King Cobra

It’s become a legend. Fifty years after it bellowed its way onto the race track, the Cobra remains a rampant symbol of automotive powerplay. Crude in concept, unsubtle in delivery and aesthetically a generation behind its peers, the Anglo-American wild child still stirs any blood with four-star in it. But even if it didn’t advance racing technology very far when a Cobra was racing, everyone was watching. Here are some of the most significant racing snakes BY GORDON CRUICKSHANK