It was classic Carroll Shelby, a delightfully mad idea made even madder: Take the already ferocious 289 Cobra . . . and “upgrade” it with a 427-cubic-inch V-8. Though Shelby intended to race the 427 Cobra, by the time FIA inspectors arrived at his facility, only 51 of the cars had been completed, and so he was adamantly denied their homologation approval.

Shelby consequently painted and completed 29 competition chassis with fully trimmed interiors, and shrewdly marketed them as the 427 S/C or “Semi-Competition,” the fastest roadgoing car ever built—while retaining the oil cooler, riveted hood scoop, flared fenders, side exhausts, dual lightweight batteries, 42-gallon fuel tank, and external fuel filler of full “competition” models. Just as Jaguar’s XKSS was a thinly veiled D-Type racecar, so too was the 427 S/C Cobra a barely disguised, roadgoing variant of the 427 Competition Cobra.

They were insanely, brutally quick, faster than many full-bore racing cars of the period, and can rightfully be considered the ultimate “street” Cobra. Today, these special cars remain extremely sought-after stalwarts of the vintage racing communities in both Europe and America.

CSX 3036: NEVER BITTEN, TWICE THE VICTOR

Offered for the first time in 25 years of greatly enjoyed residence within one of America’s finest collections of mid-century American sports and racing cars, CSX 3036 is among the most distinguished Semi-Competition Cobras. Remaining notably original with SAAC documented history since new, including prior ownership by Shelby marque historian Ken Eber, CSX 3036 is a true prize worthy of all serious collectors wishing to secure a significant and eminently usable Cobra for their own stable.

Very, very few highly authentic S/C Cobra cars like this remain today, and the best ones, like CSX 3036, seldom change hands.

According to the Shelby Registry, CSX 3036 was shipped to Shelby American on 21 February 1965. Following the FIA homologation issues that led to the creation of the S/C series, it was converted to S/C specifications under work order #L5094 in June 1966. After completion, painted in Ivy Green, it was sold to San Francisco’s S&C Motors on 21 June 1966, for $7,395.

In October 1966, S&C Motors sold CSX 3036 to its first recorded owner, Peter Van Valen. However, the S/C clearly proved to be a bit too much for Van Valen as well as its subsequent owner, Ronald Carter, who in late 1967 sold the car to Ken Bender of Eugene, Oregon after his wife and children had burned their legs on the S/C’s formidable side pipes.

Within Bender’s care, CSX 3036 was repainted with a McDonald’s red-and-yellow livery (his family owned several McDonald’s franchises) and run with great success in COWPAC regional SCCA events during 1969 and 1970; the pair finished dead-tied for the 1969 title, and then won it outright in 1970 by a significant margin. Following its back-to-back COWPAC SCCA championships, Bender and CSX 3036 moved from Oregon to Madera, California. Although its racing days were over, Bender nonetheless had the car repainted Guardsman Blue with gray stripes and held onto it until 1981, when he sold it to Shelby marque historian Ken Eber.

By 1987, CSX 3036—recently refinished in red paint by Eber—had racked up more than 14,000 miles of use via road and track. Later that year, it was painted black by its next owner, and next reappeared in 1992 under the care of San Diego Padres owner John Moores in Rancho Santa Fe, California. While with Moores, CSX 3036 was reportedly treated to a sympathetic restoration by the highly regarded marque specialist Mike McCluskey. The SAAC Registry notes that “McCluskey did not wish to disturb the originality of the Cobra and only replaced items that were incorrect or in need of replacement.” Once relieved from McCluskey’s purview, Moores then donated this remarkable S/C Cobra to The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego.

25 YEARS OF COBRA

In August 1998 the consignor purchased CSX 3036 from the Scripps Institute via auction, and since then it has played a much-prized stablemate to outstanding examples of some of the most significant mid-century American racing cars, including a 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, 1964 Cobra Daytona Coupe, multiple Factory FIA/USRRC team cars—in addition to magnificent Italian and English exotica.

Among such rarefied company, CSX 3036 has nonetheless always remained a distinguished and highly prized specimen. Over the first six years of the consignor’s ownership, CSX 3036 was comprehensively restored to its current state of presentation by noted Pebble Beach contenders Hall Fabrication of Berkeley, California and Terry Scarborough Racing of Sonoma, California. The car was totally disassembled, with an exceptionally high degree of originality noted throughout. The chassis, doors, transmission tunnel, trunk and hood locks were all discovered to retain their original chassis number-matched stampings, while the body panels showed no signs of major repair completed during its successful SCCA racing career.

At the same time, CSX 3036’s engine was entirely rebuilt by Top of The Hill Performance Center in Livermore, California; dyno sheets (on file) from the time of the car’s completion note excellent performance of 544 horsepower at 6,000 rpm. Two years after the completion of its stellar restoration, CSX 3036 was turned over to the noted Porsche racecar driver Johannes van Overbeek, who meticulously sorted and optimized the Cobra’s chassis and suspension settings. At that time, the consignor also commissioned a production run of correct-type magnesium wheels from Halibrand using their original molds.

Having received an ACCUS FIA Technical Passport in 2008, CSX 3036 is highly eligible for many forms of vintage racing and rallies. Further, there can be no doubt that it would certainly be a welcome entrant to every marque-focused exhibition of significant Shelby automobiles.

The consignor reports many hours of trouble-free high-speed touring behind the wheel of this incredible S/C Cobra over the past 25 years—better yet, it has never bitten him with its famously inhospitable side pipes! In 2019, the consignor tracked down and purchased CSX 3036’s original AC Cars chassis tag, which had been kept as a memento by the family of former Shelby American employee Bill McLean.

Of the 29 production S/C Cobras produced, CSX 3036 checks all the proverbial boxes. With stellar two-time SCCA title-winning race history, and well-known ownership by two of the world’s most highly regarded Shelby marque collectors, CSX 3036 is inarguably among the very best and most significant examples of this fascinating model.