Shelby/Cooper King Cobra

British racer John Cooper had introduced his mid-engined race car in 1958, Inn it wasn't until 1963 that Carroll Shelby, in his search for the quintessential race- car design, chose it to shoehorn in an American V8. The chassis was strong but very light being of tubular construction, with the engine and transmission forming part of the structure for extra rigidity. Double A-arms, anti-roll bars and disc brakes sat at either end and the whole body was hand-formed in aluminium The engine was massively tuned, and a full balancing and blueprinting job was carried out to cope with the racing use. Compression was raised to 10.5:1 for mOT6 power, and four twin Weber downdraught carburettors gave the car immense pulling power, even from low rpm. In the space of 2 years, just 12 cars were made and only 3 are known to survive, making them incredibly valuable today.

Shelby/Cooper King Cobra Specifications