[wrf]

I am new here and actually this is the first time I have seen this site. I was prompted to sign in here after reading the commemorative article on Carroll Shelby Hot Rod Magazine and the fact that it seems to just be taken for granted that the Cobra was entirely his idea. So let me add some real first hand next door neighbor information to this discussion since Mr. Miller seems to always be over shadowed and trampled by the bigger Shelby promotional machinery.

I grew up next door to Ak Miller on Ben Alder Ave in Whittier California and as kids we spent a lot of time peaking into his garage when he was out working at night. More than once Mr. Shelby came by driving any number of hot rods and used to spend a lot of time in the shop with AK. Dean Moon would come around also with Shelby and though I did not know what he looked like I knew where his shop was and later saw his pictures in Hot Rod mag. Anyway Ak had two aluminum AC Bristols in the garage and I recall he put a small V-8’s in one of them. I was told it was a Chevy I but could not confirm this. This would have been around 1961. Later we saw Ak and Shelby driving this same car around the neighborhood several times since if sounded like and looked like nothing else we had ever seen. This neighborhood was full of hot rod legends so seeing rods running around was not uncommon at all — we just never saw anything like the little silver AC with the loud V8.

Hope this helps
wrf