Like Thor said, ALL of the Cobra chassis were produced by AC Cars, including the Daytona Coupes.

The Sebring roadsters (CSX2127-2129) were campaigned by the Shelby American team. Surely you recognize this photo of Carroll with the cars.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mp3svOsc_w...y_3_cobras.jpg

The "Slalom Snake" package consisted of special wheel-tire-suspension-brake components suited for autocross and high-speed driving. CSX2537 is on display at the Shelby American Collection in Colorado.

http://shelbyamericancollection.org/...sx2537amed.jpg

wouldn't the rarest really Flip Top? One of one and unique.

I think he meant this:

Hi, The early road racing cars were Cooper Fords nicknamed King Cobra but in 1967 Shelby American fielded a three car Can Am team and they were officially Shelby's King Cobra. The King Cobra was one of the first aluminum monocoque Can Am cars produced. Chassis was designed by Len Terry in England and Phil Remington (Shelby American) was the constructor. As mentioned, Dan Gurney and Shelby owned AAR and the King Cobra was the only Cobra with Eagle suspension parts and Weslake heads. Sun Dude I hope this helps!!

Thanks...I wasn't positive about the Daytonas, thought they were a styling exercise managed by Pete Brock here in the U.S. including the stretched chassis. I can see that the chassis being original, i.e. having been produced in GB by AC cars, would include them in the population specified by Thor.

Absolutely...that's a photo I'm sure we've all seen many times, one of the iconic images of ol' Shel!

So...the Sebring roadsters...they don't look like slab-sides, so would they be FIA models or USRRC models? IMHO, they would not be a separate model unto themselves unless they had different chassis or body configurations. Where would they fit?

I guess the "Slalom Snake" package would be similar to the Sebring roadsters...must have been some sort of modification to one of the factory iterations...either the FIA model or the USRRC model. Where would they fit, given that my understanding (once again, perhaps flawed) is that they were merely styling/equipment "options" on an already existing model.

Not sure why this issue is so important to me, I've never been much of an originality nut, but I find myself, as I plan future upgrades on my Cobra replica, looking more and more at the Originality forum and planning the upgrades so that the end result will be a more original looking replica. My car just won "Club Choice" at the 1st Annual SHSU Auto Club Car Show, but when I had the "placard" that was placed on the car as it was shown completed, I made sure it said "1966 Shelby Cobra REPLICA"...but, having said that, IMHO there is no shame in attempting to make it appear to be a more accurate replica. I really liked what Dean Lampe did with his recent Hurricane build...even went to the trouble of installing dummy wiring in the engine compartment so that it would more accurately replicate one of CS's originals...that may be a bit "extreme" for me, but I like the intent!

One more question for the originality buffs here....what were the differences between the FIA and the USRRC models? I understand the FIA models had to have "bumps" in the rear "bonnet" to accommodate the FIA required luggage. What kind of wheel flare, roll bar, etc differences would cause them to be "replicated" by our replica manufacturers as FIA vs. USRRC? For example, Unique markets an FIA replica, and I think ERA markets theirs as a USRRC replica...:confused:

Thanks, guys!

Cheers!

Dugly :cool:

Rare Cobras to me are the factory race cars...
 

QUOTE=SunDude;1212866]I suppose by definition "rare" means "fewest produced." So to answer your original question, I'd start by pointing out there were many one-off Cobras:

• CSX2000 - original Cobra prototype and the only one with inboard rear brakes
• CSX2008 - Cougar II styling concept
• CSX2131 - Willment Cobra Coupe
• CSX2196 - "flip top" roadster
• CSX2451 - Mercer-Cobra
• A-98 - AC Le Mans Coupe
• CSX3001 - XD Cobra styling concept
• CSB3054 - Type 65 Daytona 427 Super Coupe
• CSX3055 - Willment/Ghia 427 Coupe
• CSX3198 - 427 Dragon Snake

In addition there were several low-production runs of special Cobras:

• 427 Twin-Paxton "Super Snakes" (2 produced)
• 289 Slalom Snakes (2 produced)
• 289 Sebring roadsters, factory team cars (3 produced)
• 260/289 Dragon Snakes, factory team cars (2 produced)
• 289 Dragon Snakes, factory-prepared customer cars (4 produced)
• 289 FIA roadsters, factory team cars (5 produced)
• 289 USRRC roadsters, factory team cars (6 produced)
• 289 USRRC roadsters, factory-prepared customer cars (5 produced)
• Cobra Daytona Coupes (6 produced)
• 289 Le Mans hardtop coupes (7 produced)

Have I missed any...?[/quote]

Great list..." rare " to me means unique factory road racing history...

I would go with the FIA Team Cars.... the Daytona Coupes.... ect.... but I have to include the Willment roadster....

I don't consider drag racing sports car racing.

Certainly others will have a different opinion...but, if I could have a real one, it would be one of the FIAs by a mile.

What could be more rare than having been raced around the historic road courses of Europe in international competition by a Phil Hill or a Dan Gurney ?

That one would get my vote also.

How about CSX 3002.

First production 427
Unique 289 features on a 427 (roll bar, dash, front, body)
Dry Sump
The only Team 427 Cobra
Driven by four World Champions
Aluminum heads
Darn pretty to look at

Picking almost any Shelby Cobra would seem to have something about it the others don't have. Something seemingly makes every car unique from the others. That is the benfit of having hand-built cars.

I do not remember the build number, but wasn't there a Cobra sold in the UK that never made it to Shelby or was sent back to AC to have the engine installed? It was on Ebay for a while trying to be sold.

About 10% of the total production of Cobras never went to Shelby.
There were completed by AC Cars and sold primarily outside the US.