Venom Science
Shelby Cobra
Referred to by some as the most iconic sports car in history. Produced from 1962-1967
Modifications on top of modifications - x 2
When building the Cobra for Le Mans 24-hour race (Pron. La Mons) Shelby Carroll at Shelby Motors went through several upgrades and modifications to help it become the car it was that won Le Mans in 1964. When designing this collection, I had also gone through several samples and modifications to get me to where I am today. It has been the longest running active sampling process with more than 15 sample group runs and 31 samples, this process began in January 2022.
New Ford engine – New base fabrics.
Continuous engine upgrades. In 1962 Carroll wrote to Chevrolet asking them to supply him with a new big block and they said no, they refused to supply an engine to car that could possibly beat their car that was racing at the time. Ford had a brand-new 4.2 litre engine that they had sent to Shelby Motors, they had it installed and running in less than 10 hours. Later came a stronger 4.7 litre which became almost unbeatable in future races. The 427 Cobra found its final heart in the shape of a 7.0 litre big block V8.
I started with a white base fabric like the previous Borta fabric, however unlike the block Borta print which concealed the white printed fabric, the Venom print being smaller and darker allowed the white cast of the base fabric to show through much more obviously. Printing on a white base fabric also meant I needed to print a colour block on the fabric to get the base colour I wanted and then I needed to print the pattern on as well. It took me several months, but I finally found a base fabric that was already dyed, and I just needed to print on it. This also meant when the fabric is stretched it doesn’t show the white cast as it was never white to begin with. Unfortunately, the change in fabric composition also meant that I needed to begin my sample process again because the fabric changed how it performed based on its material make up.
Aerodynamic body styling – New scrunch legging design
This car was an open cock pit, a “jump in” style car, however this wasn’t aerodynamic enough, having the open style allowed for too much drag and would never be possible to beat Ferrari’s top speed of 299km/h, this car eventually clocked 315km/h beating Ferrari in the Le Mans 24 hour race. This body and the suspension were redesigned, Carroll even reached out to an aerodynamic expert at Convair aircrafts to verify the new design. The main shape of the car stayed the same, big round fenders, low to the ground body and wide mouth bumper.
These leggings share very similar qualities to the body shape of the Cobra. For the first time ever, I have customised a scrunch bum design, showing off curves across the glutes and hips. The waistband has a wide-open style, angled down to make your torso look long and slimmer. This waistband also works more in favour of those who find my other collections sit up under your chest, this waistband height has been made shorter to sit lower than the previous collections. Good for those with short torsos.
Piece by Piece
As of 1997 Shelby began production, of sorts, again on this vehicle, the car you can buy now is somewhat of a kit car, this car is pieced together with different parts of other cars and you can build it yourself.
This collection has been pieced together from other collections. Torso fabric height is similar to the Impraza, pocket size are from the Borta, fabric is similar to the Ieon, sports bra shape references the Skiline long line bra and colours are vibrant like the Soopra.