Carroll Shelby’s Personal ’65 Cobra 427 – and 23 of His Other Vehicles – Could Be Yours.
Next month, a grey 427 Cobra that was owned by the legendary car designer until his death in 2012 will go up for bid as part of Mecum Auctions’s Kissimee 2021 sales event.
The Cobra, Shelby’s self-designed sports car, the name of which came to him in a dream. Powered by a V8 engine from Ford, the Cobra’s lightweight body was produced by AC Motors of England, a company Shelby was familiar with from his days on the racing circuit.
Introduced in 1962, the Cobra’s nimble body and powerful heart made it an instant hit and led to Shelby’s name becoming forever linked with American muscle cars.
Two years after the original was introduced Shelby unveiled an even beastlier model with a seven-liter Ford 427 engine and a four-speed manual transmission known as the Cobra 427.
The 427 is a street-spec sports car. This particular example, chassis CSX3178, is just one of five finished in Charcoal Grey, according to the auction house. Despite being a 1965 model, the 427 was built in March of 1966 and would be used by Shelby as his own personal Cobra. Originally outfitted with a Ford 427cc V8 with dual quads and a 4-speed Toploader transmission, Shelby eventually decided he needed more oomph and had this swapped out for an aluminum-head 427cc side-oiler engine with an automatic transmission.
That isn’t the only change the car has gone through since it rolled off the line. Six years after taking possession of the Cobra, Shelby had it re-finished in Guardsman Blue and gold. Then it 2002, the paint scheme was changed to red by restoration experts at Shelby America. The car was purchased from Shelby’s estate four years after his death and then, in 2019, underwent a complete, ground-up concours restoration which saw it re-painted Charcoal Grey and restored to its original 427 configuration with a four-speed manual transmission.
