First Impression: Shelby Series 1

Carroll Shelby is known for taking Mustangs and British cars and putting big engines in them. Shelby took an AC Ace body and put a small block Ford V8 into the car and called it the Shelby AC Cobra. Shelby also tunes Ford Mustangs, calling them the Shelby GT500 and Shelby GT350, depending on what performance package goes into the Shelby tuned Mustangs. Shelby was also responsible for the two most successful American race cars, the Shelby Daytona Coupe and the Ford GT40.  In 1998, his company, Carroll Shelby International, built the only car produced by Shelby that was built from the ground up. What Shelby created was a high performing roadster called the Shelby Series 1.

I saw the Shelby Series 1 at the January 2011 edition of Houston Cars and Coffee. This car attracted a crowd. It is a rare car, only 249 Series 1 were originally made, so it attracted a crowd. The Series 1 looks fast and fun to drive. It has a stunning appearance.

The Shelby Series 1 is powered by 4.0L V8 that could per optionally supercharged, paired with a six-speed manual transmission, that produces 320 hp and 290 lb-ft of torque. The car weighs 2,650 lb. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 170 mph. Prices for the Shelby Series start at $181,824. That is a hefty price to pay for American Muscle. The Shelby Series 1 is fast, but not fast enough to be called a supercar.

The Shelby Series 1 has been seen on TV while it was being sold at various autions. It has not been featured on Top Gear or Jay Leno's Garage. The Series 1 is playable in Gran Turismo 2, Gran Turismo 4, Test Drive 5, Test Drive 6, Forza Motorsport games, Manhattan Chase, Speed Busters: American Highways, and TD Overdrive: The Brotherhood of Speed.

Final Thoughts: This is a great American muscle car. It is fast, quick, stunning, but expensive. The Shelby Series 1 is the only car built from scratch by Carroll Shelby. All other Shelbys are either re-engineered models produced by other car companies and modified by Shelby. The Shelby Series 1 has a higher top speed than the famous Shelby AC Cobra. Only 249 were originally built. In 2000, component car versions of the Shelby Series 1 were built without an engine or transmission. Those who got one of the 249 original cars were lucky to get one.

CarJunkie
Photo taken from a camera phone

First Impression: Shelby GT500

Carroll Shelby tuned first-generation Mustangs from 1965 to 1970. One of the Shelby-tuned Mustangs was the Shelby GT500. He claims that the Mustangs after 1970 were too heavy. In 2006, Shelby started tuning Mustangs again and brought back the Shelby GT500 Mustang.

I frequently see the Shelby GT500 on the Houston roads as well as at Houston Cars and Coffee events. It looks just like a regular Mustang except with two racing strips, The GT 500 decal on the sides the signature Shelby Cobra badge on the grill, sides and back of the car, "S H E L B Y" on the rear where it normally says "F O R D."

The Shelby GT500 is powered by a supercharged 5.4L V8, paired with a six-speed manual transmission, that produces 550 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and reaches a top speed of 179 mph. The Shelby GT500 does not get hit with a gas guzzler tax since it gets 23 mph highway. Prices start at $48,645 for the Shelby GT500. The Shelby GT500 is one of the more powerful, quickest, fastest Mustang variants.

The Shelby GT500 has been featured on Top Gear during Series 9, Episode 6 where it was reviewed by Richard Hammond. The current Shelby GT500 is playable in Flatout 2, Project Gotham Racing 3, Flatout: Head On, Flatout: Ultimate Carnage, Split/Second, Need For Speed: Carbon, Need For Speed: Pro Shift, Ford Street Racing XR Edition, Highway Madness, Blur, GT Racing: Motor Academy, Ford Street Racing, Forza Motorsport 2, Forza Motorsport 3, Speed Racing, Twisted Metal, Need For Speed: Nitro, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Need For Speed: Shift, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, Real Racing 2, Shift 2: Unleashed, Car Town, Driver: San Francisco, and Nitto 1320 Legends.

Final Thoughts: The Shelby GT500 is a very fast, quick Mustang variant. However, it does not like to corner. Carroll Shelby put a lot into the engine, but he did not put modern suspension on the car. The rear live axle is outdated. This causes the GT500 to have horrible handling. It is only good for going in a straight line. The GT500 is great for Drag Strip Racing, but not for race tracks that have corners.

