1964 Shelby Cobra To Be Preserved As a 'Historic Vehicle'

A federal program started to preserve engineering marvels has selected the first-ever federally registered historic vehicle: a 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe.

One of six such cars built by Shelby American, the Cobra is part of a collection at the Simeon Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, The New York Times reported.

The Cobra's selection as part of the program to identify feats in engineering was announced last month by the Historic Vehicle Association.

To be part of the Historic American Engineering Record, automobiles must meet four criteria: association with an important person; association with important events; significant design; and outstanding informational value, Mark Gessler, president of the association, told the Times in a phone interview.

The National Park Service worked with the Historic Vehicle Association to outline the criteria and has been making a list of eligible cars.

"We agreed to do the documentation, and the Historic Vehicle Association agreed to help select the vehicles that would be added over the next several years," Richard O'Connor, chief of the Heritage Documentation Programs, told the Times in a phone interview. "It's great to have a group out in the private sector that knows what to look for."

The Cobra hit every point on the list, Gessler said.

"To make the overall list that we're building, it only has to hit on one of those criteria, but this Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe hit on all four," he told the Times.

The association is making a list of around 50 vehicles to include as important pieces of American history; more examples include the 1907 Thomas Flyer that won the New York to Paris race in 1908 and the first Ford Pygmy, which is believed to be the oldest Jeep in the world.

The vehicles will be preserved through "medium- or large-format black-and-white photographs, measured drawings and text documentation," which will be maintained by the Library of Congress, similar to such landmarks as the Statue of Liberty and the Space Shuttle Columbia.