Photographer to the Cars - Dan Knopp

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Cobra for sale

     1971. In a driveway on Jamacha Road sat a genuine 427 Cobra with a for sale sign, $5500. Straight body, orange paint, needed nothing. But that seemed like an awful lot of money at the time. After all, any number of cars including Mopar Hemis and big block Corvettes could be had for a lot less. Who knew? Can't go back now.


Future Cobra owners?

     Judging from personal experience, the Cobra may be the most photographed car ever. Young kids who were born thirty-five years after the car are attracted to it, often right in front my knees pointing a camera at the car. Future Cobra owners? Perhaps, especially if they are lucky enough to score a ride while they are young and impressionable.


Shelby's supercar is here to stay

     There is no shortage of pictures, calenders, books, videos, and automobilia of this supercar. It is featured in video games and movies, popular with collectors and celebrities, and the replicar companies keep churning them out.

     The Cobra isn't going away anytime soon, and it is an interesting part of American supercar history.

Red, white and blue Shelby 427 SC Cobras.

Red, White and Blue Cobras

     No car has had more replicas of it built than the AC Cobra. Carroll Shelby's creation has the same status among gearheads as Elvis does with his followers. And the Cobra parade shows no sign of ending, even though faster and better handling cars can be had for much less than the cost of a good reproduction.

     The story is an all American one with Carroll Shelby stuffing a brutish American V8 into the aluminum bodied sportscar from England to go out and do battle with the likes of Ferrari. It's the American way and it worked well. Gobs of cubic inches, horsepower, and torque showed the world how America went to battle in '60s racing. They are referred to as the Glory Days, when drivers had to know how to drive without electronic speed, shifting, and traction controls. If you could drive a 427 SC Cobra and win, you were in league with some of the most famous drivers.