Shelby Series 1
Shelby Series 1 is a high-performance roadster designed by Carroll Shelby and produced by Shelby American.
Shelby Series 1
The Shelby Series 1 is a high-performance roadster designed by Carroll Shelby and produced by Shelby American. It’s powered by Oldsmobile’s 4.0 L L47 Aurora V8 DOHC engine and will do 0-60 mph (0–96 km/h) in 4.4 seconds and records 12.8 seconds in the quarter mile at 112 mph (180 km/h).
The Series 1 is the only car ever designed and engineered by Carroll Shelby from a clean sheet of paper, and built from the ground up. All other Shelbys are re-engineered models produced by other manufacturers and modified by Shelby.
1999 Shelby Series 1
The Shelby Series 1 performance is in the “supercar” category with a 0-60 time at 3.2 seconds. Nicely optioned, Series 1 had power steering, power disc brakes, factory air conditioning, Cruise Control, Traction Control, Stability control, power windows, and an AM/FM/CD audio system. The convertible top folded away out of sight in a compartment located behind the cockpit. Some component cars were sold as a roadster with no convertible top.
The Series 1 had dual wishbone suspension with coil-over remote reservoir dampers mounted inboard, and actuated by “rocker arms”. The engine was mounted completely behind the front axle and drove a drive shaft supported in a “torque tube” that spun a 6 speed ZF trans-axle specially modified for the Series 1.
The chassis was made of extruded and formed 6061 aluminum. It was welded together and then post-heat-treated for maximum strength throughout. Then aluminum honeycomb panels specially designed were bonded into the floorboards and rocker panels for added structure and stiffness. The body panels were carbon fiber and fiberglass laminate. The engine, torque-tube, trans-axle, and damper mounts were all rubber-isolated from the frame.
The supercharged prototypes produced nearly 600 bhp and 530 lb⋅ft (720 N⋅m) of torque. The Goodyear Eagle F1 tires were based on an IMSA racing “rain tire” that had been used for the “show car” model. Goodyear built custom tires for the car.