By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, eBay

So it’s the late ’90s and you’re Carroll Shelby. Once a harebrained idea, your AC Cobra “sport car” has become an American icon with dozens of companies offering kit cars and spin-off versions. Sure, offering official licensing to some of these companies brings in some money, but you’re Carroll Shelby the ace marketing man and career wheeler-dealer. So you do something few of the other companies can — offer a premium-priced continuation car that’s poised to be the new “real deal” in the market. One of these early runs, the CSX1000 Series brought things back to square one, with hand-formed aluminum bodies courtesy of U.K.-based AC Cars.

Customers were taking delivery of CSX1000 cars around 2003-04, and they were without-a-doubt the top dog Cobra recreations of the day. AC was delivering hand-formed aluminum bodies from the original wooden Cobra bucks, while Shelby assembled cars to customer specs at the Las Vegas, Nevada facility. It’s unclear how many cars were planned (some say 150, or maybe as many as they could sell), but the AC connection went south after the first 13 cars. It’s thought that the manufacturing and shipping of the bodies took too much time, and customers who had already paid for their cars were becoming impatient. Either way, Shelby found new body manufacturers for the 1000 Series cars, which number 23 in total, but only the first 13 are truly AC Shelby Cobras. An exceptionally unique representation of the series, this 427 street Cobra CSX1007 is currently offered on eBay.

One of the first 13 cars constructed, and also allegedly one of just two street Cobras produced in the series, CSX1007 is a rare beast. The seller reports that the car was initially ordered by a wealthy collector to mirror his original street Cobra. As such, the car is fit with front and rear bumpers, under-car exhaust, a smaller fuel cap, a fuel gauge and it lacks a roll bar.

The sunburst-style wheels installed on this car are a unique element to the 427 street cars, but there’s a bit more to it on the topic of CSX1007. The seller details that the wheels were custom machined in the late ’90s, at an alleged cost of $10,000 per wheel, or $40,000 for the set! You’ll notice that the rears were also stretched a few inches to better fit the rear wheel arches, while standard Shelby sunburst wheels were square. Additionally, the seller notes that another, more recently reproduced, set of wheels is also included in the sale.

For a car that rolls on a $40,000 set of alloys (we’re still baffled on that one), it shouldn’t surprise you to find a bona fide 427 FE side oiler under the hood. The seller reports that it was built by Southern Automotive and boasts 425 hp, correct valve covers and a Holley carburetor.

It’s unclear when CSX1007 was turned over to its first owner, but the seller states that famed restorer Mike McCluskey worked on the car between 2007 and 2009, upgrading it proper specs with Smiths gauges, a genuine 427 wood-rimmed wheel and weather gear. According to the seller, the odometer shows just 40 miles, as the original owner never bothered to tune the engine for his altitude.

With all this in mind, it’s not terribly surprising to see a lofty $440,000 price on this eBay listing. Two other CSX1000 Series cars that we could find sold for $269,950 and $395,000 respectively, but it’s unclear whether these bodies were sourced from AC Cars. We were also able to attain some surprising figures from NADA guides that places the value of an AC bodied CSX1000 Series car between $387,100 and $679,175.

Will this one drive much different than your average $40,000 bruiser? That’s hard to say, as I’m sure we’d have to go back to 1007’s first owner to ask. But should you fork out the big bucks to find out, be sure to let us know.

Check it out here on eBay, and the seller's somewhat dramatic video can be seen below.