Was One Of Carroll Shelby's Most Famous Statements A Lie?

The idea that the Shelby Cobra 427 was so fast that the man himself was willing to bet a $100 bill on it sure as hell sold the right image, but just how much truth is there in the myth?
Remote video URL

Was Carroll Shelby telling a white lie in one of his most famous statements? He once said that his Cobra 427 accelerated so fast that if he were to put a $100 bill on the car’s dashboard and a passenger could reach out and take it during a launch to 60mph, they could keep it.

Autocar, in a spare 10 minutes with a selection of cars at their disposal, decided to see how much truth there was in the idea. It’s all tongue-in-cheek, but the answer is not as much truth as the ghost of Carroll Shelby would like you to believe. To make it happen you need a very fast car, the passenger seat needs to be all the way back, and the note needs to be all the way forwards. It doesn’t look good for the famous old myth, but there are potentially a lot of explanations as to why the great man might have gotten away with it…

Comments

HCR Writing Space

That was a long time ago…

07/24/2017 - 08:19 |
0 | 0

hello espeon 🌚
jk lul

07/24/2017 - 11:44 |
0 | 0
Tomislav Celić

That statement might be a lie. But “Ferraris a’s is mine” defenetly isn’t

07/24/2017 - 08:19 |
84 | 2
5:19.55

Guys, you of course need a car that produce high g forces under acceleration… Top gear france made it with a tesla and it always worked.

07/24/2017 - 08:27 |
16 | 0
Anonymous

For a tiny car that has 340 horsepower per ton and crazy short gearing like that, I’d say there probably was some truth to Carroll’s claim

07/24/2017 - 08:58 |
50 | 0
Anonymous

Can;t help feeling that to test the statement about the 427, it would have been more useful to have used a Shelby Cobra 427

07/24/2017 - 10:06 |
148 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Eh, the original Cobra is probably more expensive than every car they’ve reviewed combined.

07/24/2017 - 21:59 |
12 | 0
Anonymous

First, You have to use a 427 Super Snake with Twin Superchargers.

Second, read above statement. a Cobra. Not a car with modern suspension that numbs the violent acceleration. A Cobra. A Car with nothing except an Engine and two Seats.

This Test is a Fail.

07/24/2017 - 11:54 |
106 | 0
Anonymous

Where is the Cobra?

07/24/2017 - 12:32 |
4 | 0
Dayton Sander

The statement isn’t a lie… the car had an incredible power to weight ratio so it HAULED ass, but also, little known fact. The Shelby cobra held the record for fastest 0-60-0 till the viper came out in the 90’s. I’d believe it any day.

07/24/2017 - 14:30 |
20 | 0
Pagz777

Because it was only about his cobras, those are stupid fast

07/24/2017 - 14:38 |
6 | 0
Jared Steinbach

I’d like to note one of the biggest contributions to the statement the 427 A/C Cobra was an open top roadster and though it did have a full windshield unlike a Caterham ot and ariel atom it would have not blocked all the air from hitting the passenger and throwing then back into their seats alone let alone the fact that it has soft suspension this wasnt a tace car with pushrod suspension.

07/24/2017 - 18:23 |
4 | 0

Topics

Sponsored Posts