The Burt Collection is proud to offer, for sale, a very special sportscar. This is a 1999 Shelby Series 1 Roadster with only 277 original miles. One of only 249 made. Purchased from Mecum Auctions in 2007 (still featued in their advertisements). She is virtually new. And as such - I thought I'd simply reprint a number of articles on this car from the web. All great reading.
Our car has the red stripes (which was the only option on a Series 1 - aside friom a supercharger. Shelby Series 1 was a high-performance roadster designed by Carroll Shelby and produced by Shelby American.
It was powered by Oldsmobile's 4.0 L L47 Aurora V8 DOHC engine. It has 320 hp (324 PS) at 6500 rpm, 290.0lb ft at 5000 rpm and will do 0-62 mph in 4.4 seconds and records 12.8 seconds in the quarter mile at 112 mph (180 km/h). Top speed is 170mph (273km/h) some 15 mph (24 km/h) faster than the 427 Shelby Cobra. The 1998 car weighed 1,202 kg (2,650 lb).
Production ceased, and a Series 2 was attempted but never reached actual production.
One car in silver color with the middle stripe removed was awarded to 1998 Playmate of the Year, Karen McDougal by Playboy in June 1998.
The Series 1 is the only car ever produced by Carroll Shelby from a clean sheet of paper, and built from the ground up. All other Shelbys are re-engineered models produced by other manufacturers and modified by Shelby.
Prior to production of the Series 1, significant costs were incurred in testing and certification required to conform to 1999 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Once completed, a total of 249 production Series 1' were constructed by Shelby American, Inc., all as 1999 models.
During production, Venture Corporation purchased Shelby American, Inc. The purchase included the Series 1 model, but not the rights to produce the "Continuation Series" Shelby Cobras. In 2004, after a subsequent bankruptcy by Venture Corporation (unrelated to the acquisition of Shelby American), Carroll Shelby's new company, Shelby Automobiles, Inc.., purchased the Series 1 assets for pennies on the dollar. Included in the asset purchase were enough components to produce several more complete Series 1's.
Because the 1999 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards certificate had expired, and the cost to re-certify the car was prohibitive, all Series 1's produced after that date were completed as "component cars" and delivered with no engine or transmission. Those "component car" models built in 2005 are identified with a seven digit vehicle identification number (VIN) and were designated with a CSX5000 series serial number. The original 249 were production cars with a seventeen digit VIN.
The Series 1 was produced in both supercharged and normally aspirated versions. Supercharged cars were also outfitted by the factory with larger brakes and a heavy duty clutch. Performance is in the "supercar" category with a 0-60 time at 3.2 seconds. Nicely optioned, Series 1 had power steering, power disc brakes, factory air conditioning, power windows, and an AM/FM/CD audio system. The convertible top folded away out of sight in a compartment located behind the cockpit. Some component cars were sold as a roadster with no convertible top.
The Series 1 had dual wishbone suspension with coil-over remote reservoir dampers mounted inboard, and actuated by "rocker arms". The engine was mounted completely behind the front axle and drove a drive shaft supported in a "torque tube" that spun a 6 speed ZF trans-axle specially modified for the Series 1. The chassis was made of extruded and formed 6061 aluminum. It was welded together and then posted heat treated for maximum strength throughout. Then aluminum honeycomb panels specially designed were bonded into the floor boards and rocker panels for added structure and stiffness. The body panels were carbon fiber and fiberglass laminate. The engine, torque-tube, trans-axle, and damper mounts were all rubber isolated from the frame. The supercharged prototypes produced near 600 bhp and 530flbs of torque. The Goodyear Eagle F1 tires were based on an IMSA racing "rain tire" that had been used for the "show car" model. Goodyear built custom tires for the car.
Here are the articles:
Hell being unavailable, we settled for Phoenix. Cursed by a midsummer heat sink featuring brain-frying temperatures, traffic jams reaching all the way to Indio, and enough smog to choke a Cape buffalo, the sweatbox Valley of the Sun was a measurement of our desperation.
