The retro-car movement was in full swing back in the early 2000s, and Ford was one of the trend’s biggest champions. Cars like the 2001 Thunderbird, 2004 GT supercar and 2005 Mustang made the jump from concept to production, but others, including this Shelby Cobra Concept, remained tantalisingly out of reach.
But not for much longer. The one-off Ford Shelby Cobra concept unveiled at the 2004 Detroit Auto Show is about to go under the hammer with auction house Mecum in the U.S. Developed with input from Carroll Shelby, the creator of the original Cobra, the concept wasn’t the usual wobbly motor show lash-up, but a fully drivable sports car complete with a 605bhp V10 engine driving the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.
Surprisingly, considering its front-engined layout, the Cobra is based around the mid-engined Ford GT supercar’s aluminium chassis, but modified to suit the new configuration. The body is a double-wall fibreglass structure, while inside the two-seat cockpit, there’s a billet aluminium dashboard featuring carbon fibre details and matched with carbon fire Sparco seats and four-point racing harnesses from the same company.
To keep the V10’s performance in check, the concept was fitted with cross-drilled brakes with Brembo four-piston calipers, and grippy Michelin tyres mounted on unique seven-spoke BBS billet wheels.
Sounds like a fantastic recipe for low volume sales success, doesn’t it? So what went wrong? Apparently Ford did intend to bring the car to market in 2007 as a halo performance model, but the plans were scrapped in the wake of the 2007 financial crash. Which means this car is something of an enigma, a one-off concept that doesn’t just give us a visual idea of what might have been, but also how it could have sounded, accelerated and cornered, too.
We’re not sure how much the concept is worth, and Mecum hasn’t issued an estimate, but given the genuine Carroll Shelby connection, and the sale prices of original Cobras, it’s likely to change hands for a seven-figure fee.
Keyword: One-off Ford Shelby Cobra concept heads for auction