Summary

The Cobra to end all Cobras. CSX 3015 is 1 of 2 Super Snake Cobras built and the only one built for Carroll Shelby. CSX 3015 is absolutely the real deal.

Details

Cobra To End All Cobras. CSX 3015 is absolutely the real deal. CSX 3015 is one of only 23 427 competition roadsters built. On September 7, 1965, CSX 3015 was shipped and invoiced to Ford Advanced Vehicles, England, as a 427 Cobra Competition roadster together with CSX 3014 (another 427 Cobra Competition) and two R-model Shelby's (5R107 and 5R209) for a European promotional tour. It returned back from Europe in late 1966 still as a 427 Cobra Competition. Sometime early to mid-1967, CSX 3015 was transformed into the Super Snake and reclassified as 427 Cobra Semi-Competition (S.C.). The reason was quite simple; a 427 Cobra Competition didn't have mufflers, windshield, bumpers, etc. It was a race car only and not street legal. Although many SC's were raced and never saw a public road- all 427 Cobra SC's had titles and were legal to drive on public roads. 427 competition and SC Cobras have different hips and noses. The February 1968 Road & Track pictures clearly show the hips and nose of a 427 competition roadster, not an SC. As history shows, CSX 3015 is one of two Super Snake Cobras built. The other being CSX 3303 built for Bill Cosby. CSX 3303 was a 1967 427 street car retained by Shelby American as a PR car and then made into a Super Snake for Bill Cosby. Cosby's record album titled '200 MPH' attests to the fact of why he only drove it once before returning it to Shelby American. Shelby American sold it to S and C Motors in San Francisco, who then sold it to their customer, Tony Maxey. Maxey destroyed himself and CSX 3303 by driving off of a cliff and into the Pacific Ocean. I know have had a ten year ownership history with an original, un-molested 427 Cobra Competition CSX 3017. When CSX 3015 arrived home, CSX 3017 was already on jack stands for comparison. After thorough inspection, CSX 3015 is a full Competition Roadster, still retaining its original body with its 1967 aluminum 'Super Snake' hood. Steve Davis and I scraped through two layers of paint; black and Viking blue to find its' brilliant Guardsman Blue. It has its original date coded 1965 Competition Girling CR and BR calipers. It still has its 427 Competition 377 rear end with its original rear end oil cooler and pumps. Unbelievably, it still has its original 1965 date coded engine block, 5M17, December 17, 1965. I found that 3015 still had its original headers with its original chromed side pipes that had been spray painted flat black! In fact, I found CSX 3015 so 'period original' I have opted to renew instead of restore. Why is CSX 3015 so historically significant? Carroll Shelby. He built at a time when Americans were just Americans and proud to be Americans. He told me he built it just to see how fast it was and he told me it was a Monster that threw belts off on a regular basis. How cool is that!