Beschreibung:

260ci OHV V8 Engine 3 Two-Barrel Carburetors 260bhp at 5,800rpm (with single carburetor setup) 4-Speed Manual Transmission 4-Wheel Independent Suspension 4-Wheel Girling Disc Brakes *Incredible time-warp condition *Very early example of Shelby's Cobra *Documented provenance in the Shelby Registry *Only two owners from new *Great candidate for Preservation Class Concours showings The AC/Shelby Cobra For dedicated enthusiasts of any great, collectible sports car marque, certain purchasing opportunities present themselves perhaps only once in a lifetime. Bonhams is today privileged to be able to make a discerning connoisseur's dream come true with this fantastic time machine of an AC/Shelby American Cobra Roadster. The extraordinary example offered here is understood to have been the road test AC Cobra featured in Car and Driver magazine in March, 1963. Reading that feature story and examining the associated photographs and data panel must have been many an American enthusiast's introduction to former Le Mans 24 Hours race winner Carroll Shelby's pragmatic and brilliant sports car concept. Frustrated by seeing the great handling capabilities of so many British sports cars going to waste due to prosaic engines which were usually both under-powered and overweight, Carroll Shelby had combined Ford V8 horsepower with the John Tojeiro-conceived twin-tube chassis frame and all-independent suspension of the British AC Ace Roadster. The Motorcar Offered As one of the pioneering 260-cubic-inch engined early Cobra roadsters, 'CSX2034' offered here enjoys unique stature as one of the foundation stones of the Shelby American marque's marketing program, and the fact that it can now be offered here in such unspoiled 'time-warp' condition bears silent testimony to the extraordinary love for fine automobiles that was demonstrated throughout his long life by late owner Stan Hallinan of Bow, New Hampshire. The Shelby Registry tells the story of 'CSX2034' - which Mr Hallinan preserved virtually unused for nearly 50 years - like this: "Invoiced to Shelby American 10/22/62. Shipped to N.Y."- from AC Cars Ltd at Thames Ditton, Surrey, England – "...2034 was invoiced on 11/30/62 to Tasca Ford (E. Providence, RI) for $4,995.00, with a heater ($65), for completion and retail sale. It is unclear whether Tasca or a Boston-area dealer originally sold 2034". This now fantastically-preserved, incredibly low-mileage, time machine of a Cobra Roadster was sold to first private owner James Hall who then ordered a triple twin-choke carburetion kit for it via Grappone Ford of Concord, New Hampshire, the company for which Stan Hallinan worked. The Shelby Registry entry for 'CSX2034' then tells the coda to this story concerning first owner Mr Hall, who: "...within a matter of months, lost his driving license following a rash of speeding citations". Unsurprisingly, "Anxious to unload the Cobra, Hall offered the car for sale in the 12/63 issue of Car and Driver: 'AC Cobra 1963 260. 1,000 original miles, never raced. Six Blue Streak tires. Ready to go'." Unfortunately for Mr Hall the car failed to sell, but Stan Hallinan at Grappone Ford had showed consistent interest – and one suspects some sympathy for the increasingly unfortunate would-be vendor. Again the Registry tells the story: "When a buyer failed to materialize, Hall asked Stan Hallinan....to do him the immense favor of taking the car at a bargain price. Hallinan, ever the martyr, took the car off Hall's hands, and has preserved (it) in its original condition ever since". This extraordinary story of motor trading sympathy extending into connoisseurial conservation, continues: "Used only for two summers after its acquisition in 1964, 2034 was placed in storage showing 4,200 miles on its odometer. As of the late '90s, it remained there" – in a well-kept and dry barn upon Mr Hallinan's property – with 5.5-inch painted wire wheels, a 1965 NH inspection sticker on its windshield, and the Shelby 3x2V carburetor set-