1962 Shelby Cobra Roadster

Shelby American produced 654 small-block Cobras from 1962 through 1965, including 579 289-powered cars and 75 of the earliest cars with an original 260-CID engine. This particular example is an early 260-powered Cobra which has been in single ownership since the mid-1970s. It has been given an expert-level restoration to factory-specified colors of black over black livery. It was billed by AC Cars to Shelby American on December 21st of 1962. This was the first Cobra by chassis number recorded with the comment, 'Exhaust headers and manifold piping to mufflers' on the invoice issued by AC to Shelby American. After it was assembled at AC in England, it was shipped to Los Angles and invoiced on March 11, 1963, to Ford dealer Grant Motor Co. of St. Petersburg, Florida at a base price of $5,095 plus features including aluminum rocker covers ($35.40), Wind wings ($13.97), sun visors ($15.04), front bumper ($23.97), rear bumper ($26.97), chrome exhaust tips ($4.25), chrome hood latches ($14.09), heater ($62), a luggage rack ($29), chrome air cleaner ($11.25), seat belts ($29), and Goodyear racing tires ($171.23) for a total of $5,531.17 and a $6,600.55 MSRP. The car was then driven - rather than shipped - to St. Petersburg, Florida, and the car was reportedly intended for the dealer himself, Bill Grant, Jr.

This was the cover car for the August 1963 edition of Mechanix Illustrated. By the mid-1970s, the car was repainted in red and then purchased by its current owner from a Ford dealer in Ogden, Utah during early 1976. The owner earned the SCCA Panamerican Region B/Stock Autocross championship with the Cobra in 1977. Other racing entries included the A/Stock autocross at the May 1977 Tulsa, Oklahoma SAAC Mid-America meet and an entry at the August 1978 Monterey Historic Races at Laguna Seca, California. With around 50,000 miles on the odometer, the car was put into storage around the late 1970s until 2011, when it was completely and professionally restored to show-quality standards. At this time, the car was brought back to its factory's original black-on-black livery.

By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2018