Carroll Shelby & the 50th Anniversary CSX 8000 Cobra

[Keithc8]

I would like to build them the engine that they need for the cars. Have some very nice small block mills that would work as well as the old stand by FE. Hope everyone keeps building them and that they need good engines for them.
I know some will be told to get an engine from Shelby but be careful there. I have tried to work out a engine program with them for years that would make things easier for them and each customer could get a nice engine in a respectable time. I already use a lot of there parts, just seems like a win/ win for all. I guess I am not a good enough sales person. Just like the cars they would pay a fee for the Shelby paper work and number but I am sure some would want it in their Shelby cars.
Well I thought it was a good ideal anyway. Make your product better by dealing with the best suppliers, that is what I try to do. This is one reason the Kirkham's and I get along so well.

Good luck, Keith Craft

[rodneym]

Keith,
You seem to have hinted about knowledge of the Shelby Engine Co motors.
I can't find anything, good or bad, about them.
Folks are VERY opinionated about the Cobras but I don't hear anything about the motors.
Anything you're willing to share?

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by Keithc8

This is one reason the Kirkham's and I get along so well.

...which may be why you got snubbed by Shelby.

[Buzz]

No one seems to mind that even with the original Cobras, a Shelby badged car carries a distinct price premium over an otherwise identical AC COB/COX car, and there is even less beyond the badging to differentiate between the two. The Shelby name has value in the Cobra world. Take nothing away from the contracted suppliers, be they AC or Kirkham - they build the cars we all lust for - and Shelby's magic dust supplies the extra cachet.

ca·chet noun \ka-ˈshā\
Definition of CACHET
1a : a seal used especially as a mark of official approval
b : an indication of approval carrying great prestige
2a : a characteristic feature or quality conferring prestige
b : prestige <being rich … doesn't have the cachet it used to —
Truman Capote>