Acutely aware of this, Carroll Shelby knew that his biggest challenge with the 427 would be to find an acceptable common ground in the marriage of the 7.0L monster engine and the lightweight damsel of an AC chassis. When it came to power and displacement, it was no secret that Americans strongly believed that more was always better. However, the extra horsepower in the competition version did allow for a higher top speed of 185 mph vs. This single 4-barrel 780 CFM Holley carbureted engine was originally designed to be used in race cars, with its most notable feature being its ‘side oiler’ design which prioritized oil distribution to the crankshaft and main bearings before the oil made its way to the cylinder head and valve train.įord produced two versions of the FE V8 for the Mark III Cobra – the standard version which produced 410 bhp 6,000 rpm and 480 lb-ft of torque 3,700 rpm, and the competition version which output an additional 75 bhp, for a total of 485 bhp.ĭue to traction limitations, both engines propelled the Cobra from 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds and enabled it to complete the standing ¼ mile in just 12.4 seconds. The Shelby Cobra 427 gets its moniker from the 7.0L (427 cu. Transmission: Four-speed Borg-Warner Manual Transmission.Horsepower: 410 bhp (485 bhp in Competition Model) 6,000 rpm.Engine Type & Size: Front-mounted 7.0L (427 cu.Today, original and mint condition examples of the S/C are sold for more than $2 million USD. These variants became known as the S/C – an abbreviation for ‘Semi-Competition’ – and would go on to become the fastest production cars in the world at that time. He decided that the best recourse was to modify 31 of the competition cars to be allowed for road use, fitting them with windshields and detuning the engines. However, only 53 out of the 100 required for homologation were produced by the time the deadline had passed, leaving Carroll Shelby with a fleet of non-road-legal, competition race cars which could not be sold or raced. Production of the Mark III Cobras began early in 1965, with the goal of homologation for the racing season that year. Shelby Cobra 427īy 1963, the Cobra was subject to its first major design refresh (Mark II) and in 1965, a new chassis was designed (Mark III) for what would become the platform for the Cobra 427. Thus, the Shelby Cobra was born and the rest, as they say, is history. Here enters the charismatic Carroll Shelby – financially backed by Ford for this venture – who recognized the racing success of the AC Ace in the late 1950s and would end up brokering an agreement with the Britons who would manufacture a chassis based on the Ace, which Ford would then use its fledgling V8 engine to breathe life into.Īlthough the Ace was an aging design near the end of its life cycle, its lightweight structure would become the ideal complement in creating one of the greatest American sports cars ever made over the next few years. However, they still needed a chassis to go along with the powerplant. The American automaker was well prepared to take on their local rival and had already produced the engine they would take to the fight – a new, lightweight, thin-wall cast small-block 3.6L V8. In the early 1960s, Ford endeavored to build a car that would oust the Chevrolet Corvette as the USA’s most significant sports car. In 1962, the Shelby Cobra (or AC Cobra, in the UK) wrote its storied beginnings as a collaboration between Ford and British automaker AC with the release of the first production Cobra known as the CSX2001 / Mark I. The Shelby Cobra 427 Roadster is arguably the most famous and relevant of all the automotive legends.
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