Story By Matt Stone • Photography As Credited
Carroll Shelby and a memorable gang of SoCal hotrodders had gathered in Dean Moon’s shop. It was early 1962, and a new Ford small-block V8 was being lowered into the empty engine bay of an AC Ace roadster. This is where the whole Cobra thing began.
The car was Shelby’s development mule–a show car, a press car. It …
Since stock engine valve float sets in around 6000, and you say this one can turn 7000, I assume they hot rodded it at the start?
I met a guy that was the second owner of a Cobra very much like this. It was painted brown, don't ask why, I didn't. This was in 1995 when I was buying a car from the second owner, a Fox Mustang. He has just purchased it from the first owner who he had know for like 30 years and had on many occasions made known the fact that he would buy the car from him whenever he was ready to sell it. Well that happen in '95 when the first owner turned 80. The car had been sitting for over 25 years un-driven. It needed every rubber part replaced as they were either rock hard or crumbling but he was able to keep the tires as they still held air, but you wouldn't want to drive anywhere on them.
@wsphon Safe to assume that hot-rodding was prevalent at the conception of the Cobra, especially for a mule that stuck around this long!
My dad, Richard Milo, was the original owner of CSX2001. It was the first "privately" owned Cobra and my dad raced it somewhat successfully in Pennsylvania and New York before selling it to Lucky Cassner. He had previously owned and raced AC Bristols in the late 50's. The reason for my post is that it appears that CSX2000 escaped all of the myriad modifications and tweaking that happened to CSX2001 in order for it to stay competetive. If you look at how my dad's car started out and how it has now ended up, I think I would be much happier with the original state of tune that CSX2000 is in. Just my humble opinion.
I love patina, but I have to vent. There is no excuse for the condition of the leather. In the late 1980s, we had this car off and on at the "Shelby American Museum" in Dallas and up at the chili plant in McKinney. The seats were just fine. It's frustrating that someone latter did not keep them up. It is not hard to maintain leather. There are plenty 100 year old cars across the pond with servicable leather. The rest of the car is how I remember, and that's just fine.
Really the first? I used to own a 1960 AC Ace that had been fitted with a 221 ci Ford engine - yes the 221 predated the 260. I think it was installed in 1961 in California and the car was raced up and down the coast by a Canadian. Last I heard it was in the EU somewhere.
The 221 didn't get into production cars until 1962, but that's beside the point - your car may have been built first, but unless it was built by Shelby and has a CSX serial number it wasn't a Cobra.
In reply to stuart in mn :
Not a Cobra but the idea wasn't now. I think the engine was comped by Ford.
The car is sitting up in Boulder, CO now a days if you want to see it live and in person.
I am far from a expert about Cobras, but a friend had one of the first ones. It is my understanding that before the cars were made in California Shelby had a partner and they made some cars. I believe one of those cars belonged to my friend. He bought it from the original owner. The first owner got tired of broken axles and hard to get tires. The car had 400 MM wheels. Citrion's use 165 X 400 MM tires if I remember correctly, this car had 175 X 400 MM tires. We were both kids and continued to brake axles and destroy Michilen X tires. The car had a 260 engine with two Carter AFB carborators. I do not know if the engine was built that way or put on by the first owner.
Neither Ford nor Shelby ever sold a 62 model. The 1st models were sold as 63.
Also, it had solid lifters so valve floating was not a problem.
bodega said:Neither Ford nor Shelby ever sold a 62 model. The 1st models were sold as 63.
Also, it had solid lifters so valve floating was not a problem.
Valve float refers to the situation when the valve spring can't return the valve to the seat and has nothing to do with hydraulic lifters - maybe you were thinking of 'pump up'?.
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