No car guy's bucket list is complete without a Shelby Cobra. You could rattle off 50 other cars and you'd still get an incomplete without one. It's the most recognizable sports car ever built, and faithful copies can be found at every price point from DIY kits to high-end builds like this awesome Cobalt Blue roadster, which packs a thundering 428 cubic inch V8.
This fantastic-looking snake comes from Mid State (now Shell Valley), and it's been professionally finished to give it a classic Cobra look. The fiberglass bodywork is reinforced with Kevlar in the important areas like the fenders and doors, and has the iconic bits and pieces that make the Cobra a perennial favorite. Someone who cared about getting it right laid down the PPG Cobalt Blue paint and the white stripes, which do a fairly faithful job of replicating the original look. A lone chrome roll hoop is classic, as is the quick release fuel cap, plus chrome bumperettes front and rear that look race-ready, and that trick Talbot-style mirror. Take a look at the pictures again and try to convince yourself that you don't want this car...we dare you.
Inside you've got a pair of black bucket seats in an all-business cabin. Aggressive 4-point belts hold you in place while a Shelby-style wood-rimmed steering wheel swiftly takes in all of your commands. Full VDO instrumentation lets you know exactly what's going on in the engine compartment. And taller drivers don't have to worry, because the foot boxes were dropped a bit to increase legroom and it really works, because this is one of the more comfortable Cobras we've driven. We like the raw toggle switches, the cowl-mounted mirror, and the forward-canted shifter, which manages a 5-speed manual gearbox. No radio, no heater, but if you need those things, you're probably better off in something other than a Cobra, but there is a chrome fire extinguisher, just in case. It's also got a good-sized trunk that's fully carpeted, so this car doesn't look or feel like a home-built special.
Cobras were all about big block power, and nothing delivers a big hit of torque like the 428 cubic inch Cobra Jet V8 installed up front. Yanked from a Mustang Mach 1, it's plenty potent and was rebuilt with upgrades like Edelbrock aluminum heads, a Lunati camshaft, roller rockers, and a pair of Holley 600 CFM carburetors up top. It's tuned right and runs great, and thanks to finned valve covers, twin air cleaners, and even a Ford-style expansion tank, it looks just like 1966 all over again. The chassis is another strong point, with tubular control arms, rack-and-pinion steering, and coil-overs up front, and a built 9-inch rear on a 4-link and coil-overs lives out back. 3.50 gears on a Track-Lok limited slip are plenty for the torquey big block and it just loafs along at highway speeds thanks to the tall overdrive in the five-speed manual transmission. And, of course, what Cobra would be complete without a set of howling side pipes, with these sounding especially luscious because they're being fed by a genuine big block, not some facsimile. Gorgeous 15-inch Halibrands fill the wheel wells thanks to 235/60/15 front and 295/50/15 rear white-letter radials.
You couldn't build this awesome Cobra for our asking price, and even if you could you'd have to wait. This car is incredible, it's beautifully built, it looks great, and you can drive it home today. Call now!