SHELBY PRICE GUIDE ORIGINAL BASE PRICE VS. TODAY’S
PRICE FOR NUMBER 1 CONDITION
The “Leaf Spring” Shelby Cobras started with 260-cid Ford V-8s and
soon progressed to the 289 version. To many, late 289 Cobras with rack-and- pinion steering are the most desirable.
in less than eight hours. The result was the basis of the Shelby legend, and it was terrorizing the streets within hours of receiving its engine. Magazine testers drove the car and spread the word that Shelby’s new sports car delivered earth-shattering performance. The new car wasn’t officially a “Cobra” until some time later, when Shelby says the name came to him in a dream.
The first Cobras are known as “Leaf Spring” cars, because their chassis used transverse leaf springs as the basis for independent front and rear suspension. Like any production car, they evolved. While all “Leaf Spring” Cobras are powered by Ford small-block V-8 engines, some important differences exist among the 592 cars built. The first 75 or so had 260-cid engines, before Ford’s new 289-cid version of the same engine was fitted. The first 125 cars had the Ace’s worm-and-sector steering system, which was replaced by a superior rack-and-pinion setup. Numerous other production chang- es followed, such as the switch from Lucas electrics and Smiths gauges to Ford electrics and Stewart-Warner gauges. Many Cobra purists favor the small-block Cobras with the 289, rack-and-pinion steering and the
Ford electrics alternator, and S-W gauges. Competition models are also coveted, of course.
Shelby made at least nine variants of Competition small-block Cobra roadsters, plus the drag race-ready “Dragonsnake” cars, though clearly the top dog would be one of the six Cobra Daytona coupes. The slippery Daytona was Shelby’s key to boost- ing the Cobra to dominance in the FIA’s production car class in Europe. It worked, and Daytona coupes won the World Manufacturer’s GT Cham- pionship for Shelby American.
A More Powerful Mouse Trap As good as the small-block Cobras
were, by 1965 they were long in the tooth. The competition was also catching up, as Chevrolet now had a 396-cid big-block for the Corvette. Shelby’s response was the 427 Cobra. While instantly recognizable as a Cobra, the 427 cars had a completely reworked and strengthened chassis designed
* All current price estimates from the Hagerty Price Guide.
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