SNAKE CHARMER

Carroll Shelby had a dream of building sports cars under his own name long before his professional racing career started. Happily for him — and the rest of us — he eventually managed to direct his energies into realizing that dream after poor health crushed his racing ambitions and put his other business ventures on hold. Shelby wondered why no one in the US had built a sports car that offered precise European handling with the power of an American V8 engine, and that could be easily serviced at any car dealership. Made in the US, such a sports car could also be sold for much less than the European marques. During a dream, he came up with the name for his car, the Cobra.

LUCKY BREAK

Shelby got wind that a British company, AC Cars, was about to cease production of the AC Ace sports car due to the unavailability of Bristol sixcylinder engines. The entrepreneurial Shelby instantly realized that the light, nimble British roadster could be the ideal partner for a powerful American V8 engine. This could be his chance to become a carmaker, and not just a retired racing car driver.

A sports car that offered precise European handling with the power of an American V8 engine, and that could be easily serviced at any car dealership

Shelby wasted no time in contacting AC Cars and very soon he had an engineless body in his Californian workshop. However, he needed backers as well as engines, so he proposed his sports car vision to the Ford Motor Company, which liked the idea of a sports