1965 Shelby 289 Cobra

1965 Shelby 289 Cobra
Sold for $990,000 Including Commission
RM Auction, Amelia Island, Florida 2014
Chassis no. CSX 2421
Engine no. PA 5044
271 bhp, 289 cu. in. overhead-valve V-8 engine with four-barrel carburetor, four-speed manual transmission, independent front and rear suspension with A-arms, transverse leaf springs and tube shock absorbers, rack-and-pinion steering, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. Wheelbase: 90 in.

•An exciting Cobra “garage find”
•Hidden away for 36 years
•Clean early history, documented in the SAAC World Registry
•Finished in the original colors


The history of Anglo-American hybrid sports cars can be traced back to the original Ford V-8 of 1932, which provided bulletproof engines to power elegant two-seaters. Famous marques with this configuration between the wars included Jensen, Railton, Batten, and a homebuilt V-8 Ford special that even won the 1936 Monte Carlo Rally.

But Carroll Shelby’s 1962 Cobra Roadster represents the pinnacle of the concept. It was a matter of perfect timing, as Shelby, at 37, was winding up a very successful racing career, which had peaked in 1959, when he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race for Aston Martin. Shelby became the Goodyear Racing tire distributor for the Western U.S. in 1961, and he started his own racing school at Riverside Raceway in California. All he needed now was a car bearing his name.

It was also perfect timing for AC Cars, of Thames Ditton, United Kingdom. Their Ace Roadster, with its simple, sturdy, yet compliant chassis, which was engineered by John Tojiero, and its Bristol-supplied inline six, was well proven as track competitive. However, this engine, which was based upon a pre-war BMW design, was going out of production, and AC needed a modern powerplant to keep the model relevant as well as competitive. Shelby had experience racing an Ace earlier in his career, and he was impressed with its handling and overall lightweight package, which was highlighted by its lithesome aluminum body. Its great looks didn’t hurt either.

So master dealmaker Carroll Shelby scored another hit. With Ford supplying engines and AC selling the hybrid cars under their own name in the UK, Shelby American was formed to build and market the Shelby Cobra.

As the new cars were completed in Shelby’s California factory, many headed straight to the race track. The first 75 cars were powered by the 260-cubic inch motor, which then gave way to the 289-cubic inch Windsor V-8. In race prep, this could generate up to 370 horsepower in a car that weighed only 2,000 pounds, which was 500 fewer than the Corvettes. The Cobras gave GM fits, starting with Dave MacDonald’s first victory at Riverside on February 2, 1963. MacDonald smoked a field of Corvettes, Jaguars, Porsches, and Maseratis, and every hot-blooded sports car aficionado in the U.S. wanted a Shelby Cobra, like the example offered here.

Chassis number CSX 2421 was, according to the most recent SAAC World Registry, shipped to Los Angeles aboard the SS Dintledyk, and it was invoiced on November 6, 1964, to Jerry Watson Ford, of Fort Wayne, Indiana. However, that invoice was soon voided, and the car returned to Los Angeles, for sale by Carroll Shelby’s own dealership, Hi-Performance Motors, from which it was soon sold.

By the early 1970s, the Cobra made its way to Pennsylvania, into the subsequent hands of its first SAAC-documented owners, Quaker State residents Bill and Kathy Armstrong, in 1974. The Armstrongs were great enthusiasts with a small collection of cars, which also included an Austin-Healey and “his-and-hers” Morgans. For much of the decade, they enjoyed showing their Cobra in various Eastern and Midwestern events, winning an award at the New Hope Auto Show and Best Cobra at the first annual SAAC meet in Brown County, Indiana, in 1978.

That year, Mr. Armstrong, a military man, was sent to serve his country abroad for several years. His wife accompanied him, and their cars were put into storage, where they apparently intended to retrieve them upon their return in the 1980s. For reasons unknown at the time of this writing,that never happened, and only recently was the Cobra discovered, having another known ownership change, and it is now ready to return to public view.
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Robert Myrick Photography