Cars of the Snake

As we welcome the Year of the Snake, we take a closer look at the cars that share that slithering symbol. When cars are inevitably associated with animals, the usual name and symbolism usually involves a powerful land beast. Horses, deer, cats, and even bulls have been used as automotive names and logos for decades. The snake has not received such favorable attention. Snakes are not perceived as being able to cover much ground in rapid time, and their sideways slithering motion is perhaps not the best metaphor for a car. Yet there are several noteworthy exceptions:

AC Cobra: The AC Cobra was a combination of a British sports cars chassis with American muscle. AC Cars was a company producing a roadster using a steel tube frame with aluminum body panels. The cars were hand-built in Surrey, England. In 1962, Texan Carroll Shelby requested a version with a Ford-built 4.2-liter V8 engine. AC made the modifications necessary to fit the small-block V8 into the chassis, with a heavy rework of the car’s front end. Over the next couple of years, Shelby and Ford continued to develop the chassis, seeing it as potential “Corvette beater.” Alas, the cars were initially not successful financially. Shelby restarted production under his own company in the 1980s, in a factory in Las Vegas, Nevada. Later, certain models became sought-after collector’s cars, with one selling for $5 million in 2007, a record for a US-made vehicle.

Shelby Cobra Concept: Shelby collaborator Ford unveiled a concept car in 2004 at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). It was intended to be an interpretation of what a modern AC Cobra should be. Like the modern-day Ford GT and the Mustang, the Shelby Cobra is an update of a classic. It was a bare-bones performance vehicle, Shelby saying that it was a massive motor in a tiny, lightweight car.

Ford Mustang Cobra: Through the Shelby connection, Ford has been using the Cobra name for various high-performance Mustang since the 1990s. As a tribute to the late Caroll Shelby, Ford helped build a special Shelby GT500 Cobra version of the Mustang. Using a Ford Racing supercharger, the V8’s power was pumped to more than 850 hp. 13-inch wide rear wheels with 345-section high performance rubber helps put all that power to the ground. Ford also produces a regular GT500 Cobra with a mere 662 hp—the most of any series production V8.

SRT Viper: Also known as the Dodge Viper, Chrysler’s most memorable vehicle from the 1990s. Bob Lutz wanted to create a modern Cobra, a nod again to how influential that car is. Mating a huge V10 engine (originally designed for truck use but recast in aluminum by then Chrysler subsidiary Lamborghini) to a tube-frame chassis, Chrysler had its very own supercar. The car was a financial success, and also collected many trophies in the motorsports area. A smaller Viper powered by a V6, called the Copperhead, never came to fruition. When the company was taken over by Fiat, many feared that the iconic vehicle would disappear. However, Fiat president Sergio Marchionne announced an all-new model in 2010, to be released in 2012. The new Viper was unveiled that year, and features an 8.4-liter V10 good for 640hp and 813Nm, the most torque of any naturally-aspirated production car.