When Carroll Shelby conceived the Cobra in 1962, it was with road racing in mind. He envisioned a dominant vehicle for endurance events at tracks like Sebring, Le Mans, and Daytona. When drag racers saw the small car with the powerful engine, though, they thought about shorter events—just one-quarter mile, even.
Shelby American actually built six Cobras specifically for drag racing. They were known as Dragonsnakes, but many more were assembled by independent Cobra owners around the country.
Our story concerns chassis number CSX 2353—one of those independent drag racers.
When the car left the Shelby factory in California, it was a standard 289 Cobra equipped with a hardtop, chrome wire wheels, large oil pan, and even a luggage rack. At some point, it was converted to full drag specs, including huge rear wheels, tiny magnesium front wheels, headers, rollbar, Weber carburetors, wheelie bars, and no front brakes—and lettered in gold-leaf: Sieben & Skinner, a West Coast team.
The early racing history of independent Comp Cobra #CSX 2353 is a little bit sketchy. The car was apparently drag raced on the West Coast before landing in race driver Salt Walther’s Ohio sports car dealership in the 1970s. JIM MAXWELL
The car features a full roll cage, magnesium wheels, and no front brakes. The car was wrecked during a late-night demonstration ride and has sat in this body shop for 40-plus years. JIM MAXWELL
Not much is known about the car’s history until it came into the possession of race driver Salt Walther. In the 1970s, Walther advertised the car for sale in his specialty dealership for $5,000, but the story is that Walther’s brother took a young lady for a joy ride in the car one night. At high speed, the brakes failed, and Walther’s brother crashed the car into a lake.
The car was sold by Walther—complete with bent sheetmetal—to the owner of a body shop and towing business. “I don’t remember what I paid for it,” he says.
The damaged car was parked in a garage in the 1970s, where it still remains today. Who knows what lies in store for this racer from another era?
