Shelby only made 249 “Series 1” cabriolets with an Oldsmobile V8 under the hood, and one of them cropped up on Bring a Trailer the other day. Despite being 27 years old, it had virtually no miles on the counter and went for a cool $245,000.
Working on the car, Shelby gave it an aluminum chassis and a body composed of glass-fiber and carbon-fiber panels. The result resembled the automaker’s Cobra lineup somewhat, but provided the impression of a much more modern vehicle at a closer glance. In particular, this example ended up with 18-inch alloy rims shod in Toyo Proxes RR and Alcon multi-piston disc brakes.
The abovementioned 4.0-liter Oldsmobile V8 was also rebuilt with a carbon-fiber air intake, different camshafts and a Borla performance exhaust system, to mention just a few mods. As a result, it sent 375 PS (370 hp / 276 kW) to the rear wheels in Shelby’s X50 spec. Six-speed manual transmission must have added to the appeal of whoever bought it this weekend.
The listing pointed out that this particular car was ordered by none other than Shoji Tabuchi, a renowned Japanese-American violin player. It was also allegedly the only Shelby Series 1 to receive a blue-and-white combo livery as seen above. Tabuchi requested for an air conditioner and two audio players – for CDs and cassettes – to be installed inside.
With only around 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) under its belt, the cabriolet was as good as new when it went on sale.
