File:1964 Shelby Cobra FIA Roadster.jpg

English: CSX 2345

In 1961 Carroll Shelby in America entered into negotiations with English car company, AC Cars. Backed by Ford, Shelby proposed the installation of an American Ford V8 in the AC Ace, the fusion of brute American horsepower and British aesthetics resulted in the AC Cobra, one of the fastest and most brutal sports car of all times. Having conquered the USRRC Championship in 1963 with the Cobra, Carroll Shelby set his sights on the FIA World Championship in 1964. For the high speed circuits, the Daytona coupe was created while a more subtly modified 'standard' bodied 'FIA' Roadster was readied for the tighter tracks. Only five were built. These Cobras got a full-width windscreen, required for the car to be homologated as a GT. More subtle were the two bumps on the rear deck. Fenders were enlarged to clear wider wheels, side exhausts ran under the sills and a hood scoop was fitted. The 1964 World Championship would remain a very closely disputed affair with the FIA Roadsters winning their class at the Targa Florio, Spa 500 km and Nürburgring 1000 km This car has survived unscathed for 50 years, just as it was when Bob Bondurant drove it at Rossfield in Germany on June 13, 1965 for the GT win.

Photographed at the Shelby American Collection, Boulder