"He obtained a license to import the AC Cobra (often known in the US as the Shelby Cobra), a successful British Sports racing car manufactured by AC Motors of England, which AC had designed at Shelby's request by fitting a Ford V8 to their popular AC Ace sports car in place of its standard AC six, Ford Zephyr or 2-liter Bristol engine. Shelby remained influential with Ford manufactured cars, including the Daytona Coupe, GT40, the Mustang-based Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT500. After parting with Ford, Shelby moved on to help develop performance cars with divisions of the two other Big"
"to cease production of its engine and instead to use Chrysler V8 engines. AC started using the 2.6 litre Ford Zephyr engine in its cars. In September 1961, American automotive designer Carroll Shelby wrote to AC asking if they would build him a car modified to accept a V8 engine. AC agreed, provided a suitable engine could be found. Shelby went to Chevrolet to see if they would provide him with engines, but not wanting to add competition to the Corvette they said no. However, Ford wanted a car that could compete with the Corvette and they happened to have"
"in the car was Ford's famed 427 FE NASCAR ""Side-Oiler"" V8, a power-house engine developing in its mildest street version. Unfortunately, the car missed homologation for the 1965 season and was not raced by the Shelby team. However, it was raced successfully by many privateers and went on to win races all the way into the 1970s. At the end in 1966, Shelby was left with 31 unsold competition cars; it was decided by Shelby American to sell them to the general public under the name of Cobra 427 S/C or Semi-Competition. Today these S/C cars are the most sought"
"2015, Shelby American announced that they would produce a limited run of 50 continuation Daytonas to honor the 50th anniversary of the Daytona's win at the 1965 FIA Sports Car Championship. Some of the 50 are to be aluminum-bodied, while others will have cheaper fiberglass bodies. In 2004, Ford and Shelby created a sports coupe dubbed the Ford Shelby GR-1, with a sleek body and the new V10 powering the new Shelby Cobra. Carroll Shelby has explained that he does not want it to be called a Cobra, but it does bear resemblance to the Daytona. Bill Thomas Cheetah, 1963,"
"COBRA Shelby American internal production records show that the car was shipped to Shelby American for evaluation and review in early 1966. The vehicle was returned to Ford and now resides in the Detroit Historical Museum. By 1982, the AC name was licensed by Autokraft, a Cobra parts reseller and replica car manufacturing company owned by Brian A. Angliss. Autokraft also had acquired the company's tooling. Autokraft manufactured an AC 289 continuation car called the Autokraft Mk IV, basically a Mk III with a Ford V8 and Borg Warner T5 Transmission. The Mk IV also received an independent suspension. In"
"a brand new engine which could be used in this endeavor: the Windsor 221 in³ (3.6 L) engine – a new lightweight, thin-wall cast small-block V8. Ford provided Shelby with two engines. In January 1962 mechanics at AC Cars in Thames Ditton, Surrey designed the ""AC Ace 3.6"" prototype with chassis number CSX2000. AC had already made most of the modifications needed for the small-block V8 when they installed the 2.6 litre inline 6 Ford Zephyr engine, including the extensive rework of the AC Ace's front end bodywork. The only modification of the front end of the first Cobra from"
"after models and can sell in excess of 1.5 million dollars. In 1966 a street model was available. It came with a tamer motor, optional dual carburetors, a glove box, and exhaust running under the car. Meanwhile, AC went on producing a milder version of the 427 MK III Cobra for the European market fitted with the small block Ford motor. The car was called the AC 289 and 27 were produced. Carroll Shelby sold the Cobra name to Ford in 1965 and went on to develop the famed racing Ford GT40. At the same time, the company realized they"
"which was an engine used in NASCAR at the time, but the engine was modified for road course use. The car's chassis was more or less the same as the British-built Mk.I chassis, but it and other parts of the car had to be redesigned and modified by Carroll Shelby's organization in order to accommodate the larger and heavier 427 engine. A new Kar Kraft-built four-speed gearbox (same as the one described above; Ford-designed, using Galaxie gearsets) was built to handle the more powerful engine, replacing the ZF five-speed used in the Mk.I. This car is sometimes called the ""Ford"
