In the pursuit of more performance in the Shelby Cobra racing car, Carroll Shelby along with works driver and development engineer Ken Miles, hatched a plan to stuff a big block V8 into the AC sourced body.
The engine chosen was originally a cast aluminium Ford 390 V8 being developed for NASCAR. However due to short supply and Ford’s NASCAR teams objecting to sharing their shiny new engines with Shelby, a readily available replacement was found. Enter the 427 big block. Coming in at 7.0L in displacement, the Ford sourced engine gave the performance boost they were looking for.
