When Carroll Shelby hung up his racing helmet, in 1959, for health reasons, he had to come up with a way to keep himself occupied, so he started a high-performance driving school. He also wanted to build his own sports car.
He zeroed in on the AC Bristol as a likely candidate. He wanted to put an American engine in the British firm’s lightweight roadster. AC agreed, as long as Shelby provided a proper engine. Shelby first went knocking on Chevrolet’s door. Not wanting to have something compete with their own Corvette, the answer was no. Ford, however, was happy to have a car to compete with the Corvette! Ford even had a new engine, the 260 HiPo V8, and it generously handed over not one, but two, of the new creations to Shelby.
Craftsmen at AC Cars, in Surrey, fitted a 260-cid engine borrowed from Ford UK into the prototype chassis CSX2000; after modifications and testing, the parts were removed, and the car was air freighted to Shelby in Los Angeles. Shelby’s mechanics, led by Ken Miles, engineering wiz and racer extraordinaire, worked out of Dean Moon’s shop and had an engine and transmission in the car within eight hours. They then started right into testing.
Road & Track tested an early Cobra in 1962. The car, as delivered, weighed in at 2,020 pounds, with the engine putting out 260 bhp. It did the quarter mile in 13.8 seconds at 112 mph without even breaking a sweat, and then did an observed top speed of 153 mph.
This was a win, win, win for all concerned. Shelby had a street car/racecar to keep him busy. Ford had the coolest car on the road and AC Cars had a continuing market for their long-in-the-tooth chassis. Giving the joint creation even more kick, Ford had enlarged the 260-cid engine up to 289-cid by the time the Cobra went into full production.
The first 125 MkI Cobras had a small drawback—they were still using the Ace’s worm and sector steering unit. The geometry never quite synced up with the front suspension of the Cobra, making it a massive workout for the driver’s arms. This was cured in the MkII by dropping in a rack and pinion steering box straight out of an MG Midget, giving the Cobra much lighter and more precise handling. Either way, the Cobras hit the track kicking ass and taking names. Doing, in other words, just what Carroll Shelby had intended.
CSX2171 was billed to Shelby America on August 28, 1963. It left the UK on September 12, headed for the U.S. aboard the SS Dongedyk. Its next stop was Marion Willey & Son Ford of Bountiful, Utah. Purchased on November 15 by E.U. Jacobs, he kept the car until August of 1969. It then passed on to Dr.Brent Christiansen of Salt Lake City. Christiansen drove it through the ’70s, then decided to take it off the road.
Tiring of everybody trying to buy the Cobra every time he left the garage door open, he secreted the 289 away behind a wall, underneath a suspended Model A! There it sat, until 2007, when Christiansen’s son sold it to the current owner.
CSX2171 is an absolute time capsule, to the point of it still wearing its 1973 Utah plates. The Cobra has been thoroughly gone through, but not turned into a trailer queen. It’s meant to be driven, and driven it is. On one 1000-mile rally, the participants experienced a sandstorm. Many Ferrari drivers quipped that the only thing that happened to the Cobra was a layer of dirt was removed!
Still wearing its original paint and red leather interior, it’s like slipping on a comfortable old shoe. A really, really fast comfortable old shoe. The Cobra wears its age and patina well. It speaks to you, “Don’t worry, you’re not going to hurt me. Let’s go out for a run!”
OK, if you say so.
The 289 lights up immediately and settles into a gruff, but tuneful growl. An almost full complement of Smiths gauges fill the dash in front of you. The clock has been switched out and the tach is a Rotunda, used in other Ford cars of the time, reminiscent of a VU meter on a cassette deck, that you just want to peg all the way to the right! The gauges are small so you have to squint to keep up with what’s happening. If you can’t read the speedo, know in your heart that whatever you’re doing, you are going too fast. Just so long as there is fuel in the tank and the water temperature is copacetic, all is good. The car is light, well balanced, and FAST! Everything you need to get to know the local constabulary and say farewell to your license.
It has nicks and scratches and the paint has worn through in places, but that just adds character. And there is no shortage of character in this little car. All you want is a lot of road and plenty of time to enjoy it. This Cobra may not come with a phone or Bruce the Ocelot, like Honey West’s, but it is still one sweet ride.
I accuse Jim Taylor of letting me get snake bit.
–Sean Smith
