Bill Cosby 200 MPH – Shelby Cobra Super Snake (CSX3303)

CSX3303 is one of two 427 Super Snake Cobras ever built, alongside CSX3015. Shelby American retained the chassis as a promotional 427 street car before converting it to Super Snake configuration in 1967 and selling it to entertainer Bill Cosby. The car’s continuous history ended when later owner Tony Maxey drove it off a cliff and into the Pacific Ocean.

Fast facts

• One of two 427 Super Snake Cobras ever built, alongside CSX3015.
• Originally a 1967 427 street car retained by Shelby American as a promotional vehicle.
• Converted in 1967 to Super Snake configuration with twin Paxton superchargers and a Ford C-6 three-speed automatic transmission.
• Sold by Carroll Shelby to entertainer Bill Cosby in 1967.
• The car’s top-speed designation gave Cosby’s 1968 Warner Bros. live album “200 M.P.H.” its title; the album was recorded at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe.
• Cosby drove the car once and returned it; Shelby American then sold it on to S and C Motors in San Francisco.
• Subsequently owned by Tony Maxey, who was killed when he drove CSX3303 off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean.
• The destruction of CSX3303 leaves CSX3015 as the only surviving Super Snake.

History

CSX3303 began as a 1967 427 street car that Shelby American retained as a promotional vehicle. In 1967 it received the Super Snake conversion, the same treatment Shelby American applied to CSX3015. On CSX3303 the conversion paired twin Paxton superchargers on the 427 cubic inch FE big-block with a Ford C-6 three-speed automatic transmission, an automatic-gearbox specification unusual for a Cobra. Only two cars received the Super Snake treatment; CSX3303 and CSX3015 together comprise the entire production run.

Carroll Shelby sold CSX3303 to Bill Cosby in 1967. The car gave its name to Cosby’s 1968 Warner Bros. live comedy album “200 M.P.H.,” recorded at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe. The album’s title sketch describes Cosby’s experience with the car, including its top-speed designation and a punchline in which he returns the car and suggests it be given to former Alabama governor George Wallace, who was running that year as a third-party presidential candidate. Cosby drove CSX3303 only once before returning it; the album was not reissued on CD until 2005, partly because of later sensitivity around the Wallace punchline.

After Cosby returned the car, Shelby American sold it on to S and C Motors in San Francisco. From there it passed to Tony Maxey, who at a different time also briefly owned the sister Super Snake CSX3015. Maxey was killed at the wheel of CSX3303 when he drove the car off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean, ending the chassis’s continuous history.

Sales history

• 1967: Carroll Shelby to Bill Cosby. Private sale, specific price and date not documented.
• Late 1960s: Cosby returned the car; Shelby American then sold it on to S and C Motors, San Francisco. Specific dates and prices not documented.
• Late 1960s: S and C Motors to Tony Maxey. Specific date and price not documented.

No documented public-auction sale exists.

Authenticity and current configuration

CSX3303 does not exist as a complete car. Tony Maxey’s fatal accident destroyed the chassis when he drove off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean, ending the car’s continuous history. No subsequent restoration or recovery is documented. The Super Snake designation in surviving form belongs only to CSX3015, the sister chassis which retains its original body, the 1967 aluminum Super Snake hood, and the original 427 Competition engine and rear-end components.

The Super Snake conversion itself was not a separate production model. It was the specific 1967 treatment Shelby American applied to two existing chassis, adding twin Paxton superchargers to the 427 FE big-block in pursuit of the top-speed figure that gave the cars their reputation. Both Super Snakes were one-off configurations.

For wider context on the 427 program, see the chassis-family page on the Mark III CSX3 cars, and for an orientation across the original Cobras and the replica industry that followed, see the Cobra Authority buyer’s guide. For Shelby American’s program history, see the Shelby American overview and the Cobra encyclopedia.

Last updated: May 16, 2026