Shelby Roadster Cars

One of the most iconic American cars of all time, the Shelby Cobra, came to be in 1962 when Carroll Shelby combined Ford-made V-8 engines with British-designed AC Ace bodies. Although the Ace was fairly old and close to discontinuation in 1962, it’s lightweight structure helped Shelby create one of the greatest American sports cars. Built until 1968 in various road-legal and race-spec configurations, the Cobra reached its performance peak when the Super Snake was launched in 1966. Called the "Cobra to end all Cobras," the Super Snake is the rarest of the bunch, and it still holds the title for the most expensive American car sold at auction.

"When I built this dual supercharged 427 Cobra in 1966, I wanted it to be the fastest, meanest car on the road," Shelby told Barrett-Jackson in 2007 when the roadster was auctioned for its record price. "Forty years later, it will still kick the tail of just about anything in the world. It’s the fastest street legal Cobra I’ve ever owned."

Let’s find out more about this tremendous classic in the review below.

Continue reading to learn more about the Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake.

If you ask any car enthusiast the name of the person who has been the most influential to the automotive world, nine times out of ten you’ll get the answer “Carroll Shelby.” And, rightfully so – Carroll Shelby had an amazing automotive legacy. And, that legacy all started out with the car you see here: a 1962 Shelby Cobra CSX 2000. While all early Cobras are special in their own right, this one is excessively special because it was the first Cobra built. Ever. It came to be at the hands of Carroll Shelby and a few other people in a small garage in California.

There’s a lot more to this specific Cobra, though. See, this Cobra was built by Carroll Shelby and was owned solely by him. Furthermore, there is a funny story behind it. When the car was complete, it was shown at a number of different venues used by the motoring press and used for testing and development. The funny part is that Shelby had the world convinced that Cobra production was running at full force when in fact the CSX 2000 was the only Cobra at the time. To pull this off, the car was repainted prior to most appearances to give the illusion that there was more than just one for the first seven months of its existence.

With that said, this specific Cobra is ready to go home with a new owner and is being auctioned off by RM Sotheby’s in Monterey in August of 2016. It is being offered by the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust and, as such, should come with proof of authenticity. The car isn’t exactly in the best condition it has ever been in – there is definitely wear here and there. But, that is a part of the car’s history. So, let’s take a good look at it before it goes under the hammer in a couple of months.

Update 08-21-2016: This gorgeous car just broke the record for an American car sold at Auction. Check out the Prices section below for all the details.

Keep reading for our full review of this very special Cobra

Introduced in late 2014 and put on sale in January 2015, the 50th Anniversary Cobra 427 meant that Shelby enthusiasts can purchase a limited-edition, classic-looking Cobra without having to pay the million-dollar sticker the original 427s fetch at auctions. A few months later, and the anniversary roadster could spell trouble for Shelby American, in the form of a lawsuit for alleged acts of unfair competition and breach of its dealer agreement.

In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Stephen Becker Automotive Group, a Georgia-based authorized Shelby dealer known as Planet Shelby Cobra (Planet Shelby), the manufacturer is accused of violating Plaintiff’s dealer agreement as well as California and Nevada statutes against unfair competition. Specifically, Stephen Becker Automotive Group claims Shelby American engaged in direct sales of vehicles to members of the general public and stopped referring customers to Planet Shelby, as required by the dealer agreement.

The complainant went on to add that Shelby American refused to provide a VIN number for a 50th Anniversary Cobra 427 it had ordered for one of its customers. Later on, Shelby informed dealerships it had already sold a "significant" number of the Anniversary roadsters directly to the public and gathered dealers, including Planet Shelby, to participate in a lottery to determine which would be able to order the cars. The lottery was contrary to the "first come first serve" basis promised initially, the dealership added.

Continue reading to learn more about the new lawsuit against Shelby.

Here at TopSpeed, Heffner Performance is better known for its twin-turbo packages offered for models like Lamborghini Gallardo or Audi R8 V10. But now the tuner has announced a twin turbo package based on the famous Shelby Cobra.

Heffner began the program by simply teasing us with a massive engine on its Facebook page asking us to guess what it went in. The following day, Heffner showed us the beautiful Cobra body that it was going in. Unfortunately, the package is far from complete, but we do have bits of information and some rather sexy images.

This Cobra package will be developed during the winter and we’ll likely see the final draft sometime in the spring of 2013. Since the tuner will offer hasn’t offered up any other details, we can only speculate on what the beautiful powerplant in the Cobra’s engine bay will produce. Judging from previous packages we have seen from Heff, we expect the new Cobra Twin Turbo to deliver somewhere around 750 horsepower.

We’re in direct contact with Heffner, so we will get information lightning fast, once Heff releases it. So, stay tuned for more info!

To say we absolutely love every Shelby Cobra to death is an understatement. This also breeds a little hatred in our hearts for those that take a hacksaw to them and start modifying stuff. However, here are some modifications to Shelby Cobras that we can stomach and some that we completely fall in love with at first sight. Magnis Jinstrand’s modified Shelby Cobra just happens to fall squarely in the latter classification…

This beautiful example of automotive genius boasts a disgustingly sexy 6.0-liter Mercedes V-12 with an equally disgusting loud-mouthed supercharger strapped to its intake. There’s no information on the power pushed out by this mean machine, but judging by the above video, we would have to estimate it to be in the 700-horsepower range.

