This AC Cobra Dragonsnake has a remarkable story

Around a year after the Cobra first entered production in 1962, Shelby developed the new Dragonsnake tuning package to turn the V8 sportscar into a drag racer, which was initially deployed for Shelby to compete with its own factory cars. It proved to be pretty successful, and it was eventually shared more widely among private Cobra owners who wanted to convert their own cars to Dragonsnake specification.

Shelby’s original Dragonsnake was used primarily as a PR tool, showcasing the Cobra in its most extreme form to date and highlighting its frankly ridiculous potential as a competition car. With its uprated 289ci Ford engine, modified suspension, sharpened transmission and 9x15-inch slick tyres, the Dragonsnake set numerous class records on drag strips around the US and quickly began claiming championships.

By now there were several Cobra Dragonsnakes out in the wild, and while the exact number is unclear, the belief is that only three were ever modified outside of the Shelby factory. One of them races regularly at Goodwood, and it’s this one painted in pink.

Chassis CSX2093 started life as a standard red 298 Cobra, but it was sold pretty quickly to Jim Costilow who wanted to take it racing. After a few unsuccessful attempts to compete in road and hillclimb events, he decided after consulting with experienced drag racer Bruce Larson to make a change. Costilow invested a significant amount of money, reportedly more than he spent to buy the car itself, to transform his 289 Cobra into a Dragonsnake.

CSX2093 hit the drag strips for the first time in 1964 and immediately started tearing up the competition across multiple classes, but a Cobra sporting a standard off-the-shelf paint job was never going to cut it in the NHRA, so the original red paint was eventually swapped out for 31 coats of eye-catching Fuchsia Metallic.

It was a bold choice, but it made the car instantly memorable, and now 60-odd years later we can appreciate just how much the Cobra Dragonsnake pops when it’s out on track in the sunshine.

With Larson behind the wheel, it was also hugely successful, setting records on its way to numerous US National event victories in Tennessee, Indianapolis and California. Costilow’s Cobra was so good that it stole the record from a Shelby factory car, a result that deeply irked the company.

It was a remarkable success story for a privateer entrant to run rings around the drag racing establishment, but Larson was an employee at a Chevrolet dealership, and his association with a Ford-powered car was deemed unpalatable. So, he was forced to turn his attention to a new Chevy Chevelle for 1966.

Costilow duly decided to sell the Dragonsnake to Ed Hedrick, who went on to enjoy similar dominance behind the wheel in in ’66, ’67 and ’68. In that time it continued to win relentlessly — the list of events this car won are now listed on the car’s boot lid — and chassis CSX2093 became the most successful Cobra in drag racing history.

The car was retired from competitive drag racing in 1969 and endured a chaotic period of ownership changes that saw it transformed beyond any recognition. It spent the majority of the 1970s and ’80s being showcased at annual Shelby American Automobile Club meets, horribly out of place for such a monstrous machine.

It was finally restored to its iconic fuchsia colour by Ed Ulyate in the early 1990s, but what happened next was nothing short of extraordinary. The car found its way back into the hands of Bruce Larson, who resumed ownership and ensured it retained its originality for much of the next two decades.

Fortunately, the Dragonsnake’s period in captivity was brought to an end in the 2010s and it’s become a regular competitor in historic racing events around the world, including here at Goodwood, where it competes in the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy during the Revival.

Although it has been pegged back slightly from its days as a drag racer, this Cobra remains hugely significant with unmatched authenticity as a true competition car.

We’re looking forward to seeing the bright pink Cobra back in action at the Revival this year, where it’ll be driven by owner Tom Hartley Jnr and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

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Photography by Joe Harding.