10 Things Only True Gearheads Know About The 1965 Shelby Cobra

Aug 08, 2023

The Shelby Cobra is one of the best and most iconic sports cars to ever emerge from America.

We have heard about different types of collaborations in the automotive industry. Some of the iconic ones are Toyota and Yamaha for the 2000GT; BMW and McLaren for the McLaren F1; Mercedes-Benz And McLaren for the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren; Mercedes And Porsche for the Mercedes-Benz 500E; etc. However, the most iconic of them all and the one that stands out for sheer lunacy is the collaboration between British carmaker AC and Carroll Shelby that resulted in the Shelby Cobra. As outrageous as the name, the Cobra is what happens when you marry a lightweight British chassis with a fire-breathing muscle car big-block V8 engine. The end product is one of the prettiest and craziest sports cars ever made.

Think about it, back in the 1960s, Britain made the best chassis and America made the best big-block V8 engines. When you combine both, you get the best of both worlds, and that is exactly what the Shelby Cobra is all about. It is also one of the prettiest classic cars, with clean swooping lines penned by John Tojeiro for the original AC Ace. This is the car that put Carroll Shelby on the global map and established his career as a constructor and a carmaker, whose name is still being used by Ford for the Mustang lineup.

The name Carroll Shelby brings back a ton of memories for gearheads and the most prominent of them all is the rivalry between Ford and Ferrari and how Shelby played an important part in that. To understand Shelby better, we need to look at the Shelby Cobra and here are 10 things only gearheads know about the 1965 Shelby Cobra:

Although Carroll Shelby started his career as a constructor with the Scaglietti Corvettes and has built other rare cars, it was the Shelby Cobra that really helped him take off and attain fame. Carroll Shelby knew AC lost its engine contract with Bristol, and he cleverly approached them, asking to offer the chassis so that Shelby can fit an American engine. This marriage between a lightweight British chassis and an American V8 engine resulted in one of the fastest cars of its time.

The Shelby Cobra is easily one of the prettiest cars of all time thanks to its beautiful design. The original design for the AC Ace was penned by John Tojeiro, a British designer who took inspiration from coach-built Italian supercars and race cars such as the Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta. Tojerio sold his design rights to AC cars which turned it into the Ace, which looked beautiful but lacked the punch to back the design. That was when Carroll Shelby came with a powerful V8 engine to back the gorgeous looks.

Related: Here's What Makes The 1962 Shelby Cobra CSX 2000 So Special

The first prototype built by AC cars was the ACE 3.6 which was modified to accommodate an American V8 engine. The same prototype was married to a 2.5-liter inline 6 Ford Zephyr engine, which later gave way to the 4.3-liter V8 that was destined for the Cobra. This engine featured in the 75 Cobra Mk1 models, and the later 51 MK2 models got the updated 4.7-liter V8 engine. But it did not end there, Shelby then used a 390 Big Block 6.4-liter engine in the Cobra, which was followed by the Cobra 427 with the massive 7.0-liter V8 with 425 hp.

When the positive news from Britain came through for Carroll Shelby regarding the AC Ace chassis, GM was the first carmaker that Shelby approached seeking engines. However, Chevrolet didn't want any competition to its Corvette lineup and hence refused to collaborate. So Carroll Shelby went straight to Ford, met Lee Iacocca, and convinced him that for a $25,000 loan and a new engine, he will build a car that will obliterate the Chevrolet Corvette. Ford liked that idea, and we all know what happened.

Related: Rest In Peace Lee Iacocca: His 10 Biggest Contributions To The Automotive Industry

The MKI and MKII Shelby Cobras were great cars, but it was with the MKIII that things got serious in terms of performance. The cobra weighed around 2,355 lbs and featured the 427 big block Ford 7.0-liter V8 engine that dished out a whopping 425 hp and 480 lb-ft, leading to a top speed of 164 mph. In the semi-competition (S/C) model, this engine made 485 hp and reached speeds of up to 180 mph, making it the fastest car of its time in America.

Related: Here's How Much A 1965 Shelby Cobra CSX4000 50th Anniversary Is Worth Today

The Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake is the holy grail of all Shelby Cobras ever made. Shelby called it the "Cobra to End All Cobras" and fitted it with a 7.0-liter V8 and slapped on a pair of superchargers, taking the whole output to an insane 800 hp. This was one of the fastest cars in the world, and Shelby built just two cars, one for his friend Bill Cosby and one for himself. The car scared Bill Cosby, so he returned it to Shelby, and it was sold to someone else. The new owner had a fatal crash, leaving just Shelby's personal car, which was recently sold for a staggering $5.5 Million.

Today, the Shelby Cobra has an average price of $133,418 for all the models ever built. However, if you want the Cobra 427, you are looking at a potential $1.7m hole in your bank account. There's also a 1967 Shelby 427 'Semi Competition' Cobra that sold for a whopping $2.8 million and a 1963 Shelby 289 Cobra Works that sold for $4.1 million. The smaller-engined versions are available for affordable prices, but the Cobra is still one of the most expensive American classic cars.

There are many special competition editions of the Cobra, and two of them are the Cobra Dragon Snake And The Slalom Snake. The former is a drag version that won several NHRA events driven by Bruce Larson and Ed Hedrick. Reportedly, only 6 Cobra Dragon snakes were ever produced. The Slalom Snake on the other hand, as the name suggests, was built for Autocross events and only two examples were built. The Yellow car you see here is a Dragon Snake 289 from 1965 that sold for $1.4M.

The first MK1 Cobra could do the 0-60 sprint in 5.8 seconds, with a top speed of 145 miles per hour. But the later generations with the big block V8 engines were seriously rapid, with top speeds of 180+mph. Although initially the Shelby Cobra was destined to take on the Corvette, thanks to its amazing performance, the Cobra ended up giving competition to Ferrari and other established carmakers in the racing scene. The Chevrolet Corvette had no chance against this lightweight open-top muscle car with European underpinnings.

The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe exists because Carroll Shelby wanted an aerodynamic Cobra that could reach higher top speed to take on Ferrari at the Le Mans. The Mulsanne straight at Circuit de la Sarthe did not have any chicanes back then, and it was a long straight; a race car without a good top speed wouldn't succeed there. That resulted in the Cobra Daytona Coupe which could easily do 185mph as tested by Jack Sears on a UK motorway. And if you're wondering, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe did beat the Ferraris at the FIA International Championship for GT cars.

It has always been cars for Adithya that he drifted from his engineering career to become a full-time Motoring Journalist. He has over 5 years of experience working for a leading automotive publication (ZigWheels) in India as well as a prominent search engine (Bing). His hobbies largely revolve around anything that is associated with a touge.