Precious Metal
In 1962, legendary race car driver Carroll Shelby had the wild idea to marry a small British roadster with a powerful American V8 engine. Amazingly, AC Cars supplied Shelby with a modified, lightweight chassis ripe for shoehorning, and the Ford Motor Company further provided him with its new small-block V8, giving birth to the Shelby Cobra. By 1965, the Cobra had been refined into what is perhaps its most iconic form: 427 cubic-inch Ford V8-powered Mark III.
In the early 1990s, Carroll Shelby took up where 427 Cobra production had left off, nearly 30 years prior, with the introduction of the 4000 Series. Built in Las Vegas, these cars were intended to be ‘new’ Cobras with the same style and appearance as their 1960s ancestors and were built using newly constructed frames and bodies in either fibreglass or aluminium.
Those that wanted to go a different route could commission the artisans at Kirkham Motorsports of Provo, Utah to build a very special Cobra body. Each Kirkham body is constructed with unequalled care, composed of seventeen hand-formed and joined panels, they are finished to such an exceeding quality that the seams are invisible to the naked eye, even when viewed from below. They are, quite simply, works of art, wearing not a drip of paint, they expose their sculptural bodywork for all to see. Bodies ordered through Kirkham are available in several materials, most commonly aluminium, finished to a highly polished or roughly-brushed sheen, but also offered in bronze, and copper.
Here we have three of those beautifully crafted Cobras finished in aluminium, bronze and finally copper.
Aluminium
1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra ‘CSX 4428’
This Shelby Cobra is completed with a unique Kirkham Motorsports-built polished aluminium body with contrasting brushed racing stripes. Since 1994, Provo, Utah-based Kirkham has offered exacting Cobra replicas in a range of configurations, including street and racing variants of the original 289 and the 427. Exterior features include a hood scoop, four-into-one side exit stainless steels exhausts, a driver’s side rollbar, clear wind wings, tinted sun visors, pop-up gas cap, as well as front and rear quick-jack racing bumpers.
The Cobra is powered by an aluminium-block ‘427 FE’ V8, which has been bored and stroked to 468 cubic inches of displacement. The engine produces 550 horsepower and 580 pound-feet of torque. It features Mahle 4032 alloy power pack pistons, custom-ground billet steel hydraulic roller cam, aluminium heads with Shelby finned aluminium valve covers, Moroso eight-quart road race oil pan, Melling high pressure oil pump, Carter fuel pump, aluminium high-flow water pump, MSD pro billet distributor, and an aluminium intake and Holley Hardcore 850HP Double Pumper carburetor. The engine is backed by a modern five-speed manual transmission, ensuring more comfortable travel at highway speeds.
Bronze
1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra ‘CSX 4600’
CSX 4600’s gleaming bronze bodywork, hand-polished to a mirror-like finish, is broken only by a pair of racing stripes, here cleverly brushed into the metal surface, rather than applied with paint. Stainless steel side exhaust pipes and a chromed roll bar add contrast, and the car is equipped with Halibrand-style pin-drive knock-off wheels wrapped in Goodyear Eagle ‘billboard’ tyres.
This Cobra’s spectacular appearance is matched by its mechanical specification. An impressive aluminium 427 V8, built by the Carroll Shelby Engine Company. The fuel-injected engine produces over 650 horsepower and over 670 pound-feet of torque, and is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.
Copper
1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra ‘CSX 4602’
This exotic and alluring 1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra ‘4000 Series,’ chassis number CSX 4602, is a rarified example provided by with a body executed by Kirkham in copper. A pair of brushed ‘Le Mans’ stripes bisect its otherwise mirror-like, highly polished skin, providing an eye-catching accent.
Under the bonnet sits a hand-built 468-cubic inch ‘427 FE’ V8 engine from the Carroll Shelby Engine Company, featuring a stroker crankshaft, custom Mahle alloy power pack pistons, a custom-ground hydraulic roller cam, Shelby aluminium heads, and a Shelby aluminium intake topped by a Holley Hardcore 850HP Double Pumper carburetor. Factory-rated at 550 horsepower and 580 pound-feet torque, this formidable powerplant routes power to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission and is capable of pushing the 2,400-pound chassis to top speed at an astonishing pace.
This very special trio of Shelby Cobras are available from RM Sothebys Private Sales department. For more information on these and other vehicles for sale, click on the link below. Photos: © RM Sothebys.