A Short History Of Shelby American
Shelby American got its start in Dean Moon’s hot rod shop in Santa Fe Springs, California,
in February, 1962. The first COBRA was built there. The company
moved to 1042 Princeton Drive in Venice California, in June of 1962.
Dean Moon is most remembered for his famous logo, the "Moon Eyes"
(the young mechanic working in the photo has a Moon Eyes T shirt on),
and the significance of the Princeton Drive address is that it is where
Lance Reventlow had built his famous Scarab race cars.
The first prototype body was built by AC Cars in England, under the
supervision of Shelby, and using the newly introduced Ford 221 cubic
inch small block V8 engine to design the engine compartment. The
car was shipped, without engine, to Shelby in California on February
2, 1962.
The instant the first prototype arrived at Dean Moon’s shop, work
started to install a Ford 260 cubic inch engine. In a matter of hours,
it was ready for a drive around town. Still with no paint, it was in
unfinished aluminum.
That same aluminum would later be polished for the first black and white publicity photos.
As the first car was
noticed by the car
magazines, it was an
instant hit. Because of
the lack of availability
of cars to be lent out
for testing, the original
car was repainted
often to create the
impression that there were more cars.
Consensus: the car’s
acceleration was
described as
"explosive". What was
the first paint color
used on that first
COBRA? Yellow. 
By November 1962,
the first 260 cubic inch
race car was well into
preparation, and was
homologated by the FIA as a production car, meaning that at least 100 were built. Actual
number? Eight. The first test of the race version was in September 1962 at Riverside, the
car being driven by Bill Krause.
The first COBRA raced at Riverside on October 13, 1962. The race was the Los Angeles Times
Grand Prix, the driver was Bill Krause, and the car was leading but did not finish due to a
broken rear hub carrier.
Things were moving fast for Shelby American.
The 260 cubic inch engine was replaced by the 289 cubic inch engine in early 1963, after 76
cars had been produced with the 260.
The last race for the 260 was at Riverside on February 2 and 3, 1963. This last race, driven
by Dave MacDonald, was also the first win for Shelby American.
The production cars were being built as fast as possible, but orders came in even faster. The
basic process continued with the bodies being built by AC Cars in England, and shipped to
Shelby American in California for final assembly, installation of the power train, and
finishing to the customer’s order. AC Cars invoiced the car bodies to Shelby American for
approximately $1500 US. Interestingly, the invoices were made out to Ford Motor Credit Company
in the account of Shelby American, Inc. In other words, FMC was financing Shelby.
The finished Shelby American COBRA, depending on options, sold for about $5500. Take a
moment and consider what they are worth today.
1963 and 1964 were years of explosive growth and lessons learned for Shelby American. An attempt
on Le Mans was actually attempted in 1963, but the results were poor. Despite the harshness of the
learning curve, Shelby American won three championships in the US in 1963. These were the United
States Road Racing Manufacturer’s Championship, the Sports Club Car Club of America, and the
United States Road Racing Driver’s Championship.
Despite it’s success, to win the world championship the COBRA Roadster needed better
aerodynamics to be competitive in high speed racing in Europe. A wrinkle in the FIA rules allowed a
manufacturer to modify their body at will, as long as the chassis and engine were the same, so along
came the amazing COBRA Coupe. An inspirational design by Pete Brock, it was a redesigned
fastback version of the Roaster. And it was done in typical Shelby America style. Fast and to the
point. Creation of the car started in October 1963, and it raced the first time at Daytona as early as
February, 1964. Hence, it would be forever known as the DAYTONA COUPE.
A total of six Daytona Coupes were built, and along with the Roadsters, launched the first serious
attack on Europe in 1964. And they almost won! It was neck and neck between Shelby and Ferrari,
and the last race of the season was a short, high speed race at Monza. Race conditions favored the
COBRAS, and victory would mean the first FIA World Manufacturer’s Championship for an American
company. But the race was cancelled. Shelby was outspoken about this turn of events, which saved
Ferrari for at least that year.
But then there was always 1965.
It was the Fourth of July, 1965, and at Reims,
France, two Daytona Coupes made history by
clinching the FIA World Manufacturer’s
Championship for Carroll Shelby and Shelby
American. Certainly the crowning achievement of
the Shelby American Racing effort, it also
marked the beginning of the end, though nobody
was thinking of that at the time.
Most people don’t realize it, but the
championships, American road racing, drag
racing, and the eventual World Championship were all won with the Small Block COBRAS. Story has
it that the Big Block or 427 COBRA actually started as a "what if" experiment as early as 1963. It
was first tested in 1964, and eventually was raced competitively at Riverside, California on May 2,
1965.During it’s development, experiments were run with other Big Blocks, including an all aluminum
390.But the Big Block never figured significantly in Shelby American Racing.
By 1965, Ford’s ambitions on the world racing scene were at times in direct conflict with the COBRA
efforts. As early as December 1964, the until then unsuccessful Ford GT 40 program had been
handed over to Shelby American. The need to develop so many race cars, including the famous
Mustang 350 meant that Shelby American had to move to larger, Ford controlled facilities at the L.A.
Airport in 1965. More important was that Shelby American was being absorbed by Ford.
THE MAGIC WAS OVER.
After the World Championship, the last official competition appearance by the Shelby American Team
was November, 1965 at Bonneville. Using a Daytona Coupe, the driving team which included Craig
Breedlove, set twenty three records, including averaging 170 MPH for twelve hours.
THEN IT REALLY WAS OVER.
The "Shelby American Fire Sale" was announced by a letter of invitation in February, 1966. Under the
slogan, "Go with the winners in 1966", the race cars of Shelby American were sold, with 289
champion race roadsters at $6000 each, and three of the remaining four Daytona Coupes, straight
back from Europe with the World Championship, at $8700 each. COBRA 427 production continued
until supplies were exhausted.
The Shelby American COBRA was moving into history.