But we were willing to go anywhere in search of our prey, a vehicular version of Nessie, a machine that for almost three years had eluded us, coquettishly appearing, then slipping away before our gimlet-eyed techies could determine if, in fact, it measured up to the claims of the legendary man whose name it bore.
The man is Carroll Shelby, indefatigable automotive icon and creator of the elusory machine known as the Shelby Series 1. From the moment we first reported on the project in July 1994, the car seemed cursed by production glitches that drove Shelby to the verge of apoplexy and, worse yet, threatened to besmirch a legend that spanned a half-century, centering on the Cobra and his great racing career.
And then Shelby telephoned last July. Finally, one of the first of the supercharged versions would be delivered from the Shelby American factory in Las Vegas to Firebird International Raceway at Chandler on the edge of the Phoenix sprawl.
Shelby's Series 1 idea had seemed brilliant: Mate an Oldsmobile 4.0-liter V-8 created for the Indy Racing League to a state-of-the-art chassis overlaid with a featherweight carbon-fiber body, and add a lathering of Cobra mystique. Brilliant, until it was determined that the IRL engine was too specialized for federalization, and rather than an anticipated 370 horsepower, the alternative powerplant, an Aurora production-based DOHC V-8, would pump out just 320 horses. Complicating that, intense internal opposition surfaced inside GM, reaching a peak when Oldsmobile boss John Rock, a major Shelby supporter, cleaned out his desk in 1996.
Early Shelby prototypes were not only anemic under the hood but were nearly 700 pounds over the projected 2650-pound target weight, owing to the inferior quality of carbon-fiber body panels and a heavy retractable top that refused to work properly. Yet the basic package, featuring a floorpan, rear bulkhead, and rocker panels fabricated from space-age aluminum honeycomb, plus sophisticated rocker-arm, coil-over suspensions front and rear, a six-speed transaxle (built by RBT in Austin, Texas), big vented disc brakes all around, and a 49/51 front-to-rear weight distribution, implied that the Series 1 had all the right stuff, at least on paper.
A modest network of 15 dealers was created, and about 50 early Series 1s fitfully drifted off the Las Vegas assembly line in 1998 and '99 amid rumors that the project was terminally ill. Many orders for the car -- about 225, some sources said -- had been placed and deposits of $25,000 taken against the car's declared price of $99,975. By September 1999, that sticker had escalated to $134,975, and now, due to unexpected costs of production, the price of the base model -- the one that is not supercharged -- is $181,824. (The supercharger package is expected to add just under 20 grand.) At 77, Shelby was battling health problems and was brought almost to his knees by the quality debacles and the threat of lawsuits from angry customers (see Upfront, June 2000).
Then late last year, Larry Winget, the owner of Venture Holdings Company, a $2.3 billion supplier of carbon-fiber body pieces to the global automotive industry, stepped in with financial help (a reported $10 million), plus technical and administrative assistance. Thanks to the infusion of capital from the firm based in Fraser, Michigan, the Series 1 got back on track. In the past six months, production has steadily ramped up to the planned two-per-day quota and toward a maximum build of 500 cars. Venture's body panels appear to be excellent, and thanks to Dura, the same firm that fabricates the Chevrolet Corvette convertible top, a light 37-pound workable top has been created. (It will be retrofitted to the topless Series 1s delivered to early customers.)
As the Car and Driver team probed into Phoenix's blast-furnace summertime, it appeared that a test of the car was about to happen. It was claimed that a freshly fitted Vortech centrifugal supercharger had recovered the missing horsepower and then some, so hopes were high for a satisfying introduction to a machine that had remained out of reach for nearly three years. But then came word from Vegas that electronic gremlins had appeared, forcing an all-night banzai drive to the Firebird track by Shelby PR director Gary Patterson and Series 1 chief engineer Mike Edwards.
The first sighting of the Series 1 shimmering in the harsh morning sun in its coat of PPG Centennial Silver generated a mild shock. The car appeared smaller, more graceful, and more compact than its photos implied. In fact, it is 169.0 inches long, two inches shorter than a Porsche Boxster and more than 10 inches stubbier than a Corvette.
