1967 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 14, 2015

Photo – RM Auctions

Here it is. One of the greatest cars of all time. By 1965, there had already been two versions of the Cobra. First, the 260, and then the 289. But the Cobra’s competitors were getting faster and faster and the 289 didn’t have any more power to give. So Carroll Shelby went to ford to get an aluminium 390 V8 and Ford said no and gave him this old iron-block 427 V8 instead.

The thing was monstrous and heavy and the Shelby team had to redesign the chassis to handle it. This is why 427 Cobras have those wide hips compared to earlier cars. So the Mk III Cobra, the 7.0-liter 427 V-8 powered monster, was built between 1965 and 1967.

What makes this even more special is that Shelby was a racer at heart and he wanted to see these things taking checkered flags all over the world. As the FIA was screwing around with their rules and classifications for different cars, Shelby was just trying to keep up. He ordered 100 competition Cobras from AC. 53 were completed before the FIA changed things again and Shelby put a hold on the order. But the new rules pitted the Cobra and GT40, siblings, against each other. Carroll bowed the Cobra out to run the GT40 program and left these roadsters to privateers, selling 16 of his 53 competition Cobras to private teams.

But he had some leftovers. Instead of racing them, they painted them (and this blue with two white stripes is the absolute best Cobra paint scheme there is) and sold them to the public as “Semi-Competition” (or S/C) road cars. They were the fastest street cars ever produced at the time of their introduction (and for quite a few years afterward).

The engine puts out 485 horsepower in S/C form. Top speed is said to be about 185 mph, which is insane for 1967. This particular car has known ownership history from new and 18,000 original miles. It has light SCCA competition history and is one of 29 authentic factory 427 S/C Cobras built. It’s incredible. You can read more here and see more from RM in Amelia Island here.

Update: Sold $2,117,500.

1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2015

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

This car will be one of the stars of Barrett-Jackson’s 2015 Scottsdale auction. It comes from the collection of Ron Pratte and he famously bought it at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in 2007 for $5.5 million. What’s changed since that price was hammered down? Well, we lost Carroll Shelby. How about a little biblical history of this car:

Genesis: AC built a car called the Ace. It had a six-cylinder engine. Carroll Shelby stuffed a Ford V-8 under the hood. The Cobra was born.

Exodus: AC/Shelby built a limited run (23) Cobra 427 Competition models. Shelby converted one of these (this car) into the Super Snake – the Cobra to End All Cobras. It was a competition-spec Cobra made street-legal with the addition of bumpers and a windshield. They also supercharged the hell out of it.

Revelation: They built a second one for Bill Cosby who, appropriately, found it impossible to control and drive on the road. He gave it back. The next owner drove it off a cliff. Shelby retained this car most of his life. It’s the only one left.

The engine is a 427 (7.0-liter) V-8. It has two superchargers and puts out 800 horsepower. Ol’ Shel himself claims that the car will hit 60 mph in just over three seconds but I doubt there is any way you could possibly get the power down smoothly enough for it to happen. The top speed is still likely limited to 165 mph based on aerodynamics.

This is a fairly legendary car in both the auction world and the world of muscle cars. You can buy it this coming January, but you better have a big bank account. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $5,115,000.