The Shelby American Cobra 260 traces its roots back to the British AC Ace and later AC Bristol engined version. A tubular and lightweight design enclosed in a beautiful aluminium body originally designed by John Tojeiro.

Carroll Shelby, of previous Le Mans fame with an outright overall win in 1959, convinced the British manufacturer to supply chassis that would be brought onto US soil for the fitting of a Ford 260ci (4279cc) Fairlane engine as a first development but above all with the Ford Motor Company onboard. Chassis were tweaked to ensure that the bigger and more powerful engine would not disrupt the handling of the car or its reliability, as they were somewhat different to the Ford stock units with specific camshafts, porting and altogether breathing through a Holley 4 barrel carburettor.

As development became finalised, the manufacturing of the production version started in 1962, the ultimate aim being to achieve the FIA homologation standard of 100 cars built for Grand Touring registration. This would be achieved on the 11th of September 1962, with the FIA granting homologation 79 to the car on the 8th of October that same year.

Later evolutions of the car would see the fitment of Weber carburettors on a cross ram intake manifold, and ultimately an upward manifold which coincided with the later development of the Cobra 289 along with new exhaust manifolds, and that is the plot twist of the story – the introduction of the Ford 289 V8 to the Cobra for 1963.

The Cobra 289 evolution came together for 1963 through the work of Carroll Shelby and his association with the Ford Motor Company. The Cobra 260 had proved the concept, but Shelby knew that if he was to take over the World Championship for Makes, he would need to up his game. This came through the development by Ford of the 289 V8 engine, a 4700cc engine that would produce around 330-340 horsepower, and which would be compact enough to be handled by the British-built but American-developed race bed.

The Cobra 289 was a true evolution of the previous model and was not just about an engine swap. The geometry of the front suspension was revised, the worm and roller steering system followed on from the late 260 models with the fitting of a steering rack. Alongside those changes, the body saw the appearance of small side vents on the wings, adding a little sporty touch to the lightweight Anglo-American roadster listed with a kerb weight of 985kg.

In competition, the car proved to be a killer with the American establishment in the 1963 season, as Shelby American took the overall American SCCA title, while the model and production reached the minimum required with the FIA and homologation 115 was granted by the 10th of May 1963. Europe was now in sight, as was the World Championship for Makes; the Ford Total Performance effort was on course, with Shelby American overseeing the Grand Touring duties.

In racing trim, the car crossed the Atlantic to Le Mans, France, as early as June 1963 with two works supported cars: one through Ed Hugus for the “American” entry identified as “645 CGT”, and the other one through AC Cars Ltd. and named “39 PH” as the British entry. The American car did not finish due to an engine failure, while the British car finished 7th overall and behind the regular European entries of Ferrari and the mighty 250 GTO.

Lessons were learnt and along with the development that was going on in the US, Shelby, in association with Peter Brock, started the design of the Daytona Coupe to tackle the issue of aerodynamics that the Le Mans hardtop was unable to overcome in order to up his game to Europe’s standards.

1964 was to see a full Shelby works effort in the World Championship for Makes from the start of the season in Daytona and Sebring, as well as the first entries for the newly developed Daytona Coupe alongside the so-called FIA Roadster regular cars. The Shelby American show would go on to shake the establishment in Europe as well, with notable wins at the Targa Florio, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the RAC Tourist Trophy in the Grand Touring category, but was ultimately to finish second to Ferrari. That was subsequently reversed in 1965, with Shelby American and the Cobra taking full honours and the title that year – finally, Ferrari and Europe had been beaten.

Daytona Coupe

The Daytona Coupe is the special bodied version of the Cobra 289 and traces its roots to an Appendix J freedom that stipulated that, once past the 100 cars manufactured for homologation, manufacturers could use a special bodied version of their cars provided that the mechanical components remained as homologated. This is the concept that also permitted the Ferrari 250 GTO or Jaguar “Low Drag” E Type to take shape.

While it is now safe to say that a few tubes were added if compared to a standard Cobra 289, all in all Peter Brock managed to produce an aerodynamic concept which proved efficient for those dark ages of automotive aerodynamics. Brock, of GM origin before joining the Shelby operation in Venice, California, used a concept paper dating all the way back to the 1930s and written by Dr Wunibald Kamm in Germany which he witnessed back there. Nobody had foreseen that the figures and details would produce such an efficient package, masculine if compared to the voluptuous Ferrari 250 GTO but nevertheless an effective one. It took 90 days to build the first car and get it racing at Daytona in 1964 where it showed its speed, even though the car retired following a pit fire incident.

As a special bodied version, it required a few changes that translated into a specific exhaust manifold, but other than that, most changes were about aerodynamic efficiency or, if looking at the engine bay, about hot air flow and airbox arrangements. The car also sports a different dashboard consisting of an alloy sheet with Stewart & Warner gauges with rear view to an aerodynamic spoiler on the back end.

The first car was built in Venice by Brock and the Shelby team themselves, while the other 5 cars were subsequently manufactured by Carrozzeria Gransport in Modena, Italy.