This first car, the Shelby Cobra CSX2000, was built in 1962 when Shelby and some friends put a Ford V8 into the body of a British AC Ace sports car. The resulting car, lightweight and shockingly fast, became the template for all the Cobras that came after. The Shelby Cobra has inspired a host of imitators and, although Shelby himself died in 2012, his company, Shelby American, still makes Cobras today.
Original 1960s Shelby Cobras can sell for millions of dollars. For instance, a 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 sold for $2.3 million at last year's RM Sotheby Monterey auction. Another Shelby-owned Cobra, an 800-horsepower Super Snake, sold for $5.5 million by Barrett-Jackson last year.
