Baume & Mercier Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Review

The iconic Shelby Cobra, like Carrol Shelby, may no longer be with us but will never be forgotten.

Carrol Shelby

There was a huge boom in motor racing right after the Second World War. Cars were faster than ever and racing drivers were looking for the fastest, meanest 4-wheelers money could buy.

Meanwhile, somewhere across the Atlantic, AC Cars Ltd. is known for its AC Ace, which participated in the 1957 and 1958 editions of Le Mans, the world's oldest car race. (Auto Carriers Ltd.) received a call from Carrol Shelby. During the meeting, Shelby explained that he needed to create a car that could rival the Corvette, the quintessential American muscle car of that period.

The plan was to take the lightweight Ace chassis and equip it with a Ford V8 small block engine. The small displacement of such a powerful engine, combined with the vehicle's weight, could be just the thing to give it a competitive advantage over the Corvette.

The result was Shelby Cobra; A roadster so fast and agile that the Shelby Cobra, or AC Cobra as it is known in the UK, is said to be directly responsible for the new 70 mph/110 km/h speed limit on British motorways. Apparently someone took the Shelby Cobra coupe for a test drive and it was spotted going 215 mph...that's 196 mph!

Race organizers were always looking to up the ante, testing the endurance and skill of pilots, pushing the limits of the world's fastest cars in an epic 12-hour race known as the 12 Hours of Sebring. Black AC/Shelby Cobra CSX2128 at the 1963 Sebring 12 Hours

He was an extremely competitive person; While he worked on high-performance car designs for Henry Ford, he had always been an arch-rival with Enzo Ferrari. Those around Carrol Shelby knew that he was a bundle of energy. One of his visitors described him as follows: "Shelby paces restlessly, like a lawman waiting for trouble to suddenly appear from behind every slammed door in town." He was moving so fast that his secretary quit the job out of boredom. “You gotta go 90 mph to keep up with him,” she said, “and I'm just a good old-fashioned 80 mph girl.”

Baume & Mercier Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Review

Baume & Mercier has always admired those heroes who pioneer performance and constantly seek to be ahead of the rest. To commemorate the life and achievements of American motorsport hero Carrol Hall Shelby, who designed and raced some of the fastest vehicles of his era, Baume et Mercier pays tribute to his legacy and the legendary Shelby Cobra with another limited edition Baume and Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra watch, 10282 Shelby Cobra 1963.

Baume Mercier Capeland Shelby is a chronograph watch with a stainless steel case, sapphire glass, perforated leather strap and date window, and its list price is XXX. The Baume Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra is powered by the self-winding caliber BM148120. This is an automatic movement containing 25 jewels and has a power reserve of approximately 48 hours.