Rarest Cobra

[Thor maine]

I was reading and old copy of COBRAS (spring 1993Vol 1 #1) and said that the rarest Cobra was the FIA 289 as there were only five built for the 1964 season.OK so I get the six Daytona coupe's but what about the "one of" Flip Top Cobra with the aluminum 390 FE and the Super Coupe or even maybe the AC coupe(which I think has better lines than the Daytona). This is not about price just what is the rarest Cobra??

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Thor maine

I was reading and old copy of COBRAS (spring 1993Vol 1 #1) and said that the rarest Cobra was the FIA 289 as there were only five built for the 1964 season.OK so I get the six Daytona coupe's but what about the "one of" Flip Top Cobra with the aluminum 390 FE and the Super Coupe or even maybe the AC coupe(which I think has better lines than the Daytona). This is not about price just what is the rarest Cobra??

Just like beauty being in the eye of the beholder, so is what is the rarest Cobra. It could be because it was never raced, was raced, is a one owner (still in his/her possession), or any combination of things (including a 1 of 1 pearl white painted beauty ).....


Bill S.

[Thor maine]

I guess, and we now there is a "one of" Daytona with a 2 inch higher roof" but there are still 6 Daytona coupes but only one AC coupe. So not your option check off" one of".

[CSX3183]

There is only one Super Coupe.

[Thor maine]

And only one "Flip top Cobra" and only one "Super coupe" and only one "AC coupe" but are there any more "one-off"

[mickmate]

Lone Star.

[RICK LAKE]

Guys I am going with the first one, CSX 2000. It's the first. There are 1 and 2 off's special cars, after that, but with out 2000 being built we may have not had the Cobra, GT40 or Coupes or others. Rick L.

[Thor maine]

CXS 2000 was the first and the most unique but still the first of the series. Mickmate what's "Lone Star"?

[SunDude]

I'd say the rarest Cobra is the one that belongs to that guy's uncle. You know, the guy you always meet at the car show who tells you, "My uncle has/had one of those. But it's an original!"

Rare as the Sasquatch, that one is.

[mdross1]

One things for certain Thor all our kit cars are one offs,ain't nobody got one like mine 100% sure of that.The pedigree might be questionable and that only matters when you try to sell.Same attitude when dealing with custom built Harleys.

[Danr55]

I know that guy, SunDude. I met him at Pavillions several times. Funny, he looks different every time he shows up.

The rarest one has to be the super snake that Ron Pruitt bought at BJ a couple of years ago. There were two built and one was crashed in England a few years later. There was only one that belonged to CS.

[LMH]

3002 is a "only one like it" car too. So there's lots of "rare" ones.
Larry

[YerDugliness]

I don't know the "option" list for the original Cobras, but I could imagine that there are a lot of them that are "unique" from the standpoint of the combination of options or customization during the build process (such as CS's personal 427, which was, as I understand it, one of only two with that power option ever built, the other of which was at one point owned by Bill Cosby).

However, as I understand Thor's question, it relates to which "body style", for lack of a better term, but not as if 427 Comp vs 427 Street vs 427 S/C, but as in 289 Slabside (original body) vs. 289 FIA vs. 289 USRCC vs. 427 vs. Daytona....am I understanding the issue incorrectly?

I guess I was always under the impression that the 7 Daytona Coupes were the shortest model run, did not realize the FIA's were limited to 6.....will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Cheers!

Dugly

[67 king cobra]

Hi Guys,
I think the 1967 King Cobra with a production run of three might be the shortest run. #1 was crashed and is gone, #2 was at Monterey (feature article coming up and the pick of the litter), and my car #3 which is the last Comp Cobra from Shelby American (to be on the road next year). I cant wait to get #2000 and #3 together, the book end Cobras.

In spite of its poor results the King Cobra did out-qualify the Ferrari P-4s on both occasions. I think the King Cobra is the only Cobra touched by Dan Gurney AAR, Len Terry, Phil Remington, John Collins, Jim O'Leary and Shelby. I also believe it is the only Comp or street Cobra with Weslake heads???

