Shelby Cobra GHIA SPYDER

[Richstang]

I forgot all about this one-off Cobra, built by Ghia on a csx3000 chassis (csx3063)
It was noted to have been displayed in 1965 at the Turin, Italy motor show, only to vanish afterwards.

https://porterpress.co.uk/blogs/news/ghia-shelby-cobra-gt

The front 3/4 view sort of reminds me of a Japanese roadster of the era.

[2112]

Ali McGraw as the spokes person?

Reminds me of an Intermeccanica Italia;

[Richstang]

That Intermeccanica Italia is a much nicer looking car to my eyes!
The body is sexier and the windshield rake is much nicer at the low angle on the pillars

(Ally Mcgraw; I see some similarities in one photo, but not in the others.)

[shelbydoug]

I think that the Italia has similar styling features but is much better refined.

The Italia has been compared to the NART Ferrari's and I think that is a very favorable compliment.


It's very easy for me to see the faults in the departure from the Cobra lines by AC for this design but I have to think that the Cobra's success was because of Shelby's promotion of the car and would have been a non-entity without it.

Even as such, how can anyone consider the Cobra a sucess with the paltry production numbers?

The last batch of 427's that dealers had were hard sells to say the least and that was with the 427's put back in instead of the 428's.


This AC attempt at refining the design didn't help anything. Those cars were aimed at a market that hardly existed at all and maybe just stimulated by speculators that they would somehow be discovered by the "general population" and catch fire?

For whatever the last version of the coil spring chassis Cobra was, it wasn't an Aston Martin wanna' be like this design is. Anything but.


You can't rewrite history. It is what it is. This design never went anywhere.
The Cobra WAS a brilliant design. It wasn't for everyone, just hardly for anyone

[HistoryBuff]

I think there were two of them because I have seen pictures of two headlight treatments. One was dark blue with a saddle tan interior.The question is if Shelby placed  the order with Ghia why was there no subsequent publicity? The answer might be that DeTomaso, his erstwhile buddy, was buying Ghia and might have hoped Ford would order  it, But then Shelby and DeTomaso soured on each other so Shelby didn't want to champion him. But contradicting that is the display of  a Mangusta at Ford wearing the grille badge Shelby Mk.V so it's possible those two collaborated more than once how to get into Ford's pocketbook.

[Don Johnston]

Not familia with all the history and corporate politics, but did the AC 428 Frua come later develop AC project with any connection to these Ghia projects?

[557]

Tail is too long.

[shelbydoug]

Tail is too long.

From one rear perspective it resembles the Triumph Stag.

[Richstang]

I think there were two of them because I have seen pictures of two headlight treatments. One was dark blue with a saddle tan interior.The question is if Shelby placed  the order with Ghia why was there no subsequent publicity? The answer might be that DeTomaso, his erstwhile buddy, was buying Ghia and might have hoped Ford would order  it, But then Shelby and DeTomaso soured on each other so Shelby didn't want to champion him. But contradicting that is the display of  a Mangusta at Ford wearing the grille badge Shelby Mk.V so it's possible those two collaborated more than once how to get into Ford's pocketbook.

This Ghia Cobra was noted as CSX3063 (mentioned in the first post)
I believe only one was made (why we only heard about one CSX number)
The different headlight treatment just might be the reflections off of the headlight covers.
There are not many photos of it.

[HistoryBuff]

This subject comes and goes, this quote says there were two. His source? SAAC Registry. Does anyone have that magazine (Kit car?--can't read it) looks like quads to me. Maybe the registrars will recognize the SN...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from SAAC forum

cobra427hp cobra427hp is offline
CC Member
Visit my Photo Gallery

   
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Sugar Land, TX , USA,
Posts: 83
Not Ranked   
Default
My SAAC Cobra Registry shows CSX 5001 & CSX 5002 as prototype MK III cars bodied as convertibles for Shelby by Ghia, Italy 3/7/66 with 7 litre engine.
==================================================================

[Richstang]

Either there was a second car or they reconfigured the headlights under the covers for the USA market.
If I recall correctly the square headlight were outlawed in the US, but not in Europe.

CSX5001 and CSX5002 ??

[Cobra Ned]

This car, CSX 3063, is currently being auctioned on line as a "1965 Shelby 427 Competition Cobra." The ad states that restorer Chuck Gutke, now deceased, said that the Ghia Cobra was eventually returned to AC Cars for disposal, but was instead built out as a 427 Cobra Roadster and used a demonstration vehicle before it was damaged and tucked back away in AC's workshops. It was supposedly sold several years later in poor condition. One could question why, if the car went back to AC Cars, there is no record of that in their file on the car. And if AC Cars got the car back, it would have been in 1967 or later, when they were no longer making Cobras, but were making the AC 428 by Frua. Would AC have logically cut down a 96" chassis to build a car they were no longer producing? Or would they more logically have used the 96" chassis to construct an AC 428? And had they actually built a 427 comp Cobra, and it got damaged in some way, why would they hide it away in their workshops? It's the bloody FACTORY. Might they not have simply repaired it instead? Sorry, folks. Too many things simply do not add up on this one.

[Harris Speedster]

As food for thought;
perhaps that long tail got away from somebody driving the Ghia Cobra?
Crashed it, and then hid it away back at AC ?
Then when it came time to do something with it, an old Ace / Cobra body was placed on the chassis ?
All had been discontinued as mentioned above, and over all value then played into it?

Richstang, I agree, the Italia is a far better looking design.
Shelbydoug, yes many do consider it a brother / sister car to the 275 swb Nart Spyder.
Long debated story about who designed, Scaglione or Cumberford,
Sold off my last Pantera in 1990 to buy a basket case Italia
The black one pictured may have webers , if it is the one I am thinking of.
John

[Richstang]

auction site with photos current and past.

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/dealtank-1965-shelby-cobra/

[Cobra Ned]

According to the auction statement, AC Cars rebuilt the Ghia show car into a 427 competition Cobra. But after it was damaged, they stuck it in a corner and never touched it again. Roughly 10 years later, Mike McCluskey found the car, brought it to CA, and "catalogued and stored the parts." But this is what was displayed as the found remains of 3063. Anyone else sense a disconnect somewhere along the way?