Cobra ID, CS & early roadster at Dearborn

[6R07mi]

Would this be one of the Ford Engineering cars? early 260?

-- "11M103" Michigan MFG plate would be Ford
-- The wall in the background suggests Ford Dearborn Engineering Center campus
-- the trees suggest May ~ Sept in Mich.

The car color looks lighter than CS's pants & shoes suggesting a color that renders lighter in B&W than black,
I'm leaning towards red or dark blue, refining the list of possibilities to:
CSX2004 - engineering car  red / blk
CSX2048 - pool car   red / blk
CSX2096 - ??  red / blk
CSX2126 - Ford / McCord Engineering  car  red / blk
or there are blue cars CSX2122, 2125, and green cars 2119, 2120

regards,
jim p

[Dan Case]

I would not believe it was CSX2126.

Information available through the AC Owners Club includes CSX2126 being overseas as a running car between early May 1963 and March 1964. It was photographed at LeMans along with CS 2030 the rack and pinion steering prototype car. It was the prototype test car for Ford / McCord radiators, McCord expansion tank, Ford designed and supplied electrical systems, Ford alternator charging system, and Stewart Warner instruments. It was the second car with rack and pinion steering, the first with left hand drive rack and pinion steering. It was finished as a chassis before CSX2080. While overseas it was photographed by a magazine and several pictures were published. In those pictures some large American Mercury tail lamps are shown.

[Side-Oilers]

Based on the other things in the photo that we suspect we know the color of, and how black-and-white film reproduces such photos, my guess is the car is blue.  Red tends to look much more grey in a B&W pix.

However, since there were green cars, as noted by Jim P., there's a possibility it could also be a metallic green.  Similar appearance in B&W as a metallic darkish blue.

What color was the 1963 Michigan license plate?  That might help.

Just my $0.02 as a long-time car photog.

[Coralsnake]

Dark green and white for the plate

[Dan Case]

Based on the other things in the photo that we suspect we know the color of, and how black-and-white film reproduces such photos, my guess is the car is blue.  Red tends to look much more grey in a B&W pix.

However, since there were green cars, as noted by Jim P., there's a possibility it could also be a metallic green.  Similar appearance in B&W as a metallic darkish blue.

What color was the 1963 Michigan license plate?  That might help.

Just my $0.02 as a long-time car photog.

The Registry indicates that CSX2048 was repainted a custom "pearl" paint and used as a show car.
Based on the Registry colors other than red, black, and white started early in the second chassis contract.
CSX2104 finished in AC Cars "Bright Blue"
CSX2108 finished in AC Cars "Princess Blue"
CSX2112 finished in AC Cars "Vineyard Green" and beige interior.

Bright Blue was similar to Ford Guardsman Blue but definitely not the same (I have an original paint Bright Blue bonnet removed from its Cobra decades ago and well stored since hanging on a wall as a decoration. I have my Ford color paint out sample from back when I had to spot repair the side stripes on my original paint 1965 GT350 decades ago and make the repairs invisible. )

I have tried several times over multiple years to figure out what car that might be. Several issues confound the research. 1) Many new Cobras spent some time in the Ford fleet for some reason or another or for some VIP or another. 2) As photographed production details that would narrow which contract series and or which shop completed the car are not visible.  3) Ford sometimes made changes to cars in their possession (e.g. CSX2004 and CSX2008) so you might stumble upon before and after pictures. 4) Fleet cars returned to Shelby inventory tended to changed for all kinds of reasons including repairs and reconditioning after return to Shelby American.

What I have kept a watch for is any documentation that Ford tested Firestone® brand tires on car number  (?).