427 Dragonsnakes

At $6,995, the 427 Cobra was an expensive car in 1966. Add to that a couple of thousand dollars more for the “Dragonsnake” options and it’s easy to see why only one factory-built 427 Dragonsnake was ever purchased. Even Cobra dealers could not justify spending that much money as part of an advertising and marketing promotion when, at best, they might sell 3 or 4 street cars. And besides, most of the Cobra product identification was in SCCA sports car racing on road courses. The Cobra was not the first thing to pop into anyone’s mind when they thought of a drag strip.

All that did not mean there was no such thing as a 427 Dragonsnake. The small block Dragonsnake had been a very successful way to promote the Cobra and the associated drag race parts from a cost analysis perspective. Once the Dragonsnake program existed it wasn’t a very long step to extend it to the 427 Cobra when those cars replaced the 289s. All Shelby American needed was one order to build the car. They had already done their homework selecting the components. That one dealer was Harr Ford, a Shelby American dealer in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Gus Zuidema, the performance service manager at Harr Ford, was well known throughout New England drag race circles. In early 1964, CSX2109 was brought to Zuidema by its owner to be modified for drag racing. Once the car was put into quarter mile trim (using either Dragonsnake parts or Zuidema’s replication of them) Zuidema assumed the driving chores. His reflexes were lightning quick and he began setting records in the Street Stock Production class. After collecting twenty wins that season he was invited to the ‘64 Nationals held at Indianapolis on Labor Day. He narrowly missed beating the factory Dragonsnake in the final round of eliminations.

In 1965, Zuidema prepared and successfully raced a GT350 on the quarter mile. Drag racing helped Harr sell cars and it didn’t take very much persuasion for Zuidema to interest someone at the dealership in campaigning a 427 Cobra. In January of 1966, Harr sent in their order for a 427 Cobra “Drag Unit.” Shelby American chose (at random) CSX3198 to fill it. The unpainted car was pulled off the production line and received what would become the 427 drag race modification package. Koni shock absorbers were fitted front and rear. A roll bar, hood scoop and two electric fuel pumps were installed. The 427 Cobra road race exhaust system was modified to incorporate the stock mufflers. The battery was relocated behind the passenger seat. A scattershield and 4.54 ring and pinion were installed, and a tachometer was mounted on the cowl directly in front of the driver.

Shelby American had estimated that the drag race modifications would probably run $1,000. When the work order was totalled up they were somewhat surprised to see that the final amount was $2,173.98. This did not include a fiberglass hard top and side curtains ($275). The invoice total was $10,715 which included shipping the car to Massachusetts on Shelby’s transporter. The car also had 6.5˝ and 8.5˝ Halibrand FIA magnesium wheels, and the leading edges of the rear fender flares had been trimmed back to make room for the wide M&H drag slicks. The engine was a balanced and blueprinted 427 Cobra side-oiler race engine.

Gus Zuidema worked as Performance Service Manager at Harr Ford in Worcester, MA and made a name for himself drag racing. After Zuidema demonstrated how drag racing an independent 289 Cobra brought customers into the dealership, Harr purchased what turned out to be the only 427 factory-built Dragonsnake which he raced with an amazing amount of success, eventually setting a National Record and winning a National Championship. The car was subsequently sold, converted back to a street car and more recently, restored as it originally drag raced [above, right] before being sold at auction in Monterey, CA in 2005.

When it got to Harr Ford the Cobra was painted a shade of Candy Apple Red that closely resembled metallic cranberry. Zuidema was very successful with the car, racing it in the A/Sports class and recording a best time of 10.38 seconds and a top speed of 138 mph. Using tunnel-port heads and racing in the A/Sports/Modified class his best time was 10.02 @ 146 mph. That year the car was raced almost every weekend and went to seven NHRA National events as well as the season finale, the Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend. At that point CSX3198 was the only 427 Dragonsnake being drag raced and Shelby American provided some $1,200 in race assistance. Zuidema set both ends of the A/Sports record at 10.86 sec @ 127 mph. He won the A/Sports class every time he raced that year and won street eliminator 50% of the time. It was a very impressive record.

At the end of 1966 CSX3198 was advertised for sale for $14,000. It was accurately described as a “factory made drag car... powered by Ford 427, 7000 RPM, 505 HP lightweight configuration engine completely balanced and blueprinted...” When it was sold it had less than 500 miles on the odometer. The new owner drag raced it in the Boston area for about three years. Then it was unceremoniously retired from drag racing and began its run through the hands of eight owners over the next eighteen years. Today it has been restored to its original Candy Apple Red paint with proper Harr Ford lettering and was recently sold through an auction in Monterey.

Another 427 Cobra was seriously drag raced in the mid-1960s but it was not a factory Dragonsnake. CSX3159 was a black street car, delivered to Larsen Ford in White Plains, NY. It was subsequently purchased by Clem R. Hoppe of Ridgefield, NJ who, in short order, brought it to Joel Rosen’s Motion Performance in Baldwin (Long Island), NY where it was modified for drag racing. “King Cobra” was lettered on the side in large letters. Hoppe eventually set a NASCAR National Record (yes, NASCAR sanctioned drag racing in the 1960s) in AA/Sports of 10.3 sec. @ 133 mph. Five years later the car would be sold and restored as a street car. It would then go through a handful of owners, its price jumping each time it was sold, from $55,000 in 1981 to $450,000 in 1994. It was restored to it’s drag racing specs sometime around 2003 before being sold through the R-M Auction in Scottsdale, AZ for $579,000.

Additionally, there was one more 427 Cobra drag race veteran. CSX3336 was purchased in May, 1967 by Claude le Brun in Mexico for $8,922.37. It was equipped with a roll bar, and a soft top and tonneau cover were modified at the factory to fit it. The car was sold soon after to a dealer in Texas. The car’s next owner (name not known) modified the Cobra to race on the quarter mile, installing a 427 tunnelport engine. Large lettering on the side announced the car’s name: “The Ravager.” It ran a 10.93 ET @ 128.9 mph. Current whereabouts of this car is not known.

In the 1960s, Motion Performance in Baldwin, NY attained almost legend status in drag race circles in the northeast. They drag raced a 289 Cobra of their own as well as preparing a large number of customer cars.