1965 Shelby 427 Cobra

Extremely Rare and Desirable Factory Black on Black "Narrow Hip" 427

While the 289s were cleaning up against the Ferraris,Shelby knew Enzo would build something for the next season that would be built to beat the Cobra. Shelby had to look ahead the next season and also build something faster. The 289 Cobra could not be made any lighter so he decided to give the car a larger engine. The First 427 prototype was built on a stiffened 289 Chassis, but the small blocks 20-year-old technology couldn't handle the massive power coming from the new engine. The 427 featured a thick and larger chassis and slightly modified body, but keeping the original 289 doors, windscreen, hood and trunk lid. By the time the 427 came to life, Ford already had a promising sports car to beat the Ferraris, the GT40. Because of this the only 427 to ever race for the team was the first prototype CSX2196. Shelby made 4 major versions of the original CSX 427 Cobras of which only 316 were built in total, 50 full competition cars were built with the intentions of them being sold to privateers. Shelby had a hard time selling 50 race specification cars. After the east coast Shelby representative learned this he suggested they paint the remaining competition cars, put a full windscreen on them, and give the rear flare and extra lip and call them S/C or semi competition cars, meant for the road.  260 of the remaining cars were built for the street. After the beginning of the street production it was obvious the 427s had a funny look with the rear flares hanging way over the blue dot tires. They decided to build a rear flare with a less radical look. Shelby built 32 narrowed-hip 427s. The Narrow hip has a prettier look like the 289 but still has the power from the monstrous 427. After the small production run,Shelby decided the extra expense of having two different body styles was not worth it and the narrow hip production ended. Of the 260 original street 427s built only 155 came with a 427 engine, the rest were fitted with 428 that Shelby put in to cut costs. Of the 155 original 427 only 32 of them were built in the narrow hip configuration. Only 7 narrowed hip and only 7% of all 427s were painted in the most desirable color combination, Black/black. The 427 cobra is the ultimate successor to the 289 and "Anything the 289 did poorly, the 427 did well; and anything the 289 did well, the 427 did better"

This particular Cobra was billed to Shelby American on6/21/65and would end up with the well known Ford/Shelby dealer, Larsen Ford in White Plains NY. Larsens would soon find the cars original owner, famous artist Andrew Wyeth. Mr. Wyeth gave the 427 to his son Jamie for his 21st birthday and after enjoying the Cobra for a few years he would trade it for a Ferrari 330 GTS at Algar Ferrari. The black Narrow Hip Cobra was then sold to Robert West only to be traded back about a year later because he was moving out of state and Richard Walters would become the next fortunate proprietor in 1971, he would retain the car for about 5 years before the Cobra was yet again traded in exchange for a Ferrari. Throughout the rest of the 70's the car changed hands a few times and turned up for sale in early 1980s with the listing describing it as "18,000 miles, side-oiler, Halibrands, excellent condition". Richard Buxbaum bought the car and then swapped it to Gary Knoblauch for his help buying a competition 427. The Cobra would then end up in the state of Florida when Mr. Knoblauch sold the car. In an interesting twist to its history in 1989 the owner donated the Cobra to a church who was quick the sell the car and collect on their donation. Around the time of the turn of the century, the car exchanged hands a few times before ending up with a collector who recognized how beautifully well maintained the car had stayed throughout the years. Based on this it was determined the car deserved a complete ground up restoration and ultimately to be put back to its original, very rare black/black configuration. The incredible part of this Cobras story is that through it all, the body remained unmolested, never modified, it retained its original skin, chassis, engine and transmission. A complete list of owner history continues to accompany the car along with photos of it through the years with various previous owners. It still has copies of old titles, copies of old sales ads for the car and of course copies of the original Shelby American/AC Cars documents showcasing its original configuration all in addition to being listed in the Shelby World Registry. This stunning Cobra is one of only 32 narrow hip 427 Cobras ever built and with its recent restoration to its factory black/black livery is certainly one of the most desirable 427 street cars on the planet.