The Cobra in the Closet: 1964 Shelby Cobra
As we all know, many of us are here because we love the stories behind iconic cars and trucks. Even vehicles that aren’t significant for any particular reason, we still dig knowing what got them to where they are today or how a particular battle scar materialized. This incredible 1964 Shelby Cobra listed here on the Broadarrow Auction’s website is famously known as the “Cobra in the closet” owing to how its long-term owner stored it when not in use. It remains highly original with numerous repairs made using factory parts and maintaining original appearances so as not to distort its incredible authenticity.
The Cobra was ordered in a fairly high level of specification with numerous factory accessories being added to the invoice. These included a factory luggage rack, hard top, radio, and aluminum rocker covers. White over red is how it left the factory, and as you can see here, it remains incredibly true to form, wearing its years quite proudly. The closet moniker begins with its second owner who looked after the Cobra for ten years and eventually grew tired of looky-loos sticking their heads into his garage every time he mowed the lawn and the desirable sports car became visible. He eventually built an extension onto his garage, rolled the Cobra inside, and put a set of Dutch doors in front of it to hide it from view.
I don’t blame him, to be honest. As much as I enjoy meeting my neighbors with similar interests, you’re never 100 percent sure whether someone is digging not even for the purpose of robbing you but rather just wanting to report you for an expire inspection sticker or some other nonsense stemming from their distaste for old cars. I’ve run into this before, so whatever the motivation, I can understand not wanting to give the outside world one more bone to pick. Regardless, after he built his Cobra closet, the car fell into disuse, until it was put up for sale years later to raise money for the owner and his wife to open up their own framing shop.
The current owner has painstakingly improved the car without taking away from its originality. Some of the efforts he’s made border on being beyond committed, including roughing up a set of Wilton carpets to replace the missing originals with 40-grit sandpaper to created an appropriately aged appearance. The only other missing item was an original radio, and incredibly, the current owner found a correct replacement sitting on the shelf at a radio rebuilder’s shop. As this photo indicates, the Cobra retains those original features and accessories, but the best feature of all is the incredible story that will forever accompany it.
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Comments
Some of these mega-buck cars really are special. Front parking lights from a ’54 Ford? Gotta love the “gitter done” approach. This would be a car for a good drive!
These cars helped drop me into the sports car realm that I’ve never gotten away from.When I went to the MG dealer in San Antonio to buy a new sports car, there sat a grey MG Midget, a black MGB, and a white Shelby Cobra with a 289 engine. Midget was $1,800, the MGB $2,800, and the Shelby $4,600. At the time I had credit but no money and as much as I drooled all over that car I wound up buying the Midget. Five years in the future I could have bought the car but I was in Goose Bay, Labrador running around in the snow in a ’55 VW panel truck at the time.
It seems like this thread would be incomplete if The Rip Chords didn’t make an appearance, so here goes:
https://youtu.be/oc6FmZCT0Zc
“Hey Little Cobra and Other Hot Rod Hits”
My first record album. In high fidelity monophonic sound.
After reading the story on the auction page I would have to say it would a travesty if someone, in their ignorance, did a complete restoration on this car. It’s only original once.
Always preferred the slab sided body style.
Pat: “slab side” was never, ever used in the ’60s. A writer for Kit Car Magazine invented this term in the mid 1980s. I know that it refers to the earlier Cobra variant not having had the big flaring of the big block cars, but it is a bit of a silly term, because there is nothing flat about the Ace/early Cobra design. It is delicately curvaceous and nothing like a “slab”, which most people associate with the flat board cadavers (the dead) are placed on in mortuaries. I too think that the earlier design is nicer looking, although the big block cars had two variants: the early 427 with big flaring, but not ugly, if a bit menacing-looking. Then there was the “wide-hipped” 427 which to some people is the coolest of all, as to them bigger is better. To each his or her own.
I am a big fan of “survivor” cars, however, and especially for the $ this will go for you think they could have cleaned it. Everywhere you look the car is filthy.
Unless the dirt adds value?
I would also repair the seat tops as well, they look like crap.
The car looks like a repaint as well?
Bill – go to the auction website and read the backstory – This was owned by a guy who understood the word “survivor”
Olddog, I did read the story, and looked at all the photos, everywhere you look the car had not been cleaned in a long while, visors, gauges, etc.. heck I would at least wipe off the air cleaner cover.
