Shelby A.C. Cobra

The car was marketed under various names, initially as Shelby A.C. Cobra to then become A.C. Cobra and finally Ford Cobra. The peculiarity of this car is given by the fact that it combined a US Ford V8 engine and an English bodywork weighing only 1311 kg.

This car was initially born as an intuition of Carroll Shelby, as he wanted to combine the agility of English chassis with the power of American engines.

In 1964, in an attempt to counter the excessive power of Ferrari, a new large-displacement engine, the 7-litre Ford type 427 Side Oiler, originally developed for NASCAR races, was fitted on the Cobra. Compared to the previous 289 engine which produced 350 hp, the Side Oiler produced 500. Furthermore, on the advice of Phil Remington, chief designer of Shelby American, the car abandoned the leaf spring suspension system for a double wishbone configuration. This is because the previous system did not allow the car's power to be managed in the best possible way.

The first prototype of the Cobra 427 was built in 1965; after having produced the first 100 units necessary for FIA homologation, the car took part in the 1966 SCCA championship in class A[1].

Final production was 348 examples, of which 88 in Corsa or Prova trim.

Among the rarest versions is the 427SC, Semi-Competition, a road model with racing trim produced in 31 examples.