Would the Real 800HP Super Snake Cobra be Scary?

Carroll Shelby built only 2 “Super Snake” original 427 Cobras in 1966. The first, Serial nbr. CSX 3015 was actually Shelby’s personal car for several years. They were said to be able to run from 0-60 in just 3.2 seconds! Of these 2 only 1 still exists.

Comedian Bill Cosby had Shelby build him the 2nd cobra after he saw the original Competition model that Shelby turned into the Super Snake. Cosby reportedly drove the car only once and then it was sold to a Mr Tony Maxey who ended up driving off a cliff into the Pacific ocean thus destroying the car.

Watch this very interesting CNN interview with Craig Jackson:

Shelby’s CSX 3015 was originally built in September 1965 as a full competition model. It had a title but was not street legal as it was returned to America after the European tour in 1966. The Shelby modifications added mufflers, a windshield and bumpers and the twin superchargers. The Horsepower increased from something over 500 to 800 making the Cobra Super Snake the most powerful production car at the time. This upgrade reclassified the car from Competition to Semi-competition (or S.C.) and then could be driven on the road.

One of the reasons for building the car, It was said that Carroll Shelby was “tired of seeing the taillights of his friend Stan Mullin’s Ferrari on their trips to lake Tahoe”. The World Registry of Cobras and GT40s, 4th Edition, quotes Mullin as saying, “…the darn thing exploded past 140 MPH, and actually accelerated faster at that speed than from a standstill. It ate my Ferrari alive.”

Besides the Paxton superchargers, Shelby had a reinforced Lincoln Cruise-o-matic transmission installed. Even with the automatic, the car would run 200 miles per hour as Bill Cosby found out.

Shelby sold the car in 1970 to songwriter James Webb who kept the car until losing it to the IRS in 1995. It was then sold at auction and passed through several more owners. Ron Pratte bought the car at an auction in 2007 for $5.5 million. When he found out how original the car was even with a numbers matching 427 motor, he put the car back into it’s original Shelby Super Snake condition.

Barrett-Jackson photo

The Shelby Cobra Super Snake sold again in January 2015 for $5.1 million.
Barrett-Jackson auction listing here