CarJunkie
Photos taken from a camera phone and digital camera

Classic Car: Shelby Cobra

Last week, the automotive community lost an icon. On May 10, 2012, the world lost Carroll Shelby. After a short racing career, Shelby help create some of the most iconic cars to ever hit pavement. He help with the Shelby Daytona, Ford GT40, Dodge Viper, Shelby Series 1, and the Ford Mustang based Shelby GT500. But his most famous car is the Shelby Cobra, which is based on the AC Ace two-seater. Shelby got the license to import the AC Ace and removed the Bristol engine from the car and replaced it with a Ford V8 engine. The Shelby Cobra had a decent racing history, but it could not beat Ferrari. Phil Hill set the fastest GT lap at the 1963 Sebring race. Dan Gurney drove the Cobra to victory at the 1963 Bridgehampton 500KM. The Cobra won the 1964 24 Hours on LeMans and also won multiple SCAA A-production championships. The Shelby Cobra paved the way for the Shelby Daytona Coupe and the Ford GT-40, both with vast racing success.

I have seen all types of Shelby Cobras, both real Cobras and replicas. Real Cobras will have a commemorative plate and will have been signed by Carroll Shelby himself. There are some replica Cobras that are nearly identical to the real thing. The Cobra itself is a two-seater roadster with a V8 engine. It has an open oval in the front and exhaust pipes going down the sides. The Cobra is an open air race car that you can drive on the roads. 

The Shelby Cobra was powered by different V8 engines, all paired four-speed manual transmission. The 260 cubic inch (4.3L) V8 produced 260 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque. The 260 Cobra goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and reaches a top speed o 152 mph. The 289 Cobra is powered by a 289 cubic inch (4.7L) V8 that produces 271 hp and 314 lb-ft of torque. The 289 Cobra goes from 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 135 mph. The 427 Cobra is powered by a 427 cubic inch (7.0L) V8 that produces 425 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and reaches a top speed o 165 mph. The Cobras were quick and fast by 1962 standards. The cars are still quick by modern standards. However, to get a real Cobra will cost at least $1000,000. The more racing history a Cobra has, the more valuable and collectible the Cobra becomes.A Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake went for $5.5 million. 

Real Cobras and Cobra replicas have been featured on Jay Leno's Garage. A few Cobras have been featured on Chasing Classic Cars. The Cobra has also been featured on Pawn Stars, Mischief: Joyride, Mischief V: Dynasty, 2 Fast 2 Real I, 2 Fast 2 Real II, Classic and Sport Car, and Broom. The Cobra is playable in Driv3r, Drift City, Kinect Joy Ride, vDream Racing, Roadkill, Auto Modellista, Car & Driver, Vanishing Point, VDrift, Forza Motorsport series, Enthusia Professional Racing, Motor City Online, Gran Turismo series, Test Drive series, Project Gotham Racing 3 and 4, Asphalt: Urban GT 1 and 2, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Midnight Club: L.A. Remix, Shift 2: Unleashed, and Driver: San Francisco.

The Shelby Cobra has a lot of racing history. It is highly desired by car enthusiasts. Even Cobra replicas are quite popular at car auctions. If you cannot afford to pay over $1 million dollars for a classic car and want a Cobra, there is no shame in getting a replica Cobra. There are many quality replicas out there. You get a similar experience in a replica but without paying a hefty price tag. I have seen rows of Cobras at Houston Cars and Coffee events and replica Cobras get almost the exact amount of attention as a real Cobra. Whether it is the real McCoy or just a replica, the Shelby Cobra is a great addition to any car collection. It has so much history to be ignored.The only two American cars that should get priority over the Shelby Cobra are the Shelby Daytona (only six were built) and the Ford GT40. Carroll Shelby help with creating three of the best American cars of all time. This was a huge lost for the automotive world.

R.I.P Carroll Shelby, an Americn Legend (1923-2012)

CarJunkie

Cobra photos were taken by a digital camera.
Carroll Shelby photo was taken from Pack Automotive Museum website.

