Shelby Monaco King Cobra

The Shelby Monaco King Cobra, also known simply as the Shelby King Cobra, is a specially modified series of purpose-built sports racing cars, that competed in both the United States Road Racing Championship and the Can-Am series, between 1963 and 1967. It dominated and won the championship three consecutive years in a row (1963, 1964, 1965). The chassis and body were based around a lightweight Cooper T61 Monaco sports car, but the existing Coventry Climax 2.0 L four-cylinder engine was swapped out for a 289 cuin Ford Windsor small-block engine, which produced 400 hp, and 314 lbft of torque, which drove the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual transmission. Since the car only weighed 1400 lb, this gave it an incredible power-to-weight ratio, and top speed. The later 1967 Can-Am version of the car was even more powerful, with 520 hp, and 503 lbft of torque, coming from an enlarged 352 cuin Ford XE motor.