"Like No Other Car" -- The Cobra® Mystique Let's be clear about one thing: the Shelby Cobra® was -- and is -- more than a car. Forget for the moment that the big-block 427 version is still widely considered the fastest American production car ever built. Forget that in the 1960s the racing world was left stunned and nonplussed when this American-built mixed-breed came to Europe and proceeded to devour racetracks, tossing aside such highly bred competitors as Ferarri and Jaguar like matchsticks. Those are historical facts. But the Cobra transcends the facts. This is a machine that has entered the rarified region of myth. This was, in many ways, the perfect sports car -- the epitome and the pinnacle of what a performance vehicle should be. This is what muscle cars dream about while they're asleep at night. What Hemingway was to American letters, Cobra was to the American car. If its closest domestic kin, the supple-handling Corvette, could be likened to Fred Astaire, Cobra is Robert Mitchum -- seething, sinister and capable of clocking you on the jaw so fast you never saw it coming. If the Corvette is a gazelle, Carroll Shelby's creation is the cheetah that chases it down and devours it. When it comes to automotive engineering of the American flavor, it's probably safe to say that no other vehicle holds such a powerful grip on the psyche of true auto enthusiasts. No other driving machine elicits the same kind of reverence, not to mention a positively visceral response. Certainly, more people have heard of Corvette, but the Corvette, in an evolved form, is still around. The Cobra, like singer Jim Morrison, disappeared in the '60s but continues to hang on to our imaginations with its sultry, powerful mystique. The Cobra taps into the zeitgeist of an earlier era -- a time when a 55-mph speed limit would have been scoffed at, gas was cheap, and the phrase "open road" was still an apt description. It was also a time when, for the first time, teams of racing engineers were set loose by auto manufacturers and given a sky's-the-limit free rein. What Carroll Shelby and his team of engineers wrought for the racetrack during a few short years landed, in much the same form, in the hands of about a thousand lucky car-worshippers. In 1965 a street-version of the Cobra could be had for $6,000. If you can find an original one now, you might expect to pay $400,000. Overview The AC Cobra Powered by FordB., was born in 1962. Created by Carroll Shelby, a former race-car driver, the Cobra was a true innovation during its time. It was actually made up of both American and British components. The bodies, chassis and undercarriages were all engineered, manufactured and assembled in Great Britain. The engines were made and installed in the United States. The combination created the fastest production car that had ever existed. It also won a lot of races before ending production in 1968. Nearly 40 years after its debut, the Cobra still displays the most widely recognized profile in racing history. Just a few years after the last Cobra was made, enthusiasts re-created it in the form of a kit car, and its popularity soared. Full-size Cobra replicas are now produced in more than a dozen countries, making it an international phenomenon. This series looks back at the legacy of this astonishing piece of automotive history, then examines the how this particular vehicle became the darling of the vehicle-replica industry, then finally takes you on a step-by-step tour of how a fully functional, street-legal replica of the legendary vehicle is built.
RESOURCES :
cobracountry.com
Premiere online resource for all things related to CobraB. reproductions. Established by enthusiast Curt Scott, and maintained by Crown Communications of Santa Clarita, CA, the site contains news, articles archives, a directory of Cobra-replica specialists and manufacturers, aftermarket sources, announcements of upcoming shows and rallies, listings of Cobra clubs, links to other Cobra sites, and more.
Cobra Country
Website: www.cobracountry.com
Unique Motorcars
Unique Motorcars
(Unique Cobra Specialists)
Manufacturers of high-quality Cobra® replicas since 1977, Unique Motorcars also maintains an informational and well-illustrated web site providing information about their Cobra reproductions and related products. Assembly manuals for their kits (including the one used in DIY's Build A Kit Car workshop) are available on their site.
230 E. Broad Street
Gadsden, AL 35903
Phone: 256-546-3708
Web site: www.uniquecobrareplicas.com
Information also available at:
www.cobracountry.com/unique
The Cobra Story: A Man, His Dream and His Automobile
Author: Carroll Shelby and John Bentley
1965, Trident Press
Carroll Shelby website
The Carroll Shelby Web Site
The official web site of the man who created the legend.
Includes biographical information, a historical timeline, information about new Shelby cars and products, news, links and more.
Web site: www.carrollshelby.com
Shelby Cobra: The Shelby American Original Color Archives 1962-1965
Model: 0879387572
Author: Dave Friedman
(1994)
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
Motorbooks International (MBI Publishing)
Essential AC Cobra : The Cars and Their Story 1962-67
Model: 1870979850
Author: Rinsley Mills
(1997)
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
Motorbooks International (MBI Publishing)
Shelby Cobra Gold Portfolio, 1962-69
Model: 1855200236
Author: R.M. Clarke
(1990)
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
Motorbooks International (MBI Publishing)
Carroll Shelby's Racing Cobra
Model: 0850454573
Author: Dave Friedman and John Christy
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
Motorbooks International (MBI Publishing)
Shelby's Wildlife: The Cobras and Mustangs
Model: 0879380454
Author: Wallace A. Wyss
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
Motorbooks International (MBI Publishing)
| 
)
)
)
)
)
)