To see more car related articles, check out http://carjunkie713.blogspot.com/.

Like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CarJunkies-Car-Review/120292601386720.

Follow me on Twitter @CarJunkie713.

Unlocking The Car: Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe

Welcome to Unlocking the Car, where I tell you how to unlock a certain car in different video games. The first car I will tell you how to unlock is the legendary Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. Winning races to unlock the car do not count.

The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe is one of the most successful cars to compete as it led Shelby to be the first American automotive manufacture to win the FIA World Sportscar Championship in 1965. The Daytona Coupe is a two seater grand tourer with a chassis and drive-train loosely based on the Shelby Cobra Roadster. The Daytona Coupe was built specifically to compete with Ferrari. The Daytona could reach a top speed of 190 mph, where as the Shelby Cobra could only reach a top speed of 157 mph. The rival Ferrari 250 GTO could hit 186 mph. Between 1965 and 1965, 6 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupes were built. The one that captured the 1965 championship went for $7.25 million dollars at the 2009 Mecum Monterrey auction. The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe is playable in 13 games. The car is available from the start in netKar pro, Need For Speed: The Run, Vigilante 8 (Rattler), Gran Turismo 2, TORCS, Forza Motorsport 4, GT Legends, and Need For Speed: World.

The Daytona Coupe part of DLC packs for two games. The Daytona Coupe is part of the Motorsport Legends Car Pack for Forza Motorsport 3, which will cost the player 400 Microsoft Points, or $5.00. The Daytona Coupe is part of the Legends Pack for Shift 2: Unleashed, which will cost the player 800 Microsoft Points for XBOX 360 owners or $10.00 for Playstation 3 owners. For three video games, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe must be unlocked.

In Forza Horizon, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe is one of nine cars that has to be unlocked via barn finds. As with the all the barn find cars, you have to first get notified of the barn find location. While driving in free roam, you will hear over the radio a rumor that there is a car hidden in a barn in Carson. Once you hear the rumor, hit X and a circle on the map will show you the area where the barn is located. Drive to Carson and on a dirt road in the northwest section of Carson, there is the barn. Drive up to the open doors of the barn and a cut scene will begin. After the cut scene, you will get a message that you found the Shelby Daytona Coupe and Dak is fixing up the car. Once Dak is done working on the car, he will notify you. Head over to the garage and pick up the car. You have now unlocked the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. The video below shows you where the barn is. Video is from Super GT, not me.

The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe is unlockable in both Test Drive Unlimited and Test Drive Unlimited 2. For Test Drive Unlimited, it is a two part process to unlock the Daytona Coupe. First, obtain three Ford cars. There are six ford cars available in the game. The Ford GT, Mustang coupe, and Mustang convertibles can be bought at the dealership. The other three Ford cars have to be unlocked: Ford Mustang GT-R Concept (complete all vehicle transport driving missions), Ford Shelby Cobra Concept (finish all top model driving missions), and Ford Shelby GR-1 Concept (win gold on all speed challenges). Once you have obtained 3 Ford cars, earn $1,000,000 and head to the US Muscle Car dealership. Buy (or reserve if not in stock) the Sehlby Cobra Daytona Coupe. This is the best car for G-class competitions. Once I got this car, all G-class challenges were a breeze. In Test Drive Unlimited 2, there are six cars that are unlocked through wreckage discoveries. In each of the six zones (Ibiza 1 &2 and Hawaii 1, 2, 3, &4), there are 10 wreck car locations. In Hawaii 2, there are 10 wrecked Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupes. As you approach a wrecked car, you will see a blinking car puzzle piece on your screen. As you get closer to the wrecked car, the piece will blink faster and faster. Once you find all 10 wrecked Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupes, you will be informed that you have unlocked the car and the car is available at the used car dealership.For all 10 locations, watch the video below. Video is from MotogamesTV, not me.

Now go out and enjoy driving the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe in the virtual world.

CarJunkie

Photo was taken by a digital camera.

To see more car related articles, check out http://carjunkie713.blogspot.com/.

Like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CarJunkies-Car-Review/120292601386720.

Follow me on Twitter @CarJunkie713.