"Sportscar Championship in 1965. From 1965 to 1967, Shelby American also provided support to Ford for their successful campaign to win the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans as historically the first American constructor ever with the mid-engined Ford GT40's. With Shelby Daytona, Shelby became one of only three American constructors (along with Ford and Chevrolet) to win a title on the international scene at the FIA World Championships. Shelby American moved in 1998 to Nevada becoming the first automobile manufacturer in Nevada and began production. In 1999 the company was sold to Venture Corporation, for production of the Series"
"Hemi V-8, the 400 horsepower car weighed 2400 pounds. It would be ten years before another American sports car could challenge the C-4R for performance. That car, the Shelby Cobra, now an American performance icon, was directly inspired by the Cunningham C-4R. Carroll Shelby knew about Cunningham when he introduced the Cobra. In 1952, Shelby was driving for Aston Martin at Le Mans against the C-4R and lost to them. Shelby even copied Cunningham's paint scheme, which was white cars with two blue racing stripes, which Shelby reversed. Cunningham's efforts were big news in America. At one point Briggs and"
"belts. Other changes included front and rear side markers, ""FORD"" lettering removed from hood, rearview mirror moved from frame to windshield, a V8 engine was now available, and C-Stripe graphics were added. The California Special Mustang, or GT/CS, was visually based on the Shelby model and was only sold in Western states. Its sister, the 'High Country Special', was sold in Denver, Colorado. While the GT/CS was only available as a coupe, the 'High Country Special' model was available in fastback and convertible configurations during the 1966 and 1967 model years, and as a coupe for 1968. The 1968 Ford"
"was asked to transform the car into a racing Tiger. Shelby's competition Tiger made an early appearance in the B Production Class of Pacific Coast Division SCCA races, which resulted in some ""highly successful"" publicity for the new car. But Shelby was becoming increasingly preoccupied with development work for Ford, and so the racing project was transferred to the Hollywood Sports Car dealership, whose driver Jim Adams achieved a third-place finish in the Pacific Coast Division in 1965. A Tiger driven by Peter Boulton and Jim Latta finished twelfth overall and first in the small GT class at the 1965"
"column came from the VW Beetle. About 528 Mark II Cobras were produced in the summer of 1965 (the last US-bound Mark II was produced in November 1964). In 1963 to keep production focused on producing cars for Shelby American Inc., the Ruddspeed Ace was discontinued. To supply cars to the European market, AC began to market and sell the Cobra in Europe. Advertisements from the time state that the Cobra was designed to meet the requirements of Shelby American Inc. Shelby experimented with a larger Ford FE engine, of in chassis number CSX2196. Unfortunately the car was not able"
"and results includes: Carroll Shelby, after winning Le Mans in 1959, wanted to return to Europe to beat Enzo Ferrari at Le Mans with a car of his own design. Having developed the AC Cobra/Shelby Cobra into a successful GT race car, he realised that the weakness of the open-cockpit sports cars at Le Mans was the aerodynamic drag which limited top speed on the long Mulsanne Straight to around , nearly less than the Ferrari 250 GTO, which itself could hold speeds of circa . Given the length of this straight, this speed differential represented a loss of over"
"and large-block AC Cobras, the Shelby GT350 and the GT500 Super Snake. Since 2005, Shelby American has released new models each year. Carroll Shelby International was previously working with Texas-based Unique Performance to create new Mustang-based Shelby cars such as the GT350SR and ""Eleanor"". On November 1, 2007, Unique Performance was raided by the Farmers Branch Police Department due to VIN irregularities and subsequently declared bankruptcy, which effectively ended the Shelby continuation ""Eleanor"" production and the relationship. Shelby American was founded by Carroll Shelby in 1962 to build and market high performance parts and modified cars for individuals. The company"
"ASC (American Sunroof Company, now known as American Specialty Cars). Another important addition that year was Carroll Shelby's V8-powered Shelby Dakota, his first rear-wheel drive vehicle in two decades. An extended ""Club Cab"" model was added for 1990, still with two doors. This model allowed the Dakota to boast capacity for six passengers, though the rear seat was best suited for cargo, children, and shorter adults. In 1991, the front of the Dakota received a new grille and hood which extended the engine compartment to better fit the optional 5.2 L V8, which was inspired by the earlier Shelby Dakota"
"In 1953 he shared a Cadillac-engined Allard J2R with Philip Fotheringham-Parker, leading the race at the end of the first lap, but on lap four he was the first to retire with collapsed rear suspension and a severed brake pipe. In 1952 and 1953 a sister car was driven at Le Mans by Zora Arkus-Duntov, a one-time Allard employee. Carroll Shelby also raced an Allard-Cadillac J2 in the United States early in his driving career. Thus the successful Allard formula of an American V8 engine in a light chassis inspired the development of the Chevrolet Corvette and the A.C. Shelby"
