427 AC Cobra Exposed

Getting down to the nitty gritty on Shelby's AC powerhouse.

By Bill Atol

427 AC Cobra Exposed

From humble beginnings...In Surrey, England, in early '62, the first prototype CSX2000 (Carroll Shelby Experimental) mated a 221 cubic-inch V8 engine to the chassis of an AC sports car. After completion, the car was air freighted to California. In the back of Dean Moon's shop in Santa Fe Springs, Carroll Shelby's team had readied a 260 cubic-inch V8 with a 4-speed Borg-Warner transmission for a test drive, in less than eight hours! Publicity photos were taken, road tests were written, and the orders rolled in. By mid-1962, Venice, California, became the new home of the car. Carroll's "Cobra" shook the sports car world. Victory after victory rolled in for the little car, and from there the following grew.

In early 1963, a NASCAR spec 427 found its way into a Cobra chassis. Somehow it fit, and what had started out as a wild idea became reality.

427 AC Cobra Exposed

The Cobra you see on the following pages, serial number CSX3156, was sold in December of 1965. A green 427 car originally, without a hood scoop, narrow rear fenders, oil cooler, 3:31 gearing, and side scoops, was purchased by a man named Auto Timbo Tambo; a Peruvian resident who had it shipped to Peru. The car lived there until 1989, attending car shows, enduring Peruvian roads, local mechanics, and the lack of genuine Cobra replacement parts. Then the car was painted red, was sold, and shipped back to Los Angeles with the new owner promising it would undergo a proper restoration. Flash forward to 1992. Current owner Lynn Park purchased our feature car, but to do so, Lynn had to agree to a "package deal" which included a 60's front engine dragster(!)

Now, let's back track a little, and give you some history on our feature car's owner. Lynn Park, our resident Cobra guru, began his life long affair with these cars in 1962 when the Cobra made its first appearance on that year's Road & Track magazine cover.

427 AC Cobra Exposed

He was a UCLA student at the time, and with Shelby's Venice-based manufacturing facility close by, it soon became Lynn's home away from home. In 1962, the $5995 price tag for a new Cobra was out of reach for this young college student, but he had befriended the Shelby American crew, and soon had a 289 installed under the hood of his own four cylinder AC, which was then Lynn's daily driver.

This car was raced by Lynn until he went into the Army in 1967. Once out of the service, Lynn purchased CSX2046 that was, at the time, a slightly wrecked 289 car. This car was the first of the 30 real Cobras he has owned, raced, restored, and generally played with in the last 40+ years.

427 AC Cobra Exposed

Lyn currently owns 10, yes 10 real Cobras, including one of the five FIA 289 cars, and one of the five factory-prepared Dragon snakes. He is active with various vintage racing groups, and has been fortunate enough to have participated in the Monterey Historic Races for over 20 years. His cars have been shown at Pebble Beach, and have won the coveted Tom Senter Award as the best Ford at the Monterey Historics. And for the past fifteen years, Lynn and his wife has participated in the prestigious COBRA 1000 with several of their cars. To top it all off, he has had a long history and friendship with Carroll Shelby himself. Lynn's garage is packed full of the coolest collection of Cobra and Shelby memorabilia a Ford enthusiast could ever come across!

With all his time spent around these cars in the early years, Lynn acquired a huge amount of knowledge of the construction and the many changes that were made to the Cobra. As he states, it was like each car was a prototype. So out his collection of documents comes the making of this segment of the story. This will read like a service bulletin, but it's packed with great info that many of you may be unaware of.

Complete article now available in issue #7 of Legendary Ford Magazine

To read this 7-page article in its entirety and much more visit Legendary Ford Magazine online and subscribe today!


427 AC Cobra Exposed

427 AC Cobra Exposed

427 AC Cobra Exposed

427 AC Cobra Exposed

Note: SuperMotors has a business affiliation with Legendary Ford Magazine, which provides Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury articles and content to SuperMotors.

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