The Ford Shelby Cobra is a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

that

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

unveiled at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. The Shelby Cobra concept is a roadster inspired by the original

AC Cobra The AC Cobra, sold in the United States as the Shelby Cobra and AC Shelby Cobra, is a sports car manufactured by British company AC Cars, with a Ford V8 engine. It was produced intermittently in both the United Kingdom and later the Unite ...

that

AC Cars AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. As a result of bad financial conditions over the years, the company was re ...

developed in 1961.

Development and design

Ford's Advanced Product Creation team designed and built the Shelby Cobra concept in five months. The project was led by Manfred Rumpel. Like several other Ford vehicles developed in the early 2000s (such as the GT40 concept, the GT and the fifth-generation Mustang), the Shelby Cobra concept is a modern interpretation of an older vehicle. In the case of the Shelby Cobra, the design is reminiscent of the AC Cobra MkI. The first Cobra featured a large, high-performance Ford Windsor engine inside a small roadster that

had modified at Shelby's request. Likewise, the Shelby Cobra concept car is small and minimalist, eschewing conveniences found in most modern cars (such as

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

, a radio,

anti-lock brakes An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a automobile safety, safety anti-Skid (automobile), skid Brake, braking system used on aircraft and on land motor vehicle, vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing t ...

, and even windshield wipers). In a press release to announce the debut of the concept car in 2004, Shelby echoed the aim of the design team: "That's the formula ..It's a massive motor in a tiny, lightweight car."

Engine

The Shelby Cobra concept features an all-aluminum,

V10 engine A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been prod ...

, displacing that produces at 6,750 rpm and of torque at 5,500 rpm. The engine redlines at 6,800 rpm, and Ford claims it is capable of reaching , though the car is reportedly electronically limited to only . The

double overhead cam An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion ch ...

cylinder heads and cylinders are fed by port fuel injection and racing-derived velocity stacks that are just visible within the hood scoop. For a low hood line, the throttles are a slide-plate design. The lubrication system is the dry-sump type, which relocates oil from underneath the engine to a remote tank.

Chassis

The chassis of the Shelby Cobra concept was based on an aluminum chassis used on the GT production car, and modified to suit the concept car's front-mid engine placement. In fact, many parts of the GT were adapted for use in the Cobra, such as the suspension, several components of the frame, and the mounting brackets for the transmission (which is placed in the rear on the Cobra). Despite sharing large portions of its chassis with the Ford GT, the Shelby Cobra concept is almost shorter overall and has a wheelbase shorter than the GT.

Body and interior

Although the Shelby Cobra concept was aimed to reflect the design of the AC Cobra, the concept is dimensionally very different from the original. However, the design includes many common external features, such as a large grille opening, side vents, and large wheel arches. In line with Carroll Shelby's designs, the concept has a very minimalist look, which is continued in the interior. The concept omits many features common in modern cars, such as air conditioning and a radio. The placement of the transmission in the rear allowed for the driver and passenger seats to be placed closer together, adding to the compactness of the Cobra. The car appears in the 2005 film XXX: State of the Union

References

* * * * * * * * {{Ford Concept Shelby Cobra Concept Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Shelby vehicles

Development and design

Engine

Chassis

Body and interior

See also

References