William and Nancy Griffin's 1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra (CSX4266)
It’s always a treat to see a Shelby Cobra at any car show, as Carroll’s iconic sports car has enjoyed widespread appeal that’s spanned generations. But more often than not, what we wind up seeing at most events are Cobra replicas — faithful recreations of the highly collectible — and very expensive — high-performance roadsters produced by Shelby American. That’s why William and Nancy Griffin of Waddell, Arizona, are so very proud of their 1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra CSX4266: It’s the real deal. Check out the Griffin’s story about their remarkable ownership experience:
“I’m William Griffin, and am 68 years old. Our car is an authentic, genuine, aluminum-bodied 1965 Shelby American CSX4000 series 427 S/C Cobra. The aluminum body was constructed in Poland, and then sent to Provo, Utah, where it was mated to a Kirkham-built Shelby chassis. This car, CSX4266, was the very first chassis that was powder-coated by Kirkham. The car then went to Shelby American in Las Vegas, Nevada, for final preparations as a roller. We had the car completed by Newport Shelby Cobras in Newport, California, beginning in early 2002.
“The car came completely apart, the aluminum body was prepped for paint and was sprayed with a Sapphire Blue, and the stripes were painted Phosphorous White with a little bit of Pearl in the paint. This Shelby Cobra is powered by a very potent David Dralle (RIP) built all-aluminum 472 CID, Borla-owned TWM-Fuel Injection Shelby V-8 based Ford FE big-block motor. It features experimental Edelbrock aluminum racing heads and produces 663 horsepower and 647 pounds-feet of torque. The compression ratio is 12.75:1. Engine electronics are by Lance Nist of Pantera Specialists in Santa Ana, California. Dralle also built the 4-speed top-loader manual transmission.
“The suspension has been upgraded to employ custom-built Bilstein shocks, stiffer Hypercoil Springs and four-wheel aligned — all done by Tom Barnard at Tom"s Motorsports in Las Vegas, where it is rigorously maintained and serviced. CSX4266 weighs in at 2,460 pounds with 42 gallons of Sunoco 112-octane race fuel in its fuel cell.
“After being completed in time for the Monterey Historic Races we trailered it to Monterey, California, where it was displayed in the Shelby American display booth for the weekend of August 2002. That is where Carroll Shelby himself sat in the car and so kindly autographed the dashboard for us! Shelby American has invited us to display the car at various events, such as the Monterey Historic Races, the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auctions in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Coronado Speed Festival in San Diego, California, the Fabulous Fords Forever at Knott's Berry Farm All-Ford Car Show, and various other events. This Shelby has also been to several Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) events which were held at Michigan International Speedway, Fontana Motor Speedway and the SAAC Does Vegas winter events.
“Recently, the car won the 2019 Shelby American President’s Choice Award, presented by Shelby American’s own Gary Patterson! Over the years, the car has competed in several local (Phoenix, Arizona) car shows and did very well -- usually with first-place results. CSX4266 has been to the Mid-America Ford and Shelby Nationals a couple of times, where I enjoyed driving it at Hallett Motor Speedway. But the most memorable event was when we were invited to attend the Concours d' Elegance in Newport, Rhode Island, at the Breakers Mansions! We were placed in a non-judged class. Several racing-world attendees included Dan Gurney, Stirling Moss, Bob Bondurant, Janet Guthrie, Johnny Rutherford and several other notable racing legends. We were amongst the very finest!
“Although we are no longer members of SAAC and are not affiliated with any other car clubs or organizations other than Team Shelby, but we still keep up with what’s going on with the Shelby world. Every year we attend the Shelby Bash (formerly known as SAAC Does Vegas). To this day, the car still looks brand new — and it is pampered beyond belief! Thank you for sharing my Ford and Shelby story!”
(photo credit: Ford Performance)