The car produced an impressive 0.92 g on the searing asphalt of the skidpad at Firebird, a number probably limited by the 120-degree temperature. Subsequent attempts to hang out the tail for photographs revealed that any attempt to floor the throttle from a roll in second gear at 3500 rpm caused the McLeod Kevlar-based, dual-friction-pad clutch to slip helplessly. Clearly, a standing-start launch was out of the question. The remainder of the two-day track rental was a scrub.
Yet a top-gear run across Arizona's stifling desert revealed a machine with resolute structural integrity that effectively damped out chassis vibrations and offered flat, precise handling, at least within the limited range of the engine's rpm. Cockpit turbulence, even cruising at 110 mph, was minimal. But for drivers taller than five feet ten, the seat positions the eyeballs in a direct line with the top of the windshield, although an optional bucket will move the unit back and down an inch. This is an absolute necessity for taller drivers.
The rack-and-pinion steering was firm and precise, but the transaxle linkage felt gravelly and somewhat vague when compared with units found on current Porsches and Ferraris. Perhaps this was due to the fact that our test car was a late preproduction prototype built a year ago, so gearbox smoothness should improve. Pedal position, offset to the left in a cramped footwell, demanded attention to shifting lest the clutch be confused for a dead pedal. Overall, the fabrication level seemed excellent, with only a slight wobble in the driver's door revealing anything but a creditable level of fit and finish. The instrument panel, coated with a laminate of carbon-fiber trim, revealed some obvious GM pieces, including the air-conditioning controls and a tachometer-and-speedometer unit that has been artfully modified from its original application in a Pontiac Firebird.
The Shelby Series 1 is a pure sports car. This will surely prompt the Jim Healeys of the world to kvetch about the absence of cup holders and a luggage compartment. (Travel tip for Shelby Series 1 owners: Don't bring more than a toothbrush and a spare pair of Speedos.) Our machine did come with such amenities as power windows and steering, air conditioning, and a CD/cassette stereo system, all of which boosted its curb weight to several hundred pounds beyond the design weight. Alas, testing woes to come would prevent our measuring its curb weight.
By the time our blast across the desert ended, the thermometer had bubbled past 120 degrees (although the car's engine ran at normal temperatures throughout the ordeal), and a misaligned engine pulley had developed an agonizing screech. Worse, the left-rear Goodyear P315/40ZR-18 radial had ingested an ugly-looking metal screw, postponing further testing. As we lifted off the ground from Phoenix with the Delta Airlines in-flight stereo appropriately playing a score from Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, repairs to the Series 1 were under way at Las Vegas to permit further evaluation at a drag strip in Palmdale, California.
Four days later, with temperatures in the 90s, the silver Series 1, this time equipped with a different cera-metallic clutch, made only two passes before frying a piston. Then, another supercharged Series 1 car, this one liveried in black and waiting in the wings, was hauled out. It recorded an impressive 0-to-60 time of 4.1 seconds and a quarter-mile pass of 13.0 seconds at 112 mph. Those times might have been bettered had not the same clutch maladies then disabled this car, and once again our testing ended prematurely.
The general impression left by these two rapid but flawed machines was simple: The Shelby Series 1 is essentially a superb concept but remains a work in progress. When all the bugs are worked out, we're eagerly awaiting another call from the man whose name is on this interesting but still unproved sports car.
BARRY WINFIELD
It's hard not to like a car with 450 horsepower, a race-derived pushrod suspension, big tires, and a roadster body, but because I'm six foot five, I'm prepared to make an exception. Along with a cramped cockpit, the Series 1 has pedals crowded off to the left, a seat that feels too high, and a shifter with a vague and uncooperative action. Still, the kicker has to be that $200,000 price. I'm just back from the introduction of another roadster with a similar price -- the Ferrari 360 Spider, a car from a company almost as legendary as Shelby's. For that money, they give you a 395-horsepower V-8, but it's packaged in voluptuous Pininfarina bodywork and capped by a fully automatic convertible top, and it accommodates my lanky frame comfortably. It's no contest right now, but perhaps when Shelby's Series 1 has been properly developed, I'll review the choices again.
