It’s quite possible that the Mercer name may not spark any type of recognition with the younger crowd. After all, this company was an American automobile manufacturer that produced cars before World War II and are probably not mentioned in any of the history books handed out in most classrooms. For the short version of the story, Mercer was responsible for the Mercer 35 Raceabout which was produced back in 1910 and considered the most admired sports cars of the decade. This vehicle was capable of hitting a top speed of 90 mph, which at the time was quite a feat, and was admired so much that Carrozzeria Sibona-Basano ended up building a modern interpretation of it in 1965.
The Mercer Cobra Roadster was a one-off vehicle commissioned by the Copper Development Association from Virgil Exner’s designs in Esquire. Its design was drawn up by Virgil Exner and Virgil Exner, Jr. and was built using a Cobra chassis, number CSX2451.
The special Mercer-Cobra Roadster will be put to auction on August 20, 2011 in Monterey with an expected draw of $800,000-$1,200,000.
See what makes up a 1.2M Mercer Cobra after the jump.
The early 60s all the way up to the 70s was a golden age for the American automotive industry if only for the simple fact that muscle cars were growing not just in number, but in overall stature. The muscle car arms race of the that time yielded plenty of options for customers looking for more power and metal-twisting torque from these vehicles. And the models only grew in popularity as more and more people began clamoring for the biggest, baddest, and most powerful machines.
The general appeal these muscle cars offered to the growing American car culture of the time was the opportunity to own powerful cars that could be used for drag racing while also keeping costs at bay. At that time, a number of brands began developing their own models, including legendary names like the Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Camaro, the Plymouth Barracuda, the Pontiac Trans-Am, and the Dodge Charger, to name a few.
While the golden age of American muscle was limited to parts of these two decades, the industry has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts in recent years. It’s not going to compare to the 60s or the 70s, but as proven by customer clamoring, the culture of American muscle cars is far from bearing its last legs.
To pay tribute to the time where muscle was king of the road - and the drag strip - we have compiled a list of the 10 most memorable muscle cars of the golden age.
Crazy as it sounds, there are just people that have nothing better to do with their money than waste it away on a meaningless drag race between an American classic and an Italian thoroughbred. Yep, you read the title right, too: a $400,000 bet to see which car is faster in a quarter-mile run.
Can you say nuts?
Dan Bilzerian owns what’s described as a tuned-up 1965 427 Shelby Cobra and with nothing else better to do, he decided to engage his friend Tom Goldstein to race against the latter’s 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia in a good old fashion quarter-mile drag race. But instead of settling for bragging rights or a Diet Pepsi at the vending machine, the two men decided to raise the stake to the tune of $400,000.
One race. One winner. One $400,000 bet. Unbelievable.
In what will go down as one of the most expensive “friendly” bets we’ve ever seen, the two buddies bring their machines to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to settle the score and, more importantly, who takes home that ridiculous amount of money.
So, who won? Well, something like this doesn’t deserve a spoiler. Check out the video after the jump and find out.
If you put a gun to our head and gave us five seconds to name the greatest American car ever built, we’d spill out the Shelby Cobra’s name faster than even our minds can process it.
Sure, there are a lot of other vehicles that can lay claim to this subjective title, but we reckon that we’d have a lot of people on our side who agree with us when we say that no American car has been as universally loved and appreciated as the Carroll Shelby’s masterpiece.
The question that we’d like to ask though is how a 427 SC Cobra – the grand daddy of them all – can hold up to one of its successors, namely the 2011 Shelby GT500 Super Snake and the ensuing mayhem that follows with that 750 horsepower engine.
To our good fortune, the folks from Hot Rod had the same thought in mind when they took the two Shelbys out on track for a road course and drag strip test to determine which serpent packs a more venomous bite.
Care to find out whose bite is more lethal? Check out the video and see for yourself.
Take a stroll back in time to the 1962 New York Auto Show and you’ll come across a roadster that would invariably change the course of automotive history, as we know it.
That car was the Ford-powered Shelby Cobra and almost half a century after its historical debut in New York, a special edition ‘50th Anniversary’ model was introduced at Barrett-Jackson a few days ago.
The rolling chassis models, which are using the CSX8000 chassis number, are being touted as continuation cars that will be limited to only 50 units, a not-so-subtle ode to the iconic car’s age.
"Fifty years after its introduction, the Shelby Cobra is still an international symbol of high performance," said John Luft, president of Shelby American.
“Half a century later, the Cobra remains one of the most coveted cars in the world,” he adds.
Despite being a rolling chassis model, we don’t expect all 50 models to be unaccounted for soon. Sure, it doesn’t have a drivetrain, but it’s a Shelby Cobra. And a special edition one at that. These type of cars don’t sit on dealerships too long.
UPDATE 02/02/2011: Shelby American has announced that all 50 units of the 50th Anniversary Shelby Cobra Street Car have been sold just 48 hours after the official introduction: "The strong demand for these cars proves that the Shelby Cobra is still as desirable and sought after today as it was 50 years ago," said John Luft, president of Shelby American. "People who didn’t have the opportunity to buy one in the 1960s jumped at the chance to own one of these very special collector’s edition Shelbys. Although the entire factory allocation has been spoken for, a few of these anniversary cars are still available from our Shelby Cobra dealers who seized the opportunity and bought multiple cars."
UPDATE 01/23/12: Shelby has announced that the last unit of the 50th-anniversary Cobra will be raffled off at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Arizona. For a chance at owning this bad boy, interested car enthusiasts have to buy a ticket - or hundreds of tickets - at a price of $25 each, or five for $100. The winner will be announced in January 2013. All proceeds will be donated to the Carroll Shelby Foundation. (Autoweek)
Details on the Shelby Cobra "50th Anniversary" after the jump.