The exposed supercharger really just does it for us. Not only does it look awesome, but it is about the only whining that I can say I want to hear while driving a car. This blower obliges by providing plenty of it in audible goodness.

We are unsure what other modifications this Cobra has on it and we are also unsure if this is actually a real AC Cobra or not. Chances are that it’s a kit car sitting on a custom chassis, especially given how well it handles. Regardless of its authenticity, it is still one sexy beast. We will update you if we happen to come up with any of the vehicle’s specs. Until then, crank your speakers up and enjoy.

Carroll Shelby touched the lives of many people in the automotive world. During his racing career, he greatly changed the fortunes of Aston Martin by helping the British automaker take home a 1st place overall finish in the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shelby was not alone in this victory, as his co-driver, Roy Salvatori, and the car’s chief engineer, Ted Cutting both had heavy influence on this notorious victory.

Sadly, the automotive world has lost all three of these men this year, all within a handful of weeks of each other. First came Cutting’s death on March 22nd, then Shelby’s passing on May 10th, and finally capping off with Salvatori’s passing on June 3rd. Aston Martin feels that all three men deserve the proper send off and what’s better than bringing the car that all three of these men had a hand in to the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Unfortunately, it appears as if this 1959 Aston Martin DBR1 will not be making a tribute run around the course, but it will be present for the pre-race festivities. While this is not quite on the scale of the thousands of cars that gave Mr. Shelby a moment of noise in tribute, it is still a gesture that proves Aston Martin truly feels that Carroll Shelby, Ted Cutting, and Roy Salvatori are extremely important to its storied racing history.

Our hats have to go off to Aston Martin for rolling out the old DBR1, we are very curious to see what kind of condition it is in. We are willing to bet it is exactly as it was the day it pull out of Le Mans boasting the checkered flag on June 21, 1959.

Factory Five is known for being the premiere Shelby Cobra replica builders of the world, but how does their Mk4 Roadster stack up against the original 427? On March 17th and 18th, 2012, Powerblock TV will be airing episodes of MuscleCar TV that will show both cars stacked up against each other in a variety of driving categories. The Mk4 Roadster was jacked up with Ford’s new 5.0L Coyote engine, upgraded Wilwood brakes, Moser’s wavetrack rear end, and KONI’s latest double-adjustable shocks before both cars went to Charlotte Motor Speedway for a little one on one action. To watch the action, make sure you catch those episodes on March 17th and 18th, then again on March 24th and 25th on The Powerblock. Of course, if you want to be part of the action, then head over to the PowerBlock website, or visit the PowerBlock TV Facebook page where you can sign up to win the Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Package.

PowerBlock is holding a sweepstakes in which the winner will receive a complete Factory Five Mk4 Kit, complete with Ford Racing parts and Matco Tools, as well as a bunch of other prizes. All you have to do is sign up online to win. No purchase necessary.

Hit the jump to get full details on how to enter.

For full contest rules and all the wonderful fine print, go to http://www.powerblocktv.com/roadster/#!/rules

It’s quite possible that the Mercer name may not spark any type of recognition with the younger crowd. After all, this company was an American automobile manufacturer that produced cars before World War II and are probably not mentioned in any of the history books handed out in most classrooms. For the short version of the story, Mercer was responsible for the Mercer 35 Raceabout which was produced back in 1910 and considered the most admired sports cars of the decade. This vehicle was capable of hitting a top speed of 90 mph, which at the time was quite a feat, and was admired so much that Carrozzeria Sibona-Basano ended up building a modern interpretation of it in 1965.

The Mercer Cobra Roadster was a one-off vehicle commissioned by the Copper Development Association from Virgil Exner’s designs in Esquire. Its design was drawn up by Virgil Exner and Virgil Exner, Jr. and was built using a Cobra chassis, number CSX2451.

The special Mercer-Cobra Roadster will be put to auction on August 20, 2011 in Monterey with an expected draw of $800,000-$1,200,000.

See what makes up a 1.2M Mercer Cobra after the jump.

The folks at Factory Five Racing, the premiere Shelby Cobra replica builders in the world, have just come out with their fourth generation roadster complete with a reshaped body for a more period correct look thanks to a new in house fiberglass manufacturing process that significantly reduces the costs to tool the bodywork and apply the paint as well as additional room in the footwells for a more comfortable ride for both the driver and passenger and an optional aluminum shell seat for bigger guys.

The Mk4 roadster replica also comes with an all new assembly manual for complete kits making it easier to put the cars together from scratch as well as a Koni suspension that was first offered as an option on the last generation model and are now standard with all kits, but best of all they are made to accept the all new 400 HP 5.0 Liter Coyote V8 from the new Mustang GT.

Press release after the jump.

Highland Daytona Racing is a leading Cobra Daytona Coupe designer and manufacturer. HDR only commercializes "turnkey" cars, adapted to the owner’s requirements, even as far as custom building the cars driver’s side interior to his personal size dimensions! These are not kit cars by anyone’s imagination.