Some of us like old cars, some prefer new ones, but the original 427 Shelby Cobra is one of those universally desired performance icons that would look good in any collection.
Sadly, with prices hitting $2 million and often higher, most of us are unlikely to be getting ready to purchase one and, as Hagerty’s classic car expert, Colin Comer rightly points out, if you were, you’d be mad not to get an expert to check it out on your behalf.
So this isn’t the most relevant buyer’s guide ever, but it is fascinating because few of us have ever seen a real 427 Cobra street car up close, and almost certainly never from underneath.
It’s also interesting because it clears up a few misconceptions about the street versions of the 427. As Comer says, when most of us think of 427 Cobras we picture cars with side exhaust pipes, hood scoops, roll bars and no bumpers.
Related: You Can Now Buy A Brand New AC Cobra With An All-Electric Powertrain
But those cars were the competition versions of the 427. The true street cars looked much more discrete with conventional underfloor exhaust systems, no roll hoop and a different dashboard layout that even included a glovebox.
Of course, plenty of buyers modified their cars in period to look like the competition cars, not least because the stock exhaust with its cast iron headers and small bore pipes was pretty inefficient. But today it is vehicles in original as-bought spec that are the most highly prized.
A couple of features I always wondered about were the 427’s weirdly angled shifter, and the fact that some cars’ rear wheels seemed to fill the arches just right, while others looked totally lost, like someone stole the real wheels and the owner was making do with some skinny borrowed rims until he replaced them.
Comer explains that the shifter angle is a result of the transmission being mounted even further back in the 427 cars, meaning the linkage exited under the driver’s elbow. As a workaround, Shelby fitted the shifter from a 427 Galaxie back to front resulting in the strange cranked-forward look.
And those arches? Apparently Carroll Shelby also thought the skinny street tires looked dumb in the wide arches (seen above), so commissioned England’s AC Cars, who built the bodies, to create a halfway-house flared wheelarch that looked right, as fitted to the car in the video. But it cost too much so Shelby soon reverted to the original wider fenders for all cars.
If, like me, you like geeking out on those kind of details you’ll definitely enjoy this video. Even if you’re never going to have the $2m necessary to put that knowledge to use.