Actually Shelby started with the 221 cu in engine that was sent to
England to get the Cobra rolling. Shelby the snake charmer that he is,
needed to show a product. The 221 was quickly change to a 260. In fact
most of the 260 Cobras came back to have 289's installed. Its very
possible one of those returned 260 Cobra engines went into the Shelby Alpine
260.
One book I have lists 2, 260 engines;
62, 63, 64 260/ 164 hp These are listed with a 2bbl carb.
63 260/ 260 hp This one looks like a race version with
Webers and Y pipe exhaust manifolds, very little other info.
I'm would think that Shelby American took the 260's changed them to
4bbl, put in a different cam and the 260's would easily have 200+ hp.
Ron Fraser
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-tigers@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-tigers@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of gharlowe@comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 2:00 PM
To: tigers@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: 260 vs 289 in the LeMans cars
Great discussion! I have often wondered what decisions were made over those
crucial months in1962-1963 that caused the Cobra to start down the path to
its icon status with a production run of just 1,000 total cars (combined
260, 289 and 427 versions) versus the Tiger's relative obscurity in the
public eye, despite a production run of 7,000 (260, 289 versions). Of
course, by the time the Tiger had stepped up to the 289, the Cobras had
427s, which'll grab your attention.
BTW, does anyone know if the Ford 260s supplied to Shelby for the first 75
or so 260 Cobras were rated at the same hp/torque as the "black"
(industrial) 260s sent overseas?
- G.
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