Cobra Myths and Legends

[tkb289]

Originally Posted by Bernica

Back in the day when Carrol was hawking his Cobra, he only had one and painted it a different color every week to make it look like he had a whole stable of them when he tried to market it. So goes the lore....

Originally Posted by kevins2

I believe this one is actually true. In one of the tribute shows after Shelby's death, one of the first cars he built was on display (can't remember the #). It had a fairly large paint chip and you could clearly see layers of different color paint around the edge of the chip.

Originally Posted by A-Snake

CSX2000 was bare aluminum, yellow, then blue. That's it. ;-)

Here are a few photos of CSX2000 I took on two separate occasions. I think the chip on the corner of the hood has been there a while, but the rather large 'ding' on the front valance is more recent ... perhaps at one of the gatherings last year ... Laguna Seca? Does anyone know?


CSX2000

[FatBoy]

Can anyone add any detail or verification of the stories that the Cobra name came to Shelby in a dream and that the de Tomaso Mangusta was so named because the Mongoose (Mangusta is Italian for Mongoose) is the only animal that can kill a Cobra?

Paul

[Trevor Legate]

Glen - the tale of the 6008 trip is in the wrong thread as this one concerns myths. It might qualify as a 'legend'. You've not met Bruce Ropner have you...?!!

[fordracing65]

Shelby hitting a buzzard at 190mph in the Shelby Super snake with 800hp, and then getting pulled over by Highway Patrol all in the Las Vegas dessert...

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by Trevor Legate

Glen - the tale of the 6008 trip is in the wrong thread as this one concerns myths. It might qualify as a 'legend'. You've not met Bruce Ropner have you...?!!

Hey Trevor! This is Myths and Legends. Correct, I've no doubt what Octane reported was not a myth, but with figures of 167mph (OK, probably slightly downhill - confirm?) and close to 100mph average, that contributes to the "Legend" that is the AC Factory FIA spec. 289 ....COB6008.
No, I haven't met Mr. Ropner, but I certainly would like to. Another capital "L" Legend to match!
Cheers,
Glen

[FatBoy]

Originally Posted by Trevor Legate

Glen - the tale of the 6008 trip is in the wrong thread as this one concerns myths. It might qualify as a 'legend'. You've not met Bruce Ropner have you...?!!

Yes, Myths AND Legends.

Undoubtedly, many of the tales are true and are every bit as enthralling as the more creative stories.

Paul

[Trevor Legate]

Hi Glen
The magazine was only reporting the saga as Bruce told it to us when we were at the Croft circuit with the Cobra (and it's first two owners) To be more accurate, Bruce set his watch as he joined the Edgware Road at Marble Arch very early one morning in June, circa 3.30am, almost as it was getting light. The A1 is mostly an old Roman road so therefore quite straight(ish) He recalled the downhill section was such fun that he stopped, went back and did it again. Whatever his terminal velocity, you can assume it was quite quick.....
I don't think he ever driven anywhere slowly in his life. He was one of the people who helped introduce all manner of crazy sports to the Alpine regions and spends most winters hurtling down the Cresta Run sitting on a small metal tea-tray. Now in his mid-eighties, he's still in charge of the UK junior team and shows no sign of slowing down.
Jolly good fun....

[DMXF]

Originally Posted by Trevor Legate

My lawyer tells me to stay way from this thread. I mean - just where do you start..??

When I was at the AC factory in Brooklands, Brian Angliss laid out all the letters from Shelby and his lawyers over their little 'dispute' (it was a very big table) and I read the lot. It gave me a different perspective on the whole Shelby/Cobra scenario. As has been indicated on this forum in the past, when you dealt with Shelby, you were dealing with two different people....

Trevor - Brian Angliss is no angel either. For one, he repeatedly lied and misled people for years with his claims that he used the original tooling in making his 427 cars. He may have had a couple trivial patterns and tooling bits, but the bulk of things including the chassis fixtures and body bucks were long gone by the time he got involved - which he even confirmed in an early magazine article interview by the way.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

How about this one,supposedly there were a little over 1000 Cobras made and we all know how Shelby took "some" liberties thru the years with things he said.........
I "know" for a fact that there were way more than 1000 or so made,more like 3000,becasue during the mid 90's when I'd go to a very large monthly "cruise night" I was told by at least 3000 people that either they or one of their family members owned an original and the best part, they were all in Louisiana at the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So there you have it,well over 1000 made and they somehow all ended up in Louisiana in the 90's..........

