This High-Value Collectible, American Sports Car Was A Corvette Killer In Its Day

There are few people more associated with American performance vehicles than Carroll Shelby. He parlayed a career as a successful race car driver into building his own vehicles, including the iconic Cobra and Mustang GT350. In the 1980s, he began modifying Dodge vehicles, such as the Omni GLH.

In the late 1990s, Shelby decided it was time to build a new car from the ground up. The result was the Shelby Series 1, and the vehicle was a modern take on what made the original Cobra work so well. However, buyers didn’t flock to it like the earlier roadster.

Let’s take a closer look at the Shelby Series I to understand why it’s such an intriguing failure. Today, the vehicle might even be a bargain. The car had style and performance but wasn’t a success. Most reports say the company built 249 of them despite initially hoping to sell 500 examples.

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Deciding On An Oldsmobile V-8

The original Shelby Cobra was a marvel of parts bin engineering because the body came from the British AC Ace roadster, and the engines were Ford V-8s. The Series 1 followed a similar powertrain strategy, except General Motors was the partner rather than the Blue Oval.

Oldsmobile
Aurora for the Series 1. Additional tuning over the stock version increased the output to 320 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque. The company claimed the car could reach 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds and cover the quarter-mile in 12.8 seconds.

Shelby offered an optional supercharged version of the engine, making 450 horsepower for customers looking for more power. The extra muscle cut the acceleration time to 3.71 seconds. The Series 1 also received better brakes and an upgraded clutch as part of this upgrade package.

The Series I was only available with a six-speed manual. Its trans-axle layout, with the gearbox at the back, maintained a 49/51 front-to-rear weight distribution. Placing the engine behind the front axle also helped with this.

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Cutting-Edge Underpinnings For The Time

Weight is the enemy of excitement in a roadster. Shelby limited the Series 1’s mass by using a mix of carbon-fiber and fiberglass body panels. Underneath the skin, the car used an aluminum spaceframe chassis. Additional aluminum honeycomb panels were for the bulkheads, center tunnel, and floor. The bare frame weighed an impressively light 260 pounds.

While a full aluminum chassis wouldn’t seem too special today, it was far more novel in the late 1990s. The suspension was similarly sophisticated. The setup consisted of a dual wishbone layout with inboard-mounted dampers, using remote reservoirs, and operated by rocker arms.

This setup and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires around 18-inch wheels provided excellent handling for the time. Shelby claimed the Series 1 was able to achieve 1g of lateral grip.

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Classic And Modern Design Cues

Unlike the original Cobra’s AC Ace-sourced body, the Series 1 had a unique look. The design prioritized curving lines that somewhat evoked the 1960s roadster without specifically copying the old design.

The Series 1 features a pair of circular headlights underneath oval-shaped covers and fog lights in the lower fascia. A massive heat extraction vent dominates the hood, giving the nose a muscular appearance. Gills behind the front fenders add to the aggressive look.

The manually folding soft top is stowed underneath a tonneau cover behind the seats. However, buyers were able to specify the Series 1 without a roof if they had no fear of rain. In 2024, long after regular production of the car ended, Shelby showed off a one-off coupe variant.

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A Simple Cabin

The Shelby Series 1 prioritized performance over luxury in the cabin. Occupants sat in leather-upholstered chairs with fairly thick bolsters for the time. However, the plastic pieces dominated the dashboard. The HVAC controls with three knobs and the CD/stereo system came straight from General Motors. The driver gripped a simple, four-spoke steering wheel.

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How Did It Compare To The Competition?

The first magazine reviews of the production-spec Shelby Series 1 came out in 2000, and customer deliveries began at around the same time. Based purely on the specs, it was competitive at the time.

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What Did Shelby Series 1 Cost Then, And How Much Is It Worth Now?

Initially, the Series 1 had a starting cost of $99,975. By 2000, prices were up to $181,824, nearly double the figure at launch. Buyers ordering the supercharger paid around $20,000 more for the option.

Today, Hagerty values a Shelby Series 1 in #3 Good condition at $110,000. Supercharged examples generally go for a bit more, with Bring A Trailer showing sales for them at $127,000 and $143,000 in the past year.

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What Happened?

For a boutique manufacturer like Shelby, the Series 1 was a highly complex model to build, which resulted in problems. Early examples of the carbon-fiber body panels turned out to be porous, absorbing paint like a sponge. There were also allegedly issues with fitting the external panels together without large seams.

At around $100,000 at the time, the Series 1 might have been a success. However, when the cost moved significantly higher, buyers weren’t there. At the same time, a person could buy a Ferrari 360 with 410 horsepower, starting at around $150,000, according to MotorTrend.

Even if the supercharged Shelby is a bit more powerful, the Ferrari has more name recognition and pedigree. Plus, you can get one for less money on the modern market. Hagerty lists the value of a 2000 model year example for $82,200 in Good condition.

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Was There A Future?

After the Series 1, Shelby announced a Series 2 in 2018. However, these vehicles never saw mass production. They had a similar design as the Series 1 but with significant changes. For example, the engine switched to a supercharged unit from the contemporary

Ford Mustang
, with planned 580-hp and 800-hp outputs. The company also claimed that the weight fell to around 2,600 pounds, or 200 pounds less than the earlier model.

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TopSpeed’s Take

The Shelby Series 1 is an interesting footnote in American performance car history. At the original lower price, it could have taken on the world. However, the higher costs seemed to be what caused this roadster’s financial problems. It could have been a real contender in the segment, but the prices just got too high.

With this in mind, maybe the Series 1 is a better value today than when it was new. Buyers now have the chance to get a Shelby-designed vehicle for roughly a tenth of what an original Cobra could cost. Meanwhile, the modern roadster still offers plenty of performance capability, not to mention the chance to own such a rare machine.

Model	Horsepower
Shelby Series 1	320 hp
Shelby Series 1 (Supercharged)	450 hp
2001 Chevrolet Corvette Z06	385 hp
2000 Ford Mustang Cobra R	385 hp
2000 Panoz Esperante	305 hp
2000 Dodge Viper	450 hp
2000 Toyota Supra	321 hp
2000 Acura NSX	290 hp
2000 BMW M3	333 hp