It started with a grudge. Carroll Shelby, a retired racing driver with a heart condition, wanted to beat Enzo Ferrari at his own game. But he didn't have the budget or the engineering team of the Italians. What he had was a crazy idea: take a lightweight British chassis and stuff a massive American V8 into it.
The Birth of a Legend
The AC Ace was a pretty, but underpowered British roadster. Shelby struck a deal with Ford to supply their new 260 and later 289 cubic inch V8 engines. The result was the Cobra. It was raw, terrifyingly fast, and handled like a shopping cart with a jet engine.
The 427: The Ultimate Weapon
To dominate the GT class, Shelby needed more power. Enter the 427 (7.0L) engine. With 425 horsepower in a car weighing just over 2,000 lbs, the performance was unheard of in the 1960s. 0-60 mph in roughly 4 seconds. Top speed over 160 mph.
Today, an original Cobra 427 S/C sells for millions. But you can own a piece of that history for a fraction of the cost with our Shelby Collection. Every time you look at it, remember the Texas chicken farmer who took on the world—and won.