports car demography from a true perspective, you have to spend time with the granddaddy of them all: the rawest, fastest, most dangerous sports car, a light-weight Brit two-seater stuffed with far too much power for its own good. If only to prove that they're not really that hairy at all - even a leaf-sprung Cobra has the character to look after you, as long as you're not silly with it, though coil-sprung cars are better, and easier, on your back. 

 Real MKII's and AC289's (the smaller-engined Brit version of Shelby's seven-litre MKIII) have gone over the £250k mark, but there is a cheaper alternative: sample the raw delights of the Cobra in MkIV form. The Eighties Autokraft-built MkIV has all the style, all the grunt, in a slightly more comfortable package. Early cars are now more than 20 years old and many have been retro-fitted with Sixties-style dashboards, so you could just as well be in the real thing. Even these cars are £60,000-plus now, with one of the 26 Light-weights built approaching £100,000. 

 AUTOKRAFT BOSS Brian Angliss gave the Cobra a new lease on life 15 years after production ended, but attempts to revive the marque with an all-new Ace proved short-lived. Angliss also restored classic air craft, including a Hurricane, at the AC factory. 

Photography : Classic Cars Archive

SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE : 4736-5000cc V8
POWER : 250-300bhp
PERFORMANCE : Top Speed - 140mph. 0-60mph - 4.5sec
FUEL CONSUMPTION : 20mpg

"Never think of your car as a cold machine, but as a hot-blooded horse."
 - Juan Manuel Fangio (1958)
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- by Be For

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