"as the USA 2.0Si ""sport injected"" model. Fuel injection was introduced in the ""Si"" models in 1985. North American 1.8's offered , while the later 2.0 has . This version of the Prelude was far more popular in Britain than its predecessor, and sold well at a time when sports cars were declining in popularity and many manufacturers were withdrawing from this market sector; including Ford, who did not replace the Capri after its 1986 demise, even though it had been one of Britain's 10 most popular new cars as recently as 1980. The European lineup originally consisted of the"
"Shelby Mustang The Shelby Mustang is a high performance variant of the Ford Mustang which was built by Shelby American from 1965 to 1968, and from 1969 to 1970 by Ford. Following the introduction of the fifth generation Ford Mustang in 2005, the Shelby nameplate was revived as a new high-performance model, this time designed and built by Ford. The 1965–1966 cars were the smallest and lightest of the GT 350 models. These cars are often called ""Cobras"", which was the Ford-powered AC-based two-seat sports car also produced by Shelby American during the same period. Both models use the Cobra"
"over to Carroll Shelby after the 1964 Nassau race. The cars were sent directly to Shelby, still bearing the dirt and damage from the Nassau race. Carroll Shelby was noted for complaining that the cars were poorly maintained when he received them, but later information revealed the cars were packed up as soon as the race was over, and FAV never had a chance to clean, and organize the cars to be transported to Shelby. Shelby's first victory came on their maiden race with the Ford program, with Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby taking a Shelby American-entered Ford GT to"
"3 American companies, Dodge, and Oldsmobile. Ford provided financial support for AC's Cobras from 1962 through 1965 and provided financial support for the Ford GTs, first with John Wyer's Ford Advanced Vehicles in 1963 and then with Shelby American from 1964 through 1967. In the intervening years, Shelby had a series of ventures start and stop relating to production of ""completion"" Cobras — cars that were allegedly built using ""left over"" parts and frames. In the 1960s, the FIA required entrants (Shelby, Ford, Ferrari, etc.) to produce at least 100 cars for homologated classes of racing. Shelby simply ordered an"
"lightweight model which was more in tune with the original Cobra spirit, though it could not be exported to the US owing to federal regulations. Early cars were sold as the Autokraft MKIV, but eventually Angliss acquired the rights to use the AC name. Derek Hurlock had been strongly protective of the name, but Angliss' high standards of craftsmanship won him over. When the Hurlock family finally sold up in 1986 Angliss fully acquired the AC trademark rights and set up a new AC company as a joint venture with Ford, who had also recently bought Aston Martin. A big"
"US, who had already sold Willment a Ford Galaxie and this subsequently attracted more of Ford’s attention. For 1964 Alan Mann Racing became a Ford factory team. The team ran cars in events as diverse as the Monte Carlo Rally and the Tour de France Automobile to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shelby won the Over 2000cc Division of the 1965 International Championship for GT Manufacturers with Cobra Daytona and Cobra roadster models entered by various teams, including Alan Mann Racing. The team’s red and gold livery graced various Ford models including GT40, Cortina, Falcon, and Escort. The Ford"
"the CSX 9000 series. To date most continuations are produced in fiberglass, with some ordering cars with aluminium or carbon-fibre bodywork. In 2004, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford unveiled a concept for a modernized AC Cobra. The Ford Shelby Cobra Concept was a continuation of Ford's effort to bring back the retro sports cars that had been successful in the 1960s, including the Ford GT40 and the fifth generation Ford Mustang. In 2014 Shelby American announced a limited edition production of 50 cars for the 50th anniversary of the original 427 Shelby Cobra. AC Cobra"
"such as Cooper, Frazer Nash and AC and, in and , powered the Bristol 450 sports prototype to class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. In 1953, S.H. Arnolt, a US car dealer who sold British sports cars, commissioned the Bristol Car Division to build a sports car for the US market, called the Arnolt-Bristol. It is estimated that about 177 were built before production ceased in 1958. In 1960, Sir George White was instrumental in preventing the car division being lost during the wider company's merger with BAC. Accordingly, Bristol Cars Limited was formed, and remained"
