1999 Shelby Series 1 Roadster
In 1994, Carroll Shelby announced his magnum opus — a clean-sheet car designed and built entirely by Shelby and his Shelby American company. No longer satisfied with using someone else's base model, the Series 1 began a protracted development that ran up against the realities of car industry regulations in the late '90s. The Series 1 finally arrived in 1999, with an extruded, bonded aluminum chassis, carbon fiber and GRP body panels, six-speed transmission, and a 320 horsepower, 4.0-liter Oldsmobile Aurora V8. 70 of those cars were equipped with a supercharger that boosted power up 450 horses. Only 249 cars were delivered, and there problems — the final batch of cars were sold as kit cars with no engine or transmission in 2005. But the Series 1 was fast and handled well, ticking off the most important items in Shelby's book. This 1999 Series 1 is the more desirable supercharged early production model. Currently residing in Italy, the car has less than 4,500 miles and is up for auction now.
