1965 Shelby 289 Cobra Roadster
Numbered CSX2516

The Story

Few sports cars of the 1960s are so legendary as Carroll Shelby’s Ford-powered “Thundering Cobra”. Squeezing American V-8s into lightweight British sports cars was not an entirely uncommon practice during the early 1960s, though no company proved to be as successful as Carroll Shelby and his Cobra, which combined the lithe and nimble chassis of the AC Ace with eight-pot power courtesy of Ford.

By 1963, the Cobra’s initial 260-cubic-inch engine had been upgraded to Ford’s new 289 HiPo small-block V-8, offering the perfect balance of handling and power. The 306-horsepower 289 Cobra took America’s sports car market (and racing scene) by storm, and perhaps no one paid closer attention to the Cobra’s meteoric rise than competing sports car dealers. For George Arents III—racing driver and cofounder of America’s most notable Ferrari privateer racing team (NART), and partner to Luigi Chinetti’s Ferrari distributorship—the Shelby 289 Cobra was an inescapable phenomenon.

Numbered CSX2516 and documented in the “Shelby American World Registry,” this 1965 Shelby 289 Cobra was originally finished in Vineyard Green with black upholstery, invoiced to Shelby American on July 21, 1964, and shipped to Los Angeles on July 30 aboard the SS Dongedyk. On October 19, 1964, it was invoiced to Harr Ford Inc. in Worcester, Massachusetts, with a base price of $5,195 plus the “Class A” accessory package including WSW tires, five chrome wheels, antifreeze and transportation, bringing the Cobra’s total price to $5,929.05. Delivery of the Cobra to Harr Ford was completed via Shelby American truck.

In 2006 the car underwent a complete restoration, with the Cobra refinished in red with a black interior compartment. Powered by a matching-numbers HiPo 289 CI V-8 engine paired with a 4-speed manual transmission and riding on a set of chrome knock-off wire wheels, CSX2516 was displayed at the 2011 Dayton Concours d'Elegance. Pure sports car royalty, this leaf-sprung, 289-powered Shelby Cobra represents the spearhead of Ford Motor Company’s famed “Total Performance” corporate racing program and the genesis of Shelby American.