This book primarily takes a close look at the Hugus-Shelby Cobra connection. In the early 1960s James Edward (Ed) Hugus personally financed the first seven production Cobras built since Carroll Shelby did not have the money or facilities for the project. Hugus ordered the first modified but unfinished Aces the A.C. Cars factory in England, and had his service department mechanics at European Cars in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania install the Ford 260 engines and Galaxie transmissions, completing the cars for sale. Once Ford signed a contract for Shelby American Cobra production in Venice, California, Hugus still completed Cobras for distribution and sales to all points east of the Mississippi River. -- In his capacity as a driver, Hugus piloted the first racing Cobra (CSX 2001) in competition, and in 1963, the first Cobra (CSX 2142) to appear at Le Mans. -- Carroll Shelby may have had the Cobra dream but it was Hugus who stepped forward and made Shelby's venture a reality.
The First Three Shelby Cobras, the third book in the acclaimed Exceptional Cars series, tells the story of three remarkable cars, the first AC Cobras created by the legendary Carroll Shelby in 1962 and now favorites of sports-car enthusiasts throughout the world. The prototype CSX2000 has been described as the “most important American car”, although it was built on a British AC Ace chassis with an American Ford V8 engine. It was retained by the Shelby family until 2016, when it sold at auction for a record $13.75 million. CSX2001 was the first production Cobra, and was delivered to American racing driver Ed Hugus. It was later sold to Frenchman Jean-Marie Vincent, who raced in the Tour de France and in numerous European hillclimbs. CSX2002 was the first Cobra to race and nearly won its inaugural outing at Riverside, driven by Bill Krause, until sidelined by a broken rear hub. It did take the first ever Cobra win, with Dave MacDonald at Tucson in March 1963. Its success led to a series of competition wins that made Shelby's Cobras famous and admired across the globe. All three cars are now the pride of car collections in the United States of America. CSX2000 and CSX2002 are part of the Larry Miller Collection, and CSX2001 belongs to California-based motorsport aficionado Bruce Meyer.
Now in Paperback! Revealing the inside story of Carroll Shelby's last quarter century: the legend, the man, and the vehicles he helped develop with the author: Ford GT, Shelby GT500, Shelby Cobra Concept, Shelby GR1, Super Snake, secret projects, and the return of 'Daisy,' the last Shelby Cobra.
In the new edition of this classic text, Brian Laban brings the story of the AC Cobra up to date. In the early 1960s, a flamboyant Texan, Carroll Shelby, dreamed of a special kind of sports car, a marriage of European style with lusty, affordable American V8 power. He took his dream forward and he persuaded British sports car specialist AC Cars to build his car, and US industry giant the Ford Motor Co to fund it. Its name also came to him in a dream - Cobra. The original production of the Cobra lasted just five years and encompassed barely a thousand cars built within the original framework. But it was only the beginning of a story that is still very much alive, encompassing 'continuations', spin-offs, and a massive worldwide replica industry. Shelby and AC Cobra details the man behind the cars, the story of their development and engineering, racing pedigree and owning and driving these powerful, iconic cars today. Fully illustrated with 250 archive colour photographs.
A Motorbooks Classic, Cobra tells the story of Carroll shelby's legendary sport/racing car with hundreds of great photos taken by the Shelby team photographer.
This book tells the complex saga of a sports car that was created in the early 1960s as a result of an unlikely collaboration between a plain-talking ex-racing driver from Texas and a conservative British automobile manufacturer, funded by one of the giants of the industry, the Ford Motor Company. Carroll Shelby, AC Cars, and Ford came together to create a car called the Cobra, based on the AC Ace roadster that had been in production since 1954. When the Shelby Cobra was created, it was far from state-of-the-art, but the use of a new series of Ford V8 engines saw the lightweight car annihilate the Chevrolet Corvette in American sports car racing. By adding aerodynamic bodywork, the Daytona Cobra Coupe arrived in Europe to contest the FIA World Championship and took victory in the GT category in 1965, making Shelby American the first (and only) USA-based manufacturer to achieve this feat. In order to capitalize on this success, even greater power was required and the car was developed to take a huge 7-liter engine that proved to be a triumph of horsepower over handling - thus the 427 Cobra became an overnight legend, establishing new performance records and creating a reputation for being more than a little tricky to drive. The era of the Cobra was brief - production ended at Shelby American during 1966 and at AC Cars in 1968 where they built their own final version, the AC289 Sports. Just over 1000 Cobras were built during that time but the final cars proved difficult to sell, their vintage qualities deterring potential owners. Carroll Shelby closed his company and went to Africa while AC developed other models, but the Cobra was not quite finished yet. Within a matter of a few years, a new market for the car was created as the demand for affordable kit cars grew. The most popular model by far was the Cobra and many thousands were built, with the result that both AC Cars and Carroll Shelby put their own versions back into production. And then the arguments really started... If it was an improbable car over forty years ago, it is even more implausible today, but the remarkable Cobra, in one form or another, is still with us. It may be dead, but it just won't lie down!