"modern conveniences as automatic transmission, air conditioning, power steering, and other comfort options not generally offered on GTs or sports cars of the day. The first step to the evolution of the personal luxury car as a mass market segment in the United States was Ford Motor Company's two-seat 1955 Thunderbird. Ford termed the 1955 model a ""personal car."" During the Second World War American servicemen stationed in Europe began to experience the benefits of the nimble sports cars, particularly in Britain, and many shipped them home on their return. US automakers responded with a pair of home grown two-seat"
"Ford Cobra Roadster. MacDonald and Cobra driver Billy Krause exchanged the lead during the first hour before both cars dropped out with mechanical troubles. At the start of the 1963 season, Carroll Shelby hired MacDonald away from Chevrolet to drive his Cobra Roadster. His first outing for Shelby American was February 2–3 at Riverside International Raceway and he drove Cobra CSX2026 to back-to-back victories. These were the Cobra’s first wins. Teammate Ken Miles finished second both days in Cobra CSX2002. On February 17, 1963, MacDonald finished fourth in Cobra CSX2026 at the FIA Daytona Continental to give the Cobra its"
"Ford Shelby Cobra Concept The Ford Shelby Cobra is a concept car that Ford unveiled at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The Shelby Cobra concept is a roadster inspired by the original AC Cobra that AC Cars developed in 1961. Ford's Advanced Product Creation team designed and built the Shelby Cobra concept in five months. The project was led by Manfred Rumpel. Like several other Ford vehicles developed in the early 2000s (such as the GT40 concept, the GT and the fifth-generation Mustang), the Shelby Cobra concept is a modern interpretation of an older vehicle."
"the introduction of the Anglo-American Nash-Healey sports car, a collaborative effort between George Mason and British sports car manufacturer Donald Healey. Healey designed and built the chassis and suspension and also, until 1952, the aluminum body which another British manufacturer, Panelcraft Sheet Metal Co. Ltd., fabricated in Birmingham West Midlands. Nash shipped the powertrain components to England and Healey assembled the cars, which were then shipped to the U.S. for sale. In 1952 the Italian designer Battista Farina restyled the body, and its construction changed to steel and aluminum. High costs, low sales and Nash's focus on the Rambler line"
"and running either 1149cc or 1001cc Renault engines. The Ferrari 250 GTO had delivered Ferrari the GT victory for four years running. Four customer teams (NART, Maranello Concessionaires, Equipe Nationale Belge and privateer Fernand Tavano) entered the reliable 3-litre thoroughbred, now with new body-styling. As well as the Ford GT, Ford engines were also supplied to AC and Sunbeam with varying success. The Shelby Cobras had been very successful in American racing, and for the new year, it was given new aerodynamic bodywork and the bigger 289 cu in (4.7L) Windsor engine. Putting out nearly 400 bhp it was capable"
"installed in a production vehicle that year. Yet Also in 1965, Ford developed its own version of a hemi-chambered engine. The 427 ""Cammer"" used a pair of overhead cams to operate the valves in its hemi. NASCAR banned the engine. Then Ford developed the medium-riser intake and head, which fit under stock hoods and was accepted by NASCAR. Ned Jarrett, driving for Ford, was the 1965 Grand National champion and Ford won the NASCAR crown. Also in 1965, Ford and Carroll Shelby began production of a new and improved Cobra using a 427 cubic inch (7.0 L) FE side-oiler in"
"of Fame of America in 1992, the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1992, and the Diecast Hall of Fame in 2009. He was also inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame on March 2, 2013. In 2003, Ford Motor Co. and Carroll Shelby mended ties and he became technical advisor to the Ford GT project. In that same year, he formed Carroll Shelby International, Inc., based in Nevada. Shelby began working with Dodge at the request of Chrysler Corporation chairman, Lee Iacocca. Iacocca had previously been responsible for bringing Shelby to the Ford Mustang. After almost a decade of tuning"
"the standard GT model, but modified by Carroll Shelby International to produce 319 hp (238 kW) by means of a Ford Racing air intake, performance tune, and upgraded exhaust system. The Shelby GT-H was a fleet vehicle for Hertz car rental outlets and traced its roots to the 1966 Shelby GT350H. The GT-H was available only in Hertz's corporate colors: black exterior and twin gold racing stripes. It included a billet aluminum grille, a Shelby hood with functional hood pins, as well as front and rear fascias that were later used on Shelby GT and GT/CS models. The GT-H came"