Carroll Shelby and the crew at Shelby American are probably most famous for the Cobra, the iconic sports car that was essentially a British AC Ace with an American V-8 shoehorned in.
Shelby did develop its own sports car from scratch, though. The car is the Shelby Series 1, a roadster (a convertible option was also available) that was built for the 1999 model year only in a run of just 249 units.
Shelby is now celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Series 1 with a coupe body style designed and built under license by Wingard Motorsports. The anniversary coupes are based on the upgraded Series 2 roadster that debuted at the 2018 Paris auto show with revised styling and more powerful V-8 options.
Just 10 of the anniversary coupes are planned for the 2024 model year, and like the original roadsters they will be sold without a powertrain. Pricing starts at $385,600 for a body make from carbon fiber and $498,200 for one made from aluminum. Only three will be built with the aluminum body.
2024 Shelby Series 2 Coupe
Wingard, which several years ago bought up all the leftover Series 1 chassis and parts that Shelby never used, has a number of powertrain options ready, most of them paired to a 6-speed manual transmission. Pricing for the powertrains start at $83,500, though installation is extra. Among the powertrain options is a supercharged version of Ford's 7.3-liter V-8 known as the Godzilla, plus an undisclosed electric powertrain.
Underpinning the car is an aluminum honeycomb monocoque chassis originally developed by Shelby. Wingard further improved the chassis, including suspension, brakes, and drivetrain, to handle extra power. Founder Bob Wingard said the coupe's chassis has been developed to support more than 1,100 hp. Wingard also made the body lighter, so that the complete car now weighs less than 3,200 pounds.
Each of the anniversary coupes will bear a Shelby CSX5500-series serial number and be included in the official Shelby registry.
