NUMBERED CSX3006, THIS 1965 SHELBY 427 COBRA IS AN EARLY PRODUCTION, FACTORY-BUILT COMPETITION CAR, ONE OF JUST 23 PRODUCED ACCORDING TO THE WORLD REGISTRY OF COBRAS & GT40S. Shelby’s big-block cars were never mass-produced, with just over 300 built, including competition, street and the final “SC” Semi-Competition cars that were initially intended as factory-built racing cars but repurposed after Shelby failed to meet the FIA 100-car production requirement for international racing. In all forms, the 427 Cobras were, and remain, mighty performers with fascinating histories, carefully tracked and documented through the tireless efforts of owners, enthusiasts and especially the registrars of the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC). Numbered CSX3006, this 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra is an early production, factory-built competition car, one of just 23 produced according to the World Registry of Cobras & GT40s. Early details are fully known, with the Cobra ordered by William G. Freeman of Muncie, Indiana, on January 25, 1965, with Freeman requesting a special Metallic Blue paint finish, just a shade lighter than the Shelby team cars, accented by gold Le Mans stripes. A shoulder harness was also specified, and Freeman elected to pick up the Cobra himself at Shelby’s Hi- Performance Motors dealership in Los Angeles. Citing period photos, SAAC also reports that CSX3006 was equipped with FIA Cobra-spec Halibrand wheels and without the usual “Cobra” nose emblem. Freeman is understood to have entered two races with CSX3006, landing a creditable fourth-place finish at the Lynndale Farms SCCA Regional on September 6, 1965, before receiving a contract offer to race in Europe, prompting the Cobra’s offering for sale. It was purchased from Freeman by a USAF officer stationed in France, passing in the summer of 1966 to the Chequered Flag of London, UK, where the car was race-prepped, including conversion to right-hand drive and a unique repaint in white with a contrasting matte black hood and cowl. The Cobra entered several races in 1966 at venues, including Goodwood and Brands Hatch that May, followed by a return to Brands that August with driver Chris Irwin, who had just made his Grand Prix debut with Brabham the previous month. Of its race outings, the May 8 Ilford Films 500 held at Brands Hatch was the finest hour for CSX3006, when the open roadster was co-driven by noted F1 and sports car racers David Piper and Bob Bondurant to victory by a wide margin over the Ford GT40 of Peter Sutcliffe and Eric Liddell in a challenging, rain-soaked race. An October 1966 FIA World Sports Car Championship race at Zeltweg, Austria, would be the last front-line outing for CSX3006. The Chequered Flag eventually sold CSX3006 in June 1969 to Edwin Butterworth, who only raced the Cobra twice and reportedly kept the car at his friend John Carden’s Cheshire, UK, garage to conceal ownership of the ferocious Cobra from his parents. By 1973, the investment value of a “real” competition Cobra was abundantly clear, prompting Carden to purchase CSX3006 and the principals of the Chequered Flag to repurchase it late in 1977, and then later sell the car to Michael Shoen, the American Cobra enthusiast who wrote the definitive “Cobra-Ferrari Wars 1963-1965” book.