I think a million dollar car should at least be treated to a good detailing.
The seats are up for discussion, but in my opinion I would not want to drive it that way.
Even the previous owner put mismatched tires on the car to drive it because that was all he could get so IMHO you would just be carrying on the tradition.
Very cool ,way out of my price range!
Decades ago, I was pulled over one night back in Indiana a few minutes from home by a state trooper who noticed a burned-out headlight. He invited me to the front seat of his cruiser, where I nervously scanned the inside of his car, hoping to never be in one again. Above in the visor, I spied a snapshot of a burgundy ’64 Cobra. I commented about the picture, and he said, “You’re either a Cobra fan or a real Ford buff” and went on to tell me he bought it in original condition for $12K. He let me off with a warning. Great guy and I’ve often wondered what became of the car.
There’s a great story about Herbie Hancock out there, the Jazz Legend. The short form, IIRC, is back around 1963, he came into some money from his music, and went to check out a Cobra. The salesman gave him some attitude, being a young black guy, so Hancock decided to go and buy the car just to spite him. Turns out it was one of the early 260’s, and he’s kept it to this day…
whew. Fix the seats maybe, clean it up,maybe. Or drive as is, it will drive the purists crazy. Goes to show they are still out there. Great story. Too rich for my blood. This is as good as it gets to this ol grey hair. At the Lake george car show a guy had an original 69 z-28 that had been in the barn 37 years. Every kind of doo doo and dirt all over it. Took the original 302 out , rebuilt it, and put it back in without cleaning the crud off the outside of the mill. Only thing missing was the air pump system.. To each his own and I love it. Good luck and happy motoring.
Cheers
GPC
There is a tremendous value you for some of us to buy “as found”, prior to cleaning, repairing, restoring or pretty much anyone doing anything to it. Part of the joy (and value) of a car like this is doing everything yourself from the time it was discovered. In this case I would hope a gentle cleaning and the abssoulte minimum needed to make it roadworthy (and to prevent damage to the original parts ). What a gem this is.
Honey West! Only thing that would make this better is if you had Anne Francis sitting in the driver’s seat.
Having looked closer at the photos, I’m going to correct myself and say I wouldn’t even clean it. It’s perfect as is.
Sorry, not for me. I’d love one with well-preserved patina. This one is just neglected and ratty.
Just saw the car last Saturday at out LA Shelby Club Tony Souza Memorial Car Show at the Zimmerman Automobile Museum in El Segundo, CA. It is one of 75 with the 260 motor and the ONLY Cobra with a 2 bbl carb..
The Herbie Hancock car. Sorry.
Utah license plate in the front, Colorado in the back, how does that work?
Perhaps it is usually parked half in Colorado (back) and half in Utah (front)? 🤣🤣🤣
It is not a “Shelby Cobra”. It is a Shelby AC Cobra, per the contract signed by Carroll Shelby with AC Cars Ltd. of Thames-Ditton, Surrey, south of London, on February 5, 1962. Within a few months ‘Ol Shell broke his contract with AC because he wanted ALL the credit.
AC engineered the conversion from six cylinder motors (AC, Bristol, English Ford 2.6) to a U.S. Ford 260 V-8. It is THEIR beautiful and charismatic body design, THEIR CHASSIS (designed by John Tojeiro), THEIR SUSPENSION, THEIR elegant interior, THEIR aluminum body on a Superleggera frame…and AC gets no credit at all?… Yes, it is true that Shelby contributed to the car’s evolution, based on racing experience, but so did AC. It entered its own Cobras at Le Mans in ’63 and ’64. Shelby American did contribute more to the big block Cobra, but it remained a hybrid with two parents–not one. I know that this is news to many Americans, because throughout the decades ‘Ol Shell did a very efficient job of undermining AC’s involvement. In the late 1980s he went as far as to say that AC had been but a mere “subcontractor” from whom he had “bought some parts”. Talk about blarney, given the facts.
If you were going to buy new carpet and then rough it all up to look old, why not just leave the old carpet in it?
The carpet was missing
There has been for years a green early Cobra that cruised the Huntington Beach saturday morning ‘Donut Derelicts’ coffee cruise in full survivor mode. Haven’t seen it in quite a while. I hope the car and the owner are still together and in survivor mode.
The vintage motorcycle people got words like , original , unmolested , unrestored , etc etc almost 20 years ago . The vintage car world is still struggling with this concept ! Shame !