shelby-cobra

Carroll Shelby had built a dual supercharged 427 Cobra (CSX3015) in 1967, which he pulled from one of the 19 MKIII Competitions. The Cobra was renamed "Super Snake" and in 1968, Road & Track referred to it as "The Cobra to End All Cobras."

In 1966, the MKIII Cobras were still being produced and raced. The MK III missed homologation for the 1965 season, but private owners continued to race the car and were winning races all the way into the 70s.

Cobra Mark III production began on January 1st, 1965. Two prototypes had been sent to the US in October of 1964. The new car was designed in cooperation with Ford in Detroit.

AC, a British specialty manufacturer was rumored to soon go bankrupt, and needed an engine to replace their dated pre-World War II design by BMW. Carroll Shelby airmailed AC a letter asking them if they would build him a car modified to accept a V8 engine.

The MKI was gone along with the 260ci V8. This year began the research and development of dropping the 427ci engine in after failed attempts to use an aluminum 390ci V8 that Ken Miles tagged as "The Turd."