The all-time champ, American produced, hot rod of hot rods. And that one's perfect 'as used'. Never rode in a Cobra version, but those 271 horse (306 Shelby tuned) 289's were some screamin' little sunzabitches in there day. Good right-up man.
I owned an ERA Cobra for over 15 years running a 66 427 side-oiler. Have to say fastest and most fun car that I have had and I have had many over my 70 years. Not trying to hijack the thread but my point being that there were cars back in the day that just plain got you excited. Early Cobra's were one of them. Or how about a 3000 Healy running a vette motor? Or that first 348 Chevy you saw! Nice article!
When I was a kid around 1967 my friends' older brother had a Sunbeam Tiger, that's the closest thing to a Cobra that I have ever been in. Just recalling what one of my old workmates told me years back, we were talking about the rise in value of collector cars and he said he looked at a Cobra at one of the Ford dealers here in Portland around 1966 and said the asking price then was just as out of reach as the current dollar value.
In high school and after friend Joe was kind enough to allow me to put several hundred miles and a couple of auto crosses on his blue '64 289 A.C. Cobra pictured here. It supposedly was drag raced by the previous original owner. We picked up a set of Mondello heads for it in Chicago and it was equipped with a Crane cam. Notice the painted wire wheels. I'll never forget the smell of the leather upholstery, hot Valvoline and the crackle of the cooling headers after the ignition was turned off. It was one of those cars that you hated to reach your destination in. When the 427 became available we looked at a gorgeous new gold SC stored off site near the West Des Moines Ford dealership. I spotted the pictured white car on the street in Boulder Colorado in 1968 Notice the roll bar visible through the back window. Not sure if it is an A.C. (Auto Carriers) or a Cobra. Shelby truly knocked it out of the park with these cars.
As a little boy I got to ride on my dads lap in Dick Smith's CSX3035 427 side oiler. I can remember the very hot side pipes the smell of the rich fuel mixture and a couple a really hard rips through the canyon road where we lived. That sound!!!! I can still remember "feeling" the car run. I have a picture somewhere I will have to dig up. it definitely had an impact on me and my future in the automotive world. Also I'd venture to guess that that thing is worth a hell of a lot more than a half a million. For a good time Look up CSX3170 and see what those guys are doing with an original cobra and an F.E. engine. Mind boggling if you ask me.
I was 15 in 1965 when the Honey West show came on television: Honey West (TV Series 1965?1966) - IMDb and the combination of a hot blonde and a beautiful Cobra (or vice versa) was almost more than my raging teen hormones could stand. As a guy that loved hot rods, sports cars and muscle cars, the Cobra always seemed the best of everything rolled into one. What a treat to see the actual car from the show (CSX 2540) at a local autocross this past Saturday. This was the car when Honey drove it: And here's how it looks today: Seeing and hearing it on the course was an even bigger thrill: And here's my "poor man's Cobra", a Healey with a small-block Ford:
289 Cobras were my dream car. Tried to buy one that been in a slow rollover in 1966 for $1200 bucks if I remember correctly. Drove it down the rode for a mile or two and got the cheap thrill but had no credit or family money. Figured I could buy a windshield frame, hammer, and dolly and fix it but just couldn't turn up the bucks on $2 or 3 per an hour technician's salary. Settled for a 289 HiPo in a 55 Austin Healey 100-4 about a year later - Pretty wicked sleeper but just not the same.....
The other big thing about CSX 2075 is it was the FIRST 289 powered car, January of 1963. The ones before it were 260 cars. 2075 was also a non rack and pinion car, they didn't change the steering until March of 63.
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