In the '60s, the muscle car era was in full swing, bringing huge power to everyday models, meaning you didn't need a second specially-prepared race car for a trip to the drag strip on the weekend. Established car manufacturers were even going as far as creating limited-run race cars that could technically be driven on the road, but buyers were advised against doing so. In short, America wanted cars that could explode down the road, or a quarter mile or asphalt, and the manufacturers were happy to oblige.But while the muscle car era generally meant sticking to the recipe of a two-door coupe, often derived from a more standard everyday model, with the power from the hefty V8 turned up to 11, there was one car that did things differently. Using an odd blend of dainty UK sports cars, which were also becoming increasingly popular in the USA in the '60s, and muscle car thinking, it was a unique proposition – and one that still captures the imagination today. This was a car that could beat any other over the quarter mile in the '60s, apart from a few race car specials.For the fastest quarter-mile car of the '60s, HotCars only considered production cars that were sold to the public. Some of the fastest cars of the era were not recommended for street use or were not true production cars but are mentioned in this article as well. The Cobra 427 Had The Fastest Quarter-Mile Time In The '60s 427 cobra 1 1965 Cobra 427 Specs Source: ShelbyBritish sports cars were doing jolly well in the '60s, with pretty designs and bags of style that made them perfectly suited to this easygoing decade. The only thing that some of them were lacking was power. MG’s MGA had a 1.6-liter twin-cam engine pumping out a heady 108 horsepower at nearly 7,000 rpm, which made it lithe and fun, but you're not exactly going to take it down the drag strip.In 1965, Shelby debuted the 427 Cobra, which was derived from the AC Ace, a British sports car, and featured Ford's iconic 427 FE big block. At a time when muscle cars were dominating the drag strips and British roadsters were looking good parked up outside coffee shops in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Shelby had combined the two to create an icon. The 427 Cobra Is A Fearsome Sports Car When a well-known car magazine tested the new 427 Cobra in 1965, which had a sticker price of $7,000 and a curb weight of just 2,529 lbs, they found the performance astonishing. This 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 had 485 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque, all channeled through a four-speed manual transmission.The Cobra could accelerate from 0 to 100 mph and then brake to a complete stop in 14.5 seconds, although it was noted that Cobra test driver Ken Miles could get that down to 13.8 seconds. In real-world tests, the Cobra could accelerate to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, which not that long ago was a good figure for a modern supercar, and complete the quarter mile in 12.2 sec at 118 mph, before hitting a frankly terrifying top speed of 165 mph. A Detailed Look At The 427 Cobra Mecum Racing driver Carroll Shelby admired the fast, expensive, and complex Ferraris, Maserati, Aston Martins, and Jaguars of the day, and had the idea of building a car that could be cheaper but just as fast. In the early '60s, AC Cars had just lost the engine supplier for their car and Shelby got in touch to explain his idea, at the same time getting on the phone with Ford to set up a supply of engines. The fact that the new car would go toe-to-toe with the Chevrolet Corvette no doubt helped to sweeten the deal.In 1962, Shelby created Shelby American, building the new car in California and calling it Cobra, a name that had come to him in a dream. These early cars were equipped with the Ford 260 and later the 289 cubic-inch engines, with plenty of success on the track. In 1962, the first 75 cars got the smaller-displacement V8, according to Hagerty.com, with the other 51 early-production cars getting a 289 cubic-inch mill. The 427 Was A Serious Improvement On The Original Cobra But it was the later iteration of the Cobra that cemented the car in automotive history. The 427 arrived in 1965 and was a different beast altogether. The car featured the 427 big-block Ford engine with 425 hp in standard form and 485 hp in competition cars.The tubing that made up the frame was thicker and the traverse leaf springs in the suspension, which some magazines said made the car difficult to control on bumpy roads, were replaced by coil springs on all four corners. The 427 was made in both street and competition versions. Decades later, cars like the Dodge Viper were still trying to capture the magic of this legendary American sports car. Other Incredibly Quick Cars Of The 1960s Via: Mecum Auctions In the '60s, the Corvette was evolving quickly too. The pretty late '50s Corvettes were getting faster, to match their achingly good looks, but it wasn't until the second generation arrived for the 1963 model year, that the car started to be appreciated by some as more of a serious sports car. Taking on the muscle cars of the day was no easy feat, but by the end of the '60s, Chevrolet had developed a special 'Vette that was a thinly disguised race car, sold in small numbers. Chevy also kept fairly quiet about the most powerful C2 Corvette. The L88 Corvette Was A Race Car That Could Be Driven On The Road Choosing the L88 option, which spanned two generations of Corvette (C2 and C3), meant the car came with a 7.0-liter 427 race V8 and numerous competition and high-performance parts, as well as a distinct lack of luxuries such as air conditioning and radio. One respected magazine quoted the quarter mile of this super 'Vette as being in the "mid-to-high 11-second range", this being backed up by an 11.44 run by Jimmy Johnson’s silver L88-spec 1969 ’Vette at the Pure Stock Drags event in 2011.The L88 being a thinly veiled competition car, however, means that Hagerty.com says it is "hard to start when cold and was notorious for overheating in traffic". The National Corvette Museum says that they don't "recommend for street use". Standard Corvette 427s, however, could complete the quarter in a very respectable time of around 13 seconds. Dodge Also Created A Wild Model For The Drag Strips Mecum Auctions Dodge also created 80 versions of the Hurst Hemi Dart LO23 Super Stock, which was street-legal and recorded a low-ten-second quarter-mile at roughly 130 mph. However, it was originally issued with a disclaimer that it was only to be used for drag racing or “supervised acceleration trials”. There was also the Hemi Barracuda Special Order fitted with a race engine, which was estimated as being able to post a low ten-second quarter mile time, and the 1969 Plymouth Road Runner A12, which Hemmings.com says will do a 13.24 second quarter mile time. This Is How '60s 1/4 Mile Times Stack Up To Today's Some modern supercars can post incredible quarter mile times. To keep it in context with the rear-drive Cobra, it's worth looking to 2023 when Car and Driver magazine said the incredible Ferrari 296GTB was the quickest rear-drive car they had ever tested. The GTB hit 60 mph in 2.4 seconds and covered the quarter mile in 9.7 seconds at 150 mph. In 2022, YouTube channel Carwow went much quicker, taking a McMurtry Spéirling fan car to 60 mph in 1.40 seconds and demolishing the quarter mile in 7.97s during filming.