About a week ago, I was leading a Canadian connected car trade mission to Silicon Valley and took some personal time on the weekend for some "car guy" stuff.
On Father's Day, I visited the recently opened
Cobra Experience museum in Martinez, California. This place is a labour of love by Drew Serb, several other Cobra and Shelby owners, and their families. It is a "must visit" for any Cobra or Shelby enthusiast, offering a terrific display of Shelby cars, memorabilia and other artifacts. The museum is only open on the third Sunday of every month, by appointment, or for special events.
The Cobra Experience museum is located on the second floor at 777 Arnold Drive, Martinez, California. This building is also home to Drew Serb's other businesses: Pro Media Ultrasound, and Finish Line Cobra Parts and Accessories.
Visitors are invited to enjoy a 20 minute movie about the Cobra story in a small theatre specially built for the museum and, not surprisingly, featuring
GREAT sound.
CM/1/631963 Shelby Cooper-Ford "King Cobra"
A recent addition to the museum: This is the first of the Cooper-Ford "King Cobras" to be campaigned by Shelby American in the USRRC Pro Series. Driven by Dave MacDonald, it was very fast and won the overall series championship in 1963 with race victories at Riverside and Laguna Seca.
CSX21541963 Shelby 289 Cobra, Le Mans replica
This is the first of three 289 Cobra race cars built for SCCA competition using the same modified bodywork used at Le Mans in 1963. Special features of the Le Mans replicas include: a short trunk deck, large side vents, spats behind the front wheels, a 37-gallon fuel tank, Halibrand magnesium wheels, and a race windshield.
(
Sorry for the poor quality photos. The lighting was a real challenge for my basic point-and-shoot digital camera.)
CSX23571964 Shelby 289 Cobra "Dragon Snake"
This is one of two factory team Dragon Snake Cobras. Driven by Jere Kirkpatrick, it set new records at Fremont CA, Riverside CA and Arlington WA in the NHRA/SStock Sports Class. The car won the NHRA National Championship at the 1965 Winternational in Pheonix AZ. Its best run was a 11.81 sec. at 116.27 mph.
I approve of this awesome Dragon Snake Cobra!!
CSX24091964 Shelby 289 Cobra USRRC race car
This is one of five original 289 full-race Cobras prepared for privateer customers to compete in the U.S. Road Racing Championship. It features the wide rear fenders and cut-back doors that were unique to the USRRC/FIA race Cobras.
CSX25141964 Shelby 289 Cobra USRRC race car
This is one of five original 289 full-race Cobras prepared for privateer customers to compete in the U.S. Road Racing Championship. It features the wide rear fenders and cut-back doors that were unique to the USRRC/FIA race Cobras. I also saw this car at the 2012 Monterey Historics where it was driven by previous owner, Gordon Gimbel.
CSX25221964 Shelby 289 Cobra "Slalom Snake"
This is one of two original 289 Cobras equipped with the "Slalom Snake" auto-crossing package. Tredway has owned it since 1969 and has auto-crossed and drag raced it. His best quarter mile performance was a 12.2 sec. at 116 mph. I also saw this car at the 2012 Carmel Concours.
CSX25791964 Shelby 289 Cobra (automatic)
This lovely street roadster is one of the last 289 Cobras ever made, and is one of 17 equipped with an automatic transmission.
CSX26161965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, by Mike McCluskey
To be clear: This is not one of the original six Cobra Daytona Coupes. But it's the next best thing: An exact reproduction produced by master restorer, Mike McCluskey and using a CSX2000-series chassis number authorized by Carroll Shelby himself. This car was completed in 2013.
CSX30221965 Shelby 427S/C Cobra
This is one of 29 original 427S/C "semi-competition" Cobras. In essence these were unsold race cars which were modified ever so slightly to make them road legal in 1966. This car was originally sold to Bob Grossman who raced it in the SCCA A-production class in 1967-68 with great success, winning four SCCA Nationals.
