1999 Shelby Series 1 Supercharged Roadster

The cars created by Carroll Shelby in the 1960s, the famous Cobra and awesome Mustang-based GTs, were all legendary by the 1990s. The master of speed wanted to create a real Shelby Cobra and was quoted as saying, “Before they throw the last shovel of dirt on me, I want to take one last shot at an honest-to-goodness Cobra!” With the goal of creating a modern incarnation of his desired Cobra sports roadsters, the Shelby Series 1 was born. For Shelby and his team, creating a new car in the 1990s was a learning experience. For the basic layout and design, he turned to a person who understood performance and competition, Bruce Canepa. His designs produced an extruded aluminum monocoque chassis with specifically designed rocker panels, rear bulkhead and floorboards of honeycomb construction that offered structural integrity with a savings in weight. Body panels of lightweight carbon fiber were developed and a special folding top by Dura, the same firm that supplied these mechanisms for the Corvette, were added into the mix.

At the time of the Series 1’s development, Shelby was having a few issues with his long-time partners at Ford, so he turned to another industry friend, John Rock, General Manager of Oldsmobile, and was able to secure a supply of the L47, 4.0-liter V-8 engines from the North Star family and designed for the Aurora by Oldsmobile. While the Aurora engine sourced from Oldsmobile was a good motor, it was rated at just 250 horsepower. Not leaving “good-enough” alone, Shelby’s team was able to crank another 70 horses from this cutting-edge V-8. This was done by engineering a freer flowing intake manifold, high-flow catalysts with a low-restriction exhaust system developed by Borla using 2.25-inch pipes and dual XRI mufflers which created its own unique musical notes from the front to the rear of the car.

Only 249 Series 1 Roadsters would ultimately be produced, and today, these are becoming increasingly collectible Shelby automobiles. Even rarer, this example is 1 of an approximately 60 equipped with the $23,000 factory supercharger upgrade, which is highly sought after by today’s collectors. An incredible example, this Series 1 presents remarkably well with a mere 2,500 miles on the odometer and is accompanied by a clean CARFAX® report. Finished in Centennial Silver with Garnet Red Le Mans stripes, it is built on a lightweight aluminum chassis with carbon fiber bodywork, which is the perfect combination when paired with its impressive, supercharged engine. Factory rated at 450 horsepower and backed by a ZF six-speed manual transmission; it truly is a driver's dream machine. Even more so, this example is equipped with air-conditioning, power steering, power brakes, power windows, power locks, Cerullo bucket seats, and a powerful Monsoon stereo system.

This rare, 2,500-mile, supercharged Shelby Series 1 offers an exciting opportunity to own a vehicle of historical Shelby importance that does not often occur and one that continues to gain desirability and collectability as each and every day passes by.