1965 Shelby 289 Cobra

Same Owner for almost 45 Years!

After Winning LeMans in 1959 for Aston Martin, Carroll Shelby retired from the racetracks due to a heart condition he was born with.  Carroll then moved to California, soon becoming the Goodyear tire distributor and starting his own race school for hi-performance driving.  In the 1950's Shelby was thinking abut starting his own racing company but things didn't pan out. In the early 1960's he heard AC cars were loosing their engine supplier and would be going out of business. Shelby knew Ford was coming out with a new v8 Engine and this time things clicked. AC agreed to provide the chassis, skin and components to Shelby who would then install the Ford drive train. The first Cobra, csx2000 was shipped on February 2, 1962 from England. When Shelby put the 260 engine in, the Cobra was born. After some trial and error the cobra went through some change to make the car faster and more reliable. The 260/289 cobras were undefeated in the USA racing scene and after a few failed attempts in Europe they proved to be faster than anything else. The Little Cobra was the first significant stepping stone for American sports cars and helped create the Ferrari beating Daytona coupe, 427 Cobra and the 4 time LeMans winning GT40.  The 289 Cobras remains one of the highest prized American sports cars today and visually are one, if not the best looking American sports car ever built.

This particular 289 Cobra was billed to Shelby American 9/8/64 and would end up with Continental Motors in Pennsylvania to be sold new. The car was then sold to its original owner in the very desirable factory livery of Silver with Red interior. By 1970 the car would be acquired by an owner who would go on to retain it for just under 45 years, only just recently electing to sell the car. Around 1999, he had the car completely restored with a proper alloy skin to FIA configuration due to the original skin having been damaged back in 1967 after a run in with a guard rail. At the time of the restoration he also added side pipes, a hood scoop, roll bar, and quick jacks while safely putting aside the original grille and chrome bumpers. Although the skin has been replaced on this car the chassis absolutely remains original and shows no signs of battle wounds or previous repair. Having still only covered 33,535 miles since new, this car represents an excellent opportunity for someone to acquire a car which can be used as a driver or could be restored back to its beautiful and rare silver/red factory colour combination. It is one of the last leaf spring 289s produced and had all the latest updates including the late rack and pinion steering, Stewart Warner gauges, and a slighter thicker chassis. The last owner has retained ownership of the car for just less than 45 years and has agreed it is time for someone else to enjoy this original Cobra.

Consignment vehicle.