Performance driving vehicle enthusiasts probably know the Shelby Cobra by name, and the unknowing civilian is likely to have seen it in movies, music videos, or zipping down the highway. The shelby cobra is a coveted, zippy little muscle car, desired for its sleek design and unique features.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Shelby Cobra, plus a few interesting and fun facts:
The Shelby Cobra, also known as the AC cobra, is an American engined British sports car. The car is named after Carroll Shelby, a famous American automotive designer. Shelby collaborated with AC and Ford to build a car that competed with Chevrolet’s Corvette. In 1962, the final road and track model was put together in a garage in Santa Fe Springs California in less than 8 hours, and sent to the streets for testing.
The Cobra became a wildly popular and coveted vehicle. From 1962 to 1968, Shelby built 654 small-block cobra models and 350 big block versions. In 1964, only 538 Mark II models built.
The Shelby Cobra was marketed as a stated “Corvette beater”, and weighed 500 pounds less than Corvette’s existing model.
Because of their limited availability, the Shelby Cobra is often subject to authentic replication. Many custom car companies will build cobra car replicas, offer upgrade parts, or even sell a cobra car kit. Cobra car kits allow you to build the car yourself from the bottom up. Building your own car with a cobra car kit is a rewarding way for car enthusiasts to engage with their automotive hobby.
The AC Cobra is a zippy little vehicle, almost too zippy. When advertising the horsepower of the Shelby Mustang GT 500, manufacturers provided a low estimate of 335, when in reality the actual horsepower was close to 400. They lied to appeal to insurance companies.
You may have seen the Shelby Cobra in Taylor Swift’s wildly popular 2014 music video, “Blank Space,” where she is depicted smashing up an ex-lover’s Shelby Cobra. Luckily, no actual vehicles were harmed in the making of this video.
Now you know a little bit more about the famous Shelby Cobra. Wax your knowledge to fellow engine heads and see how impressed they are!