[Thor maine]

The King Cobra is a totally different car, it's a mid engine Birdcage tube frame CAN AM car.I was thinking more along the lines of cars that came from the AC-SHELBY-FORD effort.

[SunDude]

I suppose by definition "rare" means "fewest produced." So to answer your original question, I'd start by pointing out there were many one-off Cobras:

• CSX2000 - original Cobra prototype and the only one with inboard rear brakes
• CSX2008 - Cougar II styling concept
• CSX2131 - Willment Cobra Coupe
• CSX2196 - "flip top" roadster
• CSX2451 - Mercer-Cobra
• A-98 - AC Le Mans Coupe
• CSX3001 - XD Cobra styling concept
• CSB3054 - Type 65 Daytona 427 Super Coupe
• CSX3055 - Willment/Ghia 427 Coupe
• CSX3198 - 427 Dragon Snake

In addition there were several low-production runs of special Cobras:

• 427 Twin-Paxton "Super Snakes" (2 produced)
• 289 Slalom Snakes (2 produced)
• 289 Sebring roadsters, factory team cars (3 produced)
• 260/289 Dragon Snakes, factory team cars (2 produced)
• 289 Dragon Snakes, factory-prepared customer cars (4 produced)
• 289 FIA roadsters, factory team cars (5 produced)
• 289 USRRC roadsters, factory team cars (6 produced)
• 289 USRRC roadsters, factory-prepared customer cars (5 produced)
• Cobra Daytona Coupes (6 produced)
• 289 Le Mans hardtop coupes (7 produced)

Have I missed any...?

[REAL 1]

The rarest Cobra is CSX4206. One of one. Hardly seen in public and hopefully never sold.

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by Thor maine

The King Cobra is a totally different car, it's a mid engine Birdcage tube frame CAN AM car.I was thinking more along the lines of cars that came from the AC-SHELBY-FORD effort.

Originally Posted by SunDude

Cobra Daytona Coupes (6 produced)

NOt to be nitpicky, but I never thought of the Daytona Coupes as being connected with AC, as they were a styling exercise completed here in the U.S. solely by Shelby American, weren't they?

Admittedly, not an originality buff at all........so I could be dead wrong about that. I just wonder if Thor meant to include them, too, that is IF I am right about them bearing no connection with the AC factory.

If so, I'd say the FIA roadsters are the winner! (I would lump both categories of the USRRC roadsters and both categories of the DragonSnake roadsters together, doesn't matter if they were for team use or private customers).

What were the Slalom Snakes and the Sebring Roadsters? I remember a Sebring top that extended halfway down the trunk, necessitating the dissection of the trunk so that the rearmost section would open with the hardtop in place, but weren't they just 289 models with differently styled tops? If so, which 289 model, the FIA or the USRRC? Not familiar with the Slalom Snakes, though....any info?

Cheers!

Doug

[Thor maine]

SunDude That's a very good answer,and what I was thinking with the original question. You really did your research.

[Thor maine]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

NOt to be nitpicky, but I never thought of the Daytona Coupes as being connected with AC, as they were a styling exercise completed here in the U.S. solely by Shelby American, weren't they?

Admittedly, not an originality buff at all........so I could be dead wrong about that. I just wonder if Thor meant to include them, too, that is IF I am right about them bearing no connection with the AC factory.

If so, I'd say the FIA roadsters are the winner! (I would lump both categories of the USRRC roadsters and both categories of the DragonSnake roadsters together, doesn't matter if they were for team use or private customers).

What were the Slalom Snakes and the Sebring Roadsters? I remember a Sebring top that extended halfway down the trunk, necessitating the dissection of the trunk so that the rearmost section would open with the hardtop in place, but weren't they just 289 models with differently styled tops? If so, which 289 model, the FIA or the USRRC? Not familiar with the Slalom Snakes, though....any info?

Cheers!

Doug

The six Daytona coupes all had 289 chassis built by AC, the bodies were done all over ,USA,England and Italy.