Shelby Monaco King Cobra

Information

Shelby Monaco King Cobra T16M, this is not Shelby, this is the British Cooper T61 Monaco (or, Monaco Mk.IV), only modified by the American company Shelby, specifically for participation in the US road racing championship, and also, later, in the Can-Am series , from 1963 to 1967. Therefore, by analogy with the original Shelby Cobra (built on the chassis of the British AC Ace), this version was designated Cooper T61 (but not Shelby) King Cobra. This vehicle is a CM (i.e. Cooper Monaco)/5/64 chassis with a Ford 289 Cobra engine. There were others, bought out by other (not only Shelby) private teams, and equipped with not only a Ford engine (also Coventry Climax and Maserati).
In total, eight Cooper T61 King Cobras were built for the Carroll Shelby racing team: chassis CM/1/63, CM/3/63, CM/5/63, CM/6/63, CM/1/64, CM/4/ 64, CM/5/64 and 6/64. However, as far as is known, only 6 took part in the races (except for the CM/5/63 and CM/6/63 chassis). Cars of 64 had a slightly elongated body and were designated as Cooper T61M King Cobra. Cars in 1963 were considered personally owned by Carroll Shelby, while cars in 1964 were already ordered on behalf of Shelby American.