Cobra-Authority.com
Speed Channel's Behind the Headlights: Host Bob Varsha takes you inside the fascinating and compelling tales of twelve individual automobiles and their remarkable histories, courtesy of the SPEED cable TV network.
This episode (Season 1, Episode 6) highlights what is rightly regarded as one of the all-time great classic sports cars, the muscular, fire-breathing Cobra succeeded in capturing the hearts of enthusiasts like few of its contemporaries. Texan Carroll Shelby had gone racing in Europe in the late 1950s and realized that a combination of a lightweight American V8 engine and a proven European chassis was a winning combination. He had a Ford V8 installed in the chassis of an AC Ace, named the result the ‘Cobra’ and proved his point.
Formalizing the arrangement, Shelby had AC Cars send Cobras - minus engines - from England to be finished off at his facilities in California. The 260ci (4.2-liter) prototype first ran in January 1962, with production commencing later that year. In 1963, the more powerful 289ci (4.7-liter) unit was standardized. Rack-and-pinion steering was the major MkII up-date; then in 1965 a new, stronger, coil-suspended MkIII chassis was introduced to accommodate Ford’s 427ci (7-liter) V8 engine, which in race trim could produce well in excess of 500bhp. Wider bodywork, extended wheel arch flares and a bigger radiator intake combined to create the definitive - and much copied - Cobra MkIII look.
Shelby’s “dream team” of drivers included Ken Miles, Phil Remington, and Pete Brock, who were supported by other racing legends behind the scenes. The Ford-powered, AC Ace-derived Cobra was faster and more reliable then almost anything else produced, dominating the competition in almost every instance. The Cobra won the U.S. Manufacturer’s Championship consecutively in 1963, 1964, and 1965. Shelby would go on to win the hotly contested 1965 FIA World Manufacturer’s Championship in 1965 with the Pete Brock-designed Daytona Coupe.
The SPEED cable TV network was a sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as automotive-focused programs.
In 1999, Varsha moved to Speed, then known as SpeedVision. In 2002 and 2003, Varsha was the host of Speed's Champ Car coverage. Rick DeBruhl took over Varsha's Formula One host chair for that period. In 2004, Varsha returned to his Formula One hosting duties. In 2004, Varsha was also a part-time host/narrator for Speed's coverage of the World Rally Championship, even reporting on-site from the WRC's inaugural event in Mexico. Varsha also commentated on the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction on Speed Channel in Scottsdale, Arizona, Palm Beach, Florida, Orange County, California and Las Vegas, Nevada annually.
On March 5, 2013, Fox Sports announced that Speed would be shut down and replaced by a new mainstream sports channel known as Fox Sports 1;
Filmed at the Nethercutt Collection Museum at 15200 Bledsoe Street in the Los Angeles, California suburb of Sylmar. The Nethercutt Collection is a multi-storied museum with an automobile collection, which has led Autoweek to call the Nethercutt Collection one of America's five greatest automobile museums. The Nethercutt Collection was founded in 1972 by J.B. Nethercutt (1913-2004), who was the cofounder of Merle Norman Cosmetics.
Includes Interviews from:
Carroll Shelby
Bob Bondurant
Don Cummings
J. L. Henderson
Jerry Grant
Dick Guldstrand
Dan Gurney
Phil Hill
Tom Jones
Bill Krause
Elizabeth Martin
John Morton
Lynn Park
Gary Patterson
Phil Remington
Paul Russell
Jenni Shrives
Don Weaver
Kathy Weida
Cars featured courtesy of Peterson Automotive Museum
Images Provided by:
Carroll Shelby Licensing
Dave Friedman
Ford Motor Company
Road & Track
Streamline Films, Inc.
Produced by: Bob Petrella
Executive In Charge of Production: Rick Miner
Executive Producer: Lenny Shabes
Supervising Producer: John Aronson
Coordinating Producer: Jill Penwarden
Associate Producer: Alan Bolte
Written by: Ken Gross
Production Coordinator: Scott Greenberg
Director of Photography: Jacob Kelso
Edited by: Ruth Wald, Dan Nelson
Audio Designer: Tom Orsi
Produced by WATV in Association with SPEED CHANNEL
Copyright 2004, Speed Channel, Inc.