FRANK MARKUS
This car is cool, or it would be if I'd built it in my garage on weekends. It has study-hall-drawing-come-to-life styling and therefore looks like something I might have built at home as a teenager, had I the resources or the resourcefulness. The thing is Frankensteined out of lots of production GM parts, as I'd have done it after a zillion trips to the local junkyard. One sits on this car rather than in it, as in most home-built rods with tuck-'n'-roll bench seats. And finally, it blows up every time you try to drive it -- just like the '66 Mustang project car I worked on at age 15. Nevertheless, I'd be as proud as hell to ride around in it -- if I'd built it myself. As it is, with a Looney Tunes $200,000 sticker, I don't care whose name is on it, I ain't drivin' it without a bag over my head.
Shelby Series I
Just when all seemed lost for Shelby, Venture Industries, which supplied the carbon-fiber bodies, rode to the rescue, offering some $10 million for a 60-percent stake in Shelby American. By late April, Shelby American was honoring original contracts with dealers, depositers, and suppliers; lingering engineering bugs were fast being squashed; and production was up to 1.2 cars a day, thanks to more-efficient methods. But about 250 Series Is were still unsold, and price had to be hiked again -- first to $160,000, then to near $175,000 -- close, ironically, to the original 1994 figure.
The 1999 Shelby Series I sold for as much as $175,000, with only
249 cars of a planned 500 produced.
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For the few who got to drive it, the Series I was a genuine Shelby with all the thrills that name implied. Riding a tight 96.2-wheelbase, it was three inches wider than a C5 Corvette yet scaled a feathery 2650 pounds. The carbon-fiber body weighed only 130 pounds, yet was stronger than steel.
So, too, the chassis, made up from extruded-aluminum members and boasting a resonance frequency of 52 hertz, more than double the best then attained in production cars. Suspension was also mostly aluminum, with four-wheel independent geometry by upper and lower control arms, adjustable shocks, and coil springs attached to Formula 1-style pushrod-operated inboard rocker arms. This layout not only reduced undesirable unsprung weight, but could be easily custom-tuned.
An antiroll bar lived at each end. Brakes were contemporary Corvette discs of 13-inch diameter fore, 12 inches aft. As with the Viper, though, Shelby felt no need for antilock control. Steering was the expected power rack-and-pinion. Rolling stock comprised five-spoke 18-inch alloys wearing Z-rated Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires sized at P265/40 front, P315/40 rear.
A Corvette six-speed manual gearbox was sited in the tail, helping achieve the ideal 50/50 weight distribution. The Aurora V-8 got new camshafts, intake manifold, exhaust system, and control chip, modest changes that nevertheless yielded 320 bhp -- up 70 from stock -- and 30 extra pound-feet of torque (290 in all).
With a stump-pulling 4.22:1 rear axle and carrying just 8.3 pounds per horsepower, the Series I was claimed to do 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds, 0-100 in 11 flat, and a 12.8-second standing quarter-mile at 109.9 mph. AutoWeek found those numbers credible, though it couldn't confirm them in testing two prototypes.
But the magazine did find the Series I "a blast to drive. It handles like a world-class sports car." Yet this Shelby was no raw-edged Cobra, equipped with standard air conditioning, power windows, leather-trimmed cockpit, and a booming stereo. Some GM bits were obvious inside, but the manual folding top was snug and easy to operate, and workmanship improved to first-class once Venture came aboard. By February 2002, Shelby American had delivered 240 Series Is, with orders for 25 more.
But when a new round of federal regulations required the car to be recertified for sale after 1999, Shelby halted Series I production after 249 units. That seemed to leave the remaining 251 scheduled cars in limbo, but Shelby later marketed them as "component vehicles," like his latter-day Cobras, after securing an outside company to install Olds V-8s postpurchase.
And in line with original plans, that engine was finally available in a supercharged version, making the Series I an "honest 3.3-second [0-60] car," according to Shelby. "There's a lot of people that want them as kit cars," he said in August 2004. "We have had 15 or 20 bites and we've [already] sold two or three." The rest will doubtless find homes, too.