Hot Rods Craig Breedlove ripped off by Carroll Shelby?

AK Miller
https://bre2.net/who-built-the-first-cobra-and-where/

 

I suspected so. Thanks

 

V8-converted AC Ace cars were done at Carroll Shelby's Dallas dealership where he sold AC cars. Every V8 Ace I saw was done with 283 Chevrolet engines. That's why Mr. Shelby went to GM first in 1962 trying to get 327 engines but GM turned him down. Car was not called "Cobra" until the California shop opened and the Ford deal done. Katy Railroad branch line ran adjacent to Carroll Shelby Sport Cars in Dallas (now DART rail line) and we anticipated unloading engines from a freight car there (using a forklift borrowed from Shamburger Building Supply across the street) but engines went to California.

(Don't think this was a V8 Ace as it was running C-Production (V8 car would run Modified class) but you get the idea.) Green Valley Raceway TX 1963.

 

Kaspar, my point was that there seems to be stories behind all big men, such as Ford, Bell, Edison, etc, that they didn’t ,somehow, deserve the credit for their accomplishments. While I’m not naive enough to think these men are perfect, I prefer to think they did more good than bad. It’s alway debatable who actually had the first “idea” on something. It’s usually obvious who ran with the idea. The only people who do not make mistakes in this world are the people that do nothing. These men did something!








Bones

 

New car wise, not conversions of existing running cars, something for retail sale as brand new.

The prototype Cobra was developed in England with a 221 2V engine during late 1961. It was not the first brand new AC Cars chassis to get a Ford engine as Ken Rudd's group Rudd Speed built new Rudd Speed 2.6 Aces with Ford 2.6 liter inline six cylinder engines prior to Cobras.

Cobra chassis, even the very first few, are significantly different than any previous car AC or Ken Rudd finished. The entire rear suspension and differential system is very much different to handle the loads imparted by V8 engines. I looked an ACE Bristol that somebody transplanted a late 1960s Ford 302 2V engine in. It didn't take long for the owner to break the differential severely.

It is published in Mr. Mannel's book on small block 1960s Ford engines that the 260 c.i.d. engine was introduced to the public February 17, 1962.

Holman-Moody developed the first 4V aluminum racing intake manifold for 260 engines. They raced Ford Falcons overseas in rally events. The aluminum intakes were direct copies of one of Ford prototype cast iron versions with a H-M number and logo added. With same apparent runner design and volumes as the Ford part it probably was only a weight reduction part. They are power wise not suitable for engines larger in displacement that 260 cid based on experiences of an original Cobra owner that raced using one. Specifically he told me that any 289 engine 4V intake designed for a 289's capacity he raced with worked better; Ford stock or aftermarket aluminum. (One of these very rare H-M intakes is currently offered in an eBay® auction.)

Late March 1962 Ford engineers built up a small number of Experimental High Performance 260 (marked as XHP-260 assemblies) engines. Serial number 1 went into the prototype Cobra CSX2000 in Dean Moon's shop. The engine started as serial number 2 still exists, is intact, and unrestored even though it was raced for years. The cylinder block was cast on March 27, 1962.

Shortly thereafter High Performance 260 engines were built by Ford and some of them also made their way into new Cobras.

Late summer 1962 Ford built up some prototype High Performance 289 engines for testing including in vehicle testing. Mr. Mannel states that Ford started building production 289 engines in December 1962. Parts unique to production HP289 engines started being made in February 1963. HP289 engine production started on the first work day of March 1963.

 

This Worked Best For Both Men..

 

My dad sold a business he had up north and bought another in Texas. He once told me that when you shake hands with a Texas businessman you better count your fingers when he let go.
It was just part of the culture. A man succeeded on what he could take. It's still going on today but now it's corporations and not so much individuals anymore.

 

Google Ak Miller. Ak is short for Akton Olsen Miller. One of the coolest guys I've ever known. As far as the Shelby deal, Ak couldn't have cared less. The bottom line for Ak was proving he could make an idea work, not the money it could have made him.

 

Search 1959 Scaglietti Corvettes. Predating Cobras considerably, Mr. Shelby and his buddies obtained new Corvette chassis and had bodies made for them in Italy. GM top brass were not amused and the Shelby / GM connection was done.

 

Sooo the first Ford in an Ace transplant was in England but not by Shelby and the second Ford transplant in an Ace in America was in Dean Moon's shop....glad we got that covered now.

 

The very first production Cobra CSX2001 was also intended to be the first race Cobra and was finished that way at Continental Cars in PA owned by Ed Hugus.

The first private owner of CSX2001 had his family capture some home movies of the car. (Bear in mind that early Cobra racing was done with 5½" wide wire wheels and what were 1961-62 technology sports car road race tires. Some racers, like CSX2050, never used anything but narrow wire wheels during its racing days into the late 1960s.)








Ed Hugus provided all the funding until Ford took over. The shop foreman working for Ed developed the initial assembly process, labor plan, and materials plan to take the chassis AC Cars provided and finish them as street and race Cobras. Once Ford took over, Ford had transferred what Continental Cars had developed over to Shelby American. Shelby's crew developed from that point onward. Once Ford stepped in everybody was working as independent contractors (or dealers) to Ford. There are some really nice books in print covering Cobras from the AC Cars, Continental Cars, Shelby American, and some team members like John Morton points of view. One of the most educational is how Cobras got a start because Ed Hugus had desire and funds available to support the start what became the Cobra project. See, Cobra Pilote: The Ed Hugus Story

 

At about the 30 second mark on the second film, I see a lot of smoke behind the car! Is that tire smoke? I didn’t see much smoke any where else!






Bones