Shelby Cobra: The Snake That Conquered the World

In 2011, Shelby enthusiast Colin Comer wrote Shelby Cobra 50 Years; the book met with rave reviews, including Esquire magazine naming it "the greatest car book of all time." Shortly after its publication, Carroll Shelby and Phil Remington--the two most important men behind the Shelby Cobra--passed away. In the wake of this loss comes this special collector's edition of Shelby Cobra 50 Years, Shelby Cobra: The Snake That Conquered the World.

The book recalls the early 1960s when Carroll Shelby, a Texas chicken farmer turned champion race driver, had the audacity to think he could start his own car manufacturing company. To further emphasize the gargantuan proportions of his confidence, Shelby decided his company would manufacture nothing but ultra-high-performance sports cars, beginning with the landmark Cobra, introduced in 1962. To the amazement of everyone, except Ol' Shel' himself, Shelby Automobiles succeeded beyond anyone's wildest expectations, building cars that would provide benchmarks for performance that stand to this day and winning world championships in the process.

Shelby Cobra: The Snake That Conquered the World is a complete history of Shelby's Cobra sports cars and firsthand accounts from the people who made the car the legend it is today. It begins with the events that led up to Shelby's decision to build a high-performance sports car, continues with the story of the production Cobra street cars and racecars, and wraps up with Shelby's continuation cars and an all new chapter with tributes to Carroll Shelby from Chuck Cantwell, John Morton, Henry Ford III, Kati Remington-Blackledge, and others, as well as new and updated material.

This special collector's edition includes stunning poster-sized gatefolds featuring artwork by Hector Cadamartori and is an officially licensed Carroll Shelby product.

COLIN COMER is a respected authority on collector cars and a noted champion for the cars, people, and history of Shelby American. Comer’s writing is well known from his many years as editor-at-large for Sports Car Market and American Car Collector magazines, an editor for Hagerty magazine, and a contributing editor for Road & Track magazine. Comer has appeared in such diverse publications as the New York Times, Business Week, and USA Today among others. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books Million Dollar Muscle Cars, The Complete Book of Shelby Automobiles, and Shelby Cobra Fifty Years and co-author of The All-American Muscle Car. When not writing about cars, Comer enjoys maintaining his own eclectic collection of vintage cars and is an accomplished racer and pilot. He and his family live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or, in Comer’s words, “fifty-two miles from Road America.”

Early in his career, Carroll Shelby's accomplishments as a race car driver included breaking land-speed records at Bonneville and winning Le Mans in 1959 with teammate Roy Salvadori. As a team manager, Carroll was part of the FIA World Grand Touring Championship as well as the Ford GT victories at Le Mans. When his health forced him to give up racing in 1960, Carroll turned his attention to design. The result is what is considered to be perhaps the greatest sports car and one of the fastest road cars ever constructed: the Shelby Cobra. Even today, Ford's premier Mustang carries the Shelby name and iconic snake logo.