This is the original front clip from
CSX3022. The car had been sold to its new owner, who was scheduled to pick the car later one day. Before handing the car over to its new owner, the seller decided to take it out for one last drive ...with disastrous results. The Cobra was involved in a head-on collision with another car, driven by an old man who accidentally crossed over the centre line.
CSX31421966 Shelby 427 Cobra, narrow-hip roadster
Try as I might, I just couldn't take a clear photo of this lovely narrow-hip 427 Cobra in this light with my camera. Fortunately I already got some good pics of this car at the 2012 Carmel Concours.
CSX31611966 Shelby 427 Cobra, street roadster
Once again, foiled by poor lighting and a basic digital camera. Argh!!
CSX32321966 Shelby 427 Cobra street roadster
Nicknamed "Sopheya", CSX3232 is regularly driven by Drew and has been taken on about thirty 1,000-mile tours during his ownership. I saw this car at the 2012 Carmel Concours where it was misidentified as CSX3282 (which had just been purchased by F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton from a fellow Canadian).
CSX33391967 Shelby 427 Cobra, tunnel-port intake
This original 427 Cobra street roadster was modified by one of its early owners for high-speed competition in NHRA and at Bonneville, where it was clocked at 221 mph in 1968. I also saw this car at the 2012 Monterey Historics.
Shelby 427 Cobra chassis
J-131967 Ford GT40 MkIV, by Kar Kraft
In 1967, Ford GT40 MkIVs won both the 12 Hours of Sebring, co-driven by Mario Andretti and Bruce McLaren, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, co-driven by Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt. This is not one of the original J-cars from the 1960s, but it is the next best thing: J-13 is one of seven continuation-series MkIV GT40s built by Kar Kraft LLC to exacting standards. The car is powered by a Ford 427 tunnel port with dual Holley four-barrel carburetors. It's an incredible car!!
1966 Ford GT40 MkIIB chassis
1963 Sunbeam Tiger MkI, prototypeThis is the very first Sunbeam Tiger built by Shelby American, in June 1963. The car was shipped to England where Lord Rootes test drove it and approved it for series production. A total of 7,005 Tigers were produced from 1964 to 1967, beginning with this prototype.
6S0101966 Shelby GT350
SFM6S11041966 Shelby GT350
#04791967 Shelby GT500
9F02R4820851969 Shelby GT500
1964 British-American Zoomer 3AThis one-off custom roadster was commissioned by Pete Lovely in 1962. It is significant in that it uses one of two Ford engines which were sent to AC Cars in 1962 to develop the prototype Shelby Cobra (CSX2000). The Zoomer remained in Lovely's collection until his death in 2013.
The museum contains a display of the various Ford powertrains used in the Cobras, GT40s and Shelby Mustangs.
This is a Ford experimental 260 "XE", predecessor to the 289 Hi-Po.
Ford 289 in full race specification.
Ford 427 side oiler with medium-rise magnesium intake with aluminum heads.
Ford 427 side oiler with tunnel-port intake, 2x4-bbl carburetors and T44 transaxle.
Ford 427 side oiler with 58mm downdraft Webers and T44 transaxle.
The museum is jam packed with authentic Shelby memorabilia, including this display of original wheels used on both the small-block and big-block Cobras.
Official Shelby American Inc. Cobra team jacket.
This race flag from the 1965 Daytona Continental was given to Bill Eaton, head mechanic on the winning GT40 (chassis GT/103).
This scale model of Laguna Seca was donated by Ford Motor Company executive and Cobra owner, Jim Farley.
Diecast models of the Cobra and GT40 in various scales (1:18, 1:12, etc,).
The walls are full of original posters, photos, magazine covers and other artwork, such as this one which celebrates the Cobra's complete domination of the 1963 U.S. sports car racing season.
The Shelby Cobra is the first and only American car to win the FIA World Championship, when it beat Ferrari for the title in 1965.
The museum also includes a comprehensive library, full of books, magazines and original Shelby documents. On the day I was there, the desk was covered with internal factory records, build sheets, specifications and more, obtained from former Shelby American employee and race driver Ron Butler.
