Best 427 Cobra Books

[KeithBrown]

I have several Cobra books. Three outstanding Rinsey Mills books, the Brooklands Road Test books(Gold Portfolio), Friedman's book, and my favorite one by Brian Laban.

While they all are great, they all seem to focus on the 289 and racing histories (not that this is bad), but if you compare the amount of information on the 427's to the other information(with the possible exception of the Gold Portolio book), it is lacking.

Does anyone know of a book that focuses on the 427 (both S/C and road cars)? I would like to see many more pictures and details.

Regards,

Keith

[computerworks]

...to the best of my knowledge, there are none.

Trevor Legate's Cobra:The Real Thing probably has the most percentage of 427 info in it. It is out of print, but shows up on eBay and Used Booksellers from time to time.



The S/C is merely a footnote in most books. The real purist authors (in my opinion) believe that the 427 Cobra was the thing that put SA out of business and out of racing, and quite frankly, screwed up a good thing (the 289 Cobra). Thus, not many pages are devoted to it.

[snakeeyes]

It is a little surprising, given the car's present-day popularity, that there are no books dedicated solely to the 427 Cobra (that I'm aware of). Most are going to have a few chapters if you're lucky. FWIW, here is a list I've previously "published" on this forum of the Cobra books of which I'm aware, along with a couple of links to sellers who might have copies in stock of the ones that are no longer in print:

-Essential AC Cobra, by Rinsey Mills

-Original AC Ace and Cobra, also by Rinsey Mills

-The SAAC World Registry, editions One and Two

-AC Cobra 1962-69, a Brooklands book compiling old road tests and magazine articles

-AC Cobra Gold Portfolio, another Brooklands compilation

-Cobra, the Complete Story, by Brian Laban

-Automobile Quarterly vol 14-3, which has a Cobra article

-Automobile Quarterly vol 16-3, which has a Shelby article

-Automobile Quarterly vol 22-3, which has a great article on the 427 cars

-Carroll Shelby's Racing Cobra, by Friedman and Christy

-The Cobra Story, by Carroll Shelby

-Ford Cobra Guide, by Bill Carroll

-Road and Track on Cobra, Shelby, and Ford GT40, another Brooklands compilation

-Shelby American Guide, by Rick Kopec

-Shelby's Wildlife, by Wallace Wyss

-Daytona Cobra Coupes, by Pete Brock et al.

-Cobra: The Real Thing, by Trevor Legate

-Shelby Cobra, by Dave Friedman

-Remembering the Shelby Years, by Dave Friedman

-The Cobra-Ferrari Wars, by Mike Shoen

-Cobra Super Profile, by Grainger

-Cobra, by Beki Adam

-Classic AC's, by John McLellan

-AC Heritage, by Simon Taylor

-Shelby, by Steve Statham

-AC (Cobra) Autohistory, by F. W. McComb

-Shelby Buyer's Guide, by John Lamm

Many of these are long out of print; the best source I've found for them is found at http:www.abebooks.com/home/TEW/

The in-print ones can usually be found at www.motorbooks.com or www.ewa1.com.

This list is almost certainly incomplete; for instance it does not include the latest Rinsey Mills Cobra book, which was just published this year.

Of all of them, Automobile Quarterly 22-3 has probably the most comprehensive article dedicated to the 427 and S/C cars; it is around 12 - 15 pages and has a lot of nice color shots. The Mills "Original" book also has as much 427 coverage as any, but you've already got that one. The Wyss "Shelby's Wildlife" book has a lot of 427 information. It was written back in the mid-70's and is tough to find now, but it makes for entertaining reading either way and I would recommend buying a copy if you can locate one--

Bob

[KeithBrown]

Wow - you guys are geat!

Thanks for taking the time to respond. My search begins anew.

Bets Regards,

Keith

[KeithBrown]

Has anybody read Friedman's latest book (out in 12/02/) called: Cobra, a Motorbooks Classics published book? f so, does it have more 427 pix when compared with his other racing dominated books?


Regards,

Keith

[snakeeyes]

It is a reprint of his "Shelby Cobra" book, only printed in softcover this time--