Carol Shelby was a legendary tuner of Fords over several decades. The Shelby name appeared on many cars, with the Cobra and various Mustangs receiving the most attention. Amazingly, many people seem to forget about the only car that was ever designed from the ground up by Shelby. The car was called the Series 1, and it remains the only model that wasn't produced by another manufacturer and modified by Shelby. These cars are extremely rare, but we think that the current price doesn't match the uniqueness of the car.
When Carol Shelby passed away five years ago, we took a look at one of the most unique cars that he ever produced. Only 249 examples of the Series 1 were built, all 1999 models. A lot of the components for the car came from General Motors, specifically a radio from Buick and an instrument cluster and climate controls from Pontiac. Shelby also took the 4.0-liter L47 Aurora DOHC V8 from Oldsmobile. This engine produced 320 hp and 290 lb-ft of torque in its normally aspirated configuration. The car sent power to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission and could hit 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and complete the quarter-mile in 12.8 seconds at 112 mph.
The car only weighed 2,650 pounds, which meant that the power-to-weight ratio was amazing. The Series 1 could even hit 170 mph, making it faster than the original Cobra. Shelby also built a supercharged version of this car which produced 600 hp and 530 lb-ft of torque. The supercharged version could hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, which is fast even by today's standards. Values on the normally aspirated versions have been holding steady over the last few years. We found the #25 car with only 2,890 miles for sale for $125,000. For slightly less, we found the #175 car with 9,858 miles for sale for $115,000.
It is possible to find one of these cars for less than $100,000, but the supercharged ones are much harder to find. We found one that sold on eBay in 2014 for $175,000. The supercharged model is the one to have, but even the normally aspirated one sounds amazing.
We would not be surprised if the Series 1 eventually became a million dollar car at auction. The first Cobra sold at auction for an insane price, so we see no reason why the Series 1 won't eventually hit the same crazy values. There is also a car called the Series 2 that could be worth even more in the future. In 2006, new investors approached Shelby to build a revised version of the Series 1 with refreshed headlights, bumpers, powertrain and more horsepower. Three prototypes of the Series 2 were developed for $225,000, but stricter emission and safety standards killed the car's production run. Over $5,000,000 was invested in the Series 2 and only three cars were ever built.
A 2007 Series 2 is set to cross the auction block at Monterey this August. Two of the three cars were blue, and the third was painted black. We can't wait to see how much this rare gem sells for at auction. Any Shelby fan should pay attention to this car.