1965 Shelby Dragonsnake Is A Factory-Built Quarter-Mile Cobra

The original Shelby Cobra’s ability to run rings around more exotic machinery both on the road and on a road course, back in the early and mid 1960s, is well known. But the combination of relatively powerful engine in a small car also made it a force to be reckoned with on the strip, and now one of only a handful of factory-built Cobra Dragonsnakes is heading to auction.

Shelby only built five 289 cu-in. (4.7-liter) Dragonsnakes for use in sanctioned National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing competition. The cars came with tuned engines, special Koni shocks, a steep rear axle ratio for maximum acceleration and heavy-duty half shafts to make sure the driveline didn’t disintegrate when the Goodyear slicks hooked up.

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Stage I cars came with a single four-barrel carb, while a Stage II upgrade added a second one. But this car here, chassis CSX2427, reportedly the only privately-bought Dragonsnake, is the only 289 example that came from the factory with a Stage III quad-Weber carb setup.

There’s no video footage with Mecum’s auction listing, but we can only imagine that the noise is the sonic equivalent of taking part in a chilli-eating contest.

Don Reimer of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, ordered this quarter-mile snake new in the late summer of 1964, the car arriving at Adams County Motors Corporation dressed in a special-order yellow paint to match the Ford Thunderbird he and brother Don used as a tow car.

With Mike behind the wheel, the car proved successful in A/Modified and AA/Modified Production racing, though it wasn’t the fastest or winningest of the Super Snakes, because other examples had full factory support.

The Reimers paid an even $9,000 for the car when new, equivalent to $89,000 today, and enough to buy two base Corvette Stingrays. But you’ll have to add a zero to that figure and maybe nearly double the result if want to seal the deal at Mecum’s Indy sale this spring. The now-restored Cobra is expected to sell for $1.5-1.7 million when it crosses the block on May 18.

Photos Mecum