When health issues temporarily took Carroll Shelby off the race track, he began expanding his idea for a V-8 powered, aluminum-bodied race car. His resulting combination of the Ace roadster chassis-produced by Auto Carrier of England-and the new Ford 260 cubic-inch V-8 engine became the legend known as the Cobra.
By 1962, Shelby Cobras were entering the racing industry and a year later were beating the already-established Corvette Stingrays. By 1964, Shelby Cobras were finishing higher than Ferrari GTOs. In late-1964, a prototype Cobra powered by Ford's 427 cubic-inch, 500 horsepower, V-8 engine was built, debuting in January 1965 at Riverside international Raceway.
The 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 featured a new tubular coil spring chassis engineered by Ford designer Klaus Arning, but was still based on the Ace chassis. The body was modernized with flared arches-allowing for a wider track and larger tires-and a straight-bar grille replaced the honeycomb style. | |
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