When Carroll Shelby unveiled the Shelby 427 Cobra. The Roaring Legend in 1962, the world stood still.
Just four years later, a new beast emerged—the 427 Cobra, a race-bred monster packing a 7.0-liter V8 pushing out 485 horsepower. It was built for one thing: domination on the track.
But reality soon caught up with the dream. Shelby realized he was losing money on every Cobra sold. In response, he began fitting the production models with Ford’s 428 cubic inch V8—less expensive, but still brutally effective on the road. Shelby insisted that the street performance remain virtually identical between the two versions.
On the track, however, it was a different story. Over time, the 427-powered Cobras earned legendary status, and today they are among the most coveted collector cars on the planet.
Current value? Around one million dollars—if you can find one.
