WSC60 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C

A new chassis, designated Mark III, was designed in cooperation with Ford in Detroit. The Mark III chassis was built using 4 inch main chassis tubes, up from 3 inch, and coil spring suspension all around (an especially significant change up front, where the previously used transverse leaf spring had done double duty as the top link). The new car also had wide fenders and a larger radiator opening. It was powered by the Ford 7.0 L (427 cu in) FE "side oiler" engine. When the legendary driver Ken Miles first introduced the 427ci engine to a Shelby Cobra in the “Flip Top” prototype 427 Cobra it took the Cobras performance to a whole new level. The Shelby Cobra now had the powerplant necessary to outrun the competition including Grand Sport Corvettes, 250 GTOs, and GT40s, and that's exactly what it did on its debut race at the Nassau Bahamas race in 1964. With this discovery of the incredible performance potential of the 427ci, Shelby’s original plan was to build 100 427 competition Roadsters which would be homologated for FIA racing. Shelby was planning on running a factory effort with these cars in the 1965 season. Unfortunately when the FIA arrived at Shelby American in April 1