Today we saw Shelby's Street Fighter Rampage prototype sitting in a California junkyard. In honor of this car's memory, let us praise the very best cars made by the legendary Texan.
The question remains, which Shelby is the greatest? There are some obvious choices, but we shouldn't forget one of Shelby's first forays into midengined racers, even before he got started working on the Ford GT40. This is a ‘64 Cooper T61M "King Cobra." Shelby bought up two Cooper chassis from England, shipped them over to his shop in Venice, CA, and set to work stripping the cars, re-welding them, and fitting each with the same small block Ford V8s he had in his Cobras.
The car was undeniably fast (390 horsepower in a 1,300 pound car will do that) and it was a race winner, but it only competed in the States. It was a year or two before SHelby had to commit to Ford's ailing GT40 project, so the Cooper King Cobra was left to collect dust.
What do you think is the greatest Shelby ever made?
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Photo Credit: SeeMonterey