David

[Trevor Legate]

Brian Angliss - not an angel?? Who knew...?

I'd love to meet anyone who builds, creates, designs and flogs motors who has never, ever been economical with the truth. Some are clearly more 'eonomical' than others...

I'd advise not being rude about Brian or he may set a llama on you (is is that a lawyer?)

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Trevor Legate

Brian Angliss - not an angel?? Who knew...?

Surely not me!

Trevor, please email me as I have wholesale customer for your new book.....

[DMXF]

No, the world doesn't need more encouragement for litigation. However, I'd probably be more frightened by the consequences of a potential Shelby haunting. Like most successful business people, he was not the type to let people walk all over him while he was alive, so in the afterlife his wrath to any denigration must not be very pleasant at all

[A-Snake]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Surely not me!

Trevor, please email me as I have wholesale customer for your new book.....

Trevor, I would think these are sold out and already on the secondary market at a premium. ;-)

[Trevor Legate]

Hi Jim

Indeed the special edition sold out early on (wish we had produced more!!) so that was a sound investment and the others are moving swiftly, I believe.

For the believers, contact: janine@collectorscarworld.com and she will take your dollars.

[A-Snake]

Originally Posted by Trevor Legate

Hi Jim

Indeed the special edition sold out early on (wish we had produced more!!) so that was a sound investment

But then it wouldn't be a 'special' edition, would it?

I wonder if the regular edition is traveling via slow boat...;-)

[xb-60]

This is from the Legend himself, in an interview with SUPERCAR CLASSICS in July 1987, so it sort of fits the "Myths and Legends" thread....

"The official name of the car with FIA is Shelby AC Cobra. I gave 'em permission to put AC in there. They were whinin' like babies over there, they wanted their name on it, and Ford talked me into it. I sold the Cobra name to Ford for a dollar - one dollar - while I was using Ford dealers."

and:

"...I don't have any real gripes about Cobra being licensed to Brian Angliss or to anybody else they want to licence it to. That's none of my damn business now."

and then:

"I got fed up with Ford. I didn't want any more. I was working with some nincompoops who thought because I was using Ford engines, they were my boss"

Cheers,
Glen

[Snake2998]

A hearsay story so not sure if true or myth: Ford allowed the trademark on the Cobra name to laps in South Africa so Shamrock registered it and used it for their kits - Ford sued them and Shamrock won with costs - Ford never paid costs so Shamrock attached the Ford Blue Oval Logo - Ford paid the next day.

[FatBoy]

Originally Posted by xb-60

"The official name of the car with FIA is Shelby AC Cobra. I gave 'em permission to put AC in there. They were whinin' like babies over there, they wanted their name on it, and Ford talked me into it.

Great quotes Glen.

This one sounds like typical Shelby bull5h1t to me though. The car was an AC and there is no getting away from the fact, no matter how much Shelby claimed otherwise. Shelby came up with the idea, but it wasn't exactly a breakthrough idea as it had been done many times before. Presumably, it was Shelby who registered the car with the FIA so he could probably have used whatever name he wanted and including "AC" was the right thing to do.

Paul

[FatBoy]

There are plenty of tales and myths around the CSX chassis numbers and what the letters stood for.

Whichever story you happen to believe regarding the chassis numbers, there is a chassis prefix to throw a spanner in the works. I suspect that some of the prefixes were made up as they went along, with very little thought to the logic.

Following previous AC convention, the Mk.III chassis cars (coil-sprung) should probably have been a "D" prefix i.e. DSX#### - D series, S Shelby, X Export. Instead, they broke convention and went up from 2### to 3###. Maybe Shelby had something to say on it because he had been telling everyone the CS stood for Carroll Shelby.

Paul

[lovehamr]

Spoken like a true Briton!