1963 Cobra 289 Le Mans

The engine and transmission Shelby dropped into the car were as exotic as corn dogs at a state fair

by Thor Thorson

Carroll Shelby’s concept was simple enough. Take the attractive, lightweight, well-proven Ace roadster built by AC Cars and turn it into a world-beating production racer by the simple expedient of replacing its aging six-cylinder engines with a powerful and reliable American engine. At least that was the plan. In practice the Ford’s greater power exceeded the AC chassis’ design limits. It needed bigger tires to put the power down, which also increased cornering forces and exacerbated the shortcomings of the Ace’s simple transverse leaf spring suspension. Better brakes were needed and introduced even more stress. By April of 1963, as the Cobra was demonstrating its speed and improving its reliability in FIA competition at Daytona and Sebring, Shelby moved to the next phase—the Le Mans 24-hour race. Two cars were built and were the most highly developed of all the early Cobras. The Cobra entered by AC Cars finished 7th overall, 3rd in the GT category, and...