This Classic Shelby Cobra With a Massive Modern V8 Can Now Be Yours
This unpainted 427 Cobra continuation car was built by Carroll Shelby in the 90s to be more powerful than the original.
Three decades after Carroll Shelby created an iconic muscle car by pairing British car bodies with American horsepower, the legendary automotive designer picked up where where production left off to create the Shelby 427 S/C Cobra 4000 Series. And one of them is going up for auction at RM Sotheby’s.
These cars were meant to be modern versions of the OG 427 Cobras, similar in concept to Aston Martin’s DB5 continuation cars. This one, chassis CSX 4428, jumps out with a racing-striped and polished aluminum body built by Kirkham Motorsports to 1965 specifications.
But beneath the hood scoop is a then-modern aluminum block V8 made by the Carroll Shelby Engine Company, bored and stroked to 468 cubic inches (7.7 liters).
With premium components including Mahle pistons, a hydraulic roller cam, aluminum heads, a high-flow water pump, and a heavy-duty carburetor, the massive eight-pot produces 550 horsepower and 580 pound-feet of torque that presumably makes one helluva growl through a four-into-one side-exit stainless steel exhaust. The semi-modernized powertrain overhaul continues with a five-speed manual transmission, instead of the original 427 Cobra’s four-speed.
The interior is clad in black leather on the bucket seats and dashboard, with black door cards and carpet matched to the trim. Behind the three-spoke Cobra-branded wood-rimmed steering wheel is a full suite of Speedhut analog instrumentation. And if you blow up the engine in a crash, there’s even an onboard fire-suppression system hung below the dash.
If interested, get ready to pony up half a mil in case the 1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra “CSX 4428” exceeds a $350,000-$400,000 pre-auction estimate when it hits the block on October 24 in Las Vegas.
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