Shelby Cobra
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The Shelby Cobra, first developed in 1962, was one of the most important and influential automobiles of the 20th century. The basic idea of the cobra, concocted by racing genius Carroll Shelby, was to stuff a whole lot of power into a light chassis. Hot Rod rated the first generation cobra's at "271 hp[and] 312 lb ft of torque" (Wright 54). While those numbers aren't too impressive by today's standards, today's average sports car weighs 800-1000 pounds more than the Shelby Cobra. That means a power to weight ratio better than a Chevrolet Corvette or that of a Dodge Viper. Due to the Cobra's stunning good looks, wicked fast performance and handling, and deep racing roots, it stands on a pedestal of automotive excellence far above everything else, inspiring American automobile manufacturers to build great cars. Matt Stone, a writer for Motor Trend summed it up pretty well when he strove to "select just one automobile from the last half century as the most significant subject" in their fifty-year history of automobile journalism (170). Stone stated that, "were it not for this car, there would be no Shelby Cobra's: 260, 289, 427, Daytona Coupes, or otherwise there would have been no Shelby Mustangs count out the likelihood of there ever being a Dodge Viper" (170). Clearly the Shelby Cobra was quite an influential car, quite possibly dictating the course of American performance vehicles.
The sleek muscular shape is the first thing everyone fell in love with about the Cobra...