1963 SHELBY 289 COBRA DRAGONSNAKE
- CSX2093
- The winningest competition Cobra in history
- Authenticated and certified by the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) as a true and correct original car
- Senior award winner badge and Race car certification badge
- National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) record holder in retired classes AA, A, B, C/ sports
- Won 7 NHRA National events with Bruce Larson or Ed Hedrick driving
- Won the 1966 NHRA World Championship while owned and driven by Ed Hedrick
- Undisputed best winning record for the 6 factory and independently prepared Dragonsnakes
- Documentation of NHRA national records
- Show quality full and accurate restoration by Ziegler Coach, LA
- Deluxe side curtains and optional chrome front wire wheels included
When Carroll Shelby awoke one morning in 1962 with the word “Cobra” scribbled on his bedside note pad, his mind had been dreaming about a name for his vision of a European sports car powered by an American V-8. Within two years, Shelby’s 289 Cobra was beating Corvettes to claim numerous road-racing championships and establish a legendary race history that continues to this day.
Surprisingly, however, the winningest competition Cobra in history is not a road-racer. CSX2093 was independently modified for drag racing and eventually won seven NHRA national events by storming the quarter-mile with 11-second ETs, establishing numerous NHRA and track records along the way. CSX2093’s legendary history is documented by a full-page narrative in the official Shelby Registry.
CSX2093 was originally built in early 1963 as a red street 289 Cobra and sold at White-Griffith Motors in Hicksville, New York. By 1964, it was for sale as a 5,000-mile pre-owned car in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where Jim Costilow purchased the two-seater for hillclimbs and road-racing. However, Costilow’s decision to compete in a drag race at York’s U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way forever changed the Cobra’s history.
For preparation, Costilow enlisted local drag racer Bruce Larson. Within a year, CSX2093 had been converted into a full-on competition drag car using parts from the “Cobra Acceleration Package,” as developed by Shelby American shop employees for their “Dragonsnake” 289 Cobra drag car. With Larson driving and the hardtop-equipped body painted in eye-catching Fuchsia metal flake, CSX2093 competed around the country in 1965.
Campaigning in several classes, including A/SP with a single 4-barrel and AA/SP with Webers, Larson drove the Cobra to numerous track and national records, along with championship victories at the 1965 Springnationals in Bristol, Tennessee, and the prestigious Winternationals in Pomona, California. The Costilow/Larson Cobra was so successful that it overshadowed Shelby American’s own Dragonsnake Cobra, which resulted in reduced Shelby support.
In 1966, Costilow sold CSX2093 to Ed Hedrick, who continued the Dragonsnake Cobra’s winning ways in the same bold color. Competing in the NHRA’s Northeast division, Hedrick set records in several sports classes and won the B/SP class at every NHRA national event entered in 1966 and 1967, finishing out the 1967 season with the World Points Championship. By the time Hedrick sold the Cobra in 1968, it had racked up seven NHRA national titles in four different classes since 1965.
Over the past five decades, CSX2093 has been in the possession of several owners, among them, former driver Bruce Larson. The competition Cobra has received a show-quality and accurate restoration by Ziegler Coach of Los Angeles and is now presented exactly as campaigned by Costilow and Larson in the 1960s with the Weber-carbureted 289 small-block V-8, Ballanger side-exiting headers, 4-speed transmission, Cobra Sunburst rear wheels with M&H Racemaster slicks, wire front wheels, removable hardtop and Fuchsia metal-flake paint.
Authenticated and certified by the Antique Automobile Club of America as a true and correct original car, the Costilow/Larson Dragonsnake has also earned the AACA’s Senior Award and Race Car Certification badges. Of all the Shelby Cobras to compete in sanctioned competitive racing, CSX2093 established the undisputed best winning record, one that even exceeds the legendary victories by road-racing Cobras.
