Offered by Shelby American five newly built 1963 Shelby Cobra Dragonsnakes priced at $750,000 each, the company announced last week.
Original Dragonsnake Cobras are among the rarest the competition is Cobras Built by Shelby in the 1960s. Developed exclusively for drag racing, only a handful were made and one was sold last year for almost $1.4 million.
Each of Shelby’s five reproduction cars honors an original, and the prototype was unveiled during last week’s 2023 Carlisle Ford Nationals in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The prototype respects the bearing chassis of the Cobra 289 Dragonsnake. CSX2093 and was raced by Bruce Larson, who dominated NHRA racing in the Northeast in the mid-1960s. He was at the recent Ford rally to help unveil the reproduction, which features the same bright Fuchsia Metallic paint as the original.
Ed Hedrick eventually bought the car in 1966 and continued his winning streak. It won every NHRA national level race it entered and helped establish the CSX2093 chassis as the most successful drag racing Cobra of all time.
According to Shelby, chassis CSX2093 started out as a road-going Cobra and was later changed to a Dragon Snake. Modifications performed included rear fender flares, American Racing wheels, drag radials, roll bar, Sun tachometer, and various chassis upgrades. The car was also fitted with a hardtop to improve aerodynamics.
“The Shelby Dragonsnake program of the 1960s began when a small group of young Shelby American production employees developed and achieved amazing success with a pair of roadsters,” said Shelby President Gary Patterson. “We’ve restarted production of the Dragonsnake so fans can experience the excitement of the launch of the new Shelby Cobra at the quarter mile.”
Shelby will not actually build the new cars. Legendary GT Continuation Cars of Pennsylvania, which has previously produced cars for Shelby, will be tasked with this task. The five cars get aluminum bodies and authentic chassis with 4.0-inch round tube main rails, and at least one of them will pay homage to Larson’s car.
The suspension and brakes will be the same as the 1960s, while the wheels will be custom 15-inch sets in the original style and wrapped in Mickey Thompson radials. Additional details include an aluminum radiator, electric cooling fan, 3.0-inch diameter belts, and dash-mounted switch and rearview mirror.
Under the hood will be a 364-cubic-inch aluminum V-8 equipped with a Weber carburetor system and mated to a Tremec 5-speed manual transmission. According to Shelby, the engine will make 500 horsepower and weigh only about 2,100 pounds.
The production time of one reproduction car is about one year.
HIGH RESOLUTION GALLERY: 1963 Shelby Cobra 289 Dragonsnake reproduction
This article was originally published by Motor Authorityeditorial partner ClassicCars.com
