How often do you see a real Shelby Cobra? It's hard to tell for most. The two-seat bruiser has spawned so many replica kits it's actually rare to see an original on the road.

Rarer still are the genuine cars still owned by the original buyer. A breed so uncommon that single-owner Cobras attract substantial offers to make their owners part ways with their pride and joy. In most cases, it's a motoring experience they aren't willing to give up easily.

That's exactly the mindset of 72-year-old Hank Williams of Fontana, California. It's been 46 years since the former jazz musician and racing driver first collected the keys to CSX2227, a lightly modified 289-cubic-inch MkII. It's a partnership that has seen the Cobra become one of the biggest trophy winners in the world, picking up 419 of them for race, show and rally wins. And it's never been fully restored.

There Have Been Offers, Big Ones
"I wouldn't sell it. Not as now," he explains. But he's had his fair share of interested parties. "I had an offer last year from a man in Harlem who had been trying to buy it for 10 flat years. He made an offer of a million and a half dollars for the car. He calls me every two years. I've never met the man."

You'd be forgiven for expecting Hank to have a large ego from the attention, but he's far from pretentious. Bump into this diminutive motoring celebrity at shows and you'll find someone more than willing to relive the glory days of '60s performance cars and give you a closer look at the ride that's made him a legend.

As one of only a handful of original Cobra owners, he has some noteworthy fans. One of them is Carroll Shelby himself. He's actually so fond of Hank's car that he always makes time to catch up with Hank at Shelby events. He even invited Hank and his car to the opening of the National Hot Rod Association museum in Las Vegas back in 1998.

Carroll's fondness for the two-seater isn't surprising. Back when this Cobra left the factory, Shelby American was far from the household name it's since become. As his car was built at the facility in Venice, California, Hank can lay claim to having a car worked on by the founder of the now-iconic tuning company.

After nearly five decades together, Hank's partnership with the Cobra has outlasted plenty of marriages.

Not an Easy Purchase
Performance cars have always been a part of Hank's fiber. He was born in Louisiana, but the Riverside International Raceway in Southern California brought him to Fontana in 1964, and he's lived there ever since. Back then, he was an aspiring racing driver rapidly reaching the limits of his Austin Healey MkIII 3000 and looking to upgrade to something more potent.

It was at a local race meeting where he first saw a Cobra in action, and less than a year later he was handing over $6,390.23 (around $45,000 in today's dollars) for his own MkII at nearby Crenshaw Ford. Little did he know it was to be the start of a three-week struggle to get the keys.

The car, on loan from another dealership, was being used to tempt prospective Mustang buyers into the showroom. Unaware of what he was selling, the salesman struck a deal with Hank for what he thought was a Pontiac convertible and signed the paperwork.

When Hank returned the following day to collect the car, it had vanished. Hidden under a canvas in the workshop, it then moved to a dealership in Pomona, 20 miles away. When he got there, he was directed back to the dealership in Crenshaw. The salesman was gone, though, having apparently lost his job for the mistake.

"This had been going on for about two weeks," he explains. "I'd already threatened to sue. I said if I didn't get the car tomorrow I'd own the whole goddamn dealership. And suddenly the car shows up. So that's the day I got my car, I got my papers and everything and I took off.

"Afterward, I drove the car to Pomona, and it was such a great pleasure it would seem like I would think I was in heaven. The sound of the car, and those solid lifters rapping and all, I couldn't believe what was happening."

In Good Company
Hank is in good company as an African-American owner, listed as one of only two to own a Cobra from the factory. The other, CSX2006, a white MkI, still belongs to jazz musician Herbie Hancock, bought at a dealership in New York after his first paycheck.

"Herbie Hancock had already bought one of the early ones, but he had a little 260; it doesn't even come close to this," Hank says. "Mine had all the American wiring and Stewart Warner gauges, and his had all the English wiring and Smiths gauges. Mine had all the good stuff; all the kinks had been worked out."

It didn't take long for him to start testing its track credentials, hitting a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race near the airport at Santa Barbara shortly after taking ownership. This was to be the start of a 10-year racing career for the Cobra, competing in 394 events and collecting 35 trophies in the process. Among them is a plaque commemorating his historic drive around Indianapolis Speedway, the first time any African-American had done so.

Yet despite its track time, minor accidents have meant only small body repairs at a local aluminum bodywork specialist. "I've had crunches, in racing," he recalls. "I don't know if I've been lucky, or if someone was watching over me upstairs, but it was never bad. The car was never crunched where you had to straighten the frame, just the body."

Motorsport did take its toll on small parts, though. He remembers other owners complaining about rattles caused by the bodywork's aluminum rivets working loose during racing, but says it's easy to cure. Over the years, he's drilled out and replaced almost all of them with stronger steel versions, ironing out loose panels bit by bit.

Ate Corvettes Daily
But it wasn't only at track events where the Cobra earned its keep. Driven daily until the 1970s, it was a rare enough sight on the roads for him to surprise owners of more mainstream American muscle. Ford had supplied engines to Shelby because they wanted a car that could beat the Corvette, and Hank says "wiping out 'Vettes" was a regular perk of Cobra ownership.

"Oh man, I wiped out so many," he laughs. "I never came upon a Corvette that even got close. Most people didn't know what it was. Most of them thought it was an MG, and with the hardtop on they thought it was a BMW. See, I'm sitting there with 2,200 pounds and 340 horses, and he's got 3,000 pounds and 400 horses. So forget it."

One owner traded in his MG, powered by a 327 Chevy engine, for a custom-built Corvette after losing a race to the Cobra. When the 'Vette also failed to show a clean pair of heels to the svelte two-seater, the owner found it hard to accept and accused him of cheating. It's an attitude Hank's gotten used to.

Though prone to red light drag sessions, the threat of losing his race license meant Hank kept most of his lead-footed driving on the track. The problem he faced was a similar confusion among police officers, who also didn't recognize the Cobra.

One flagged him down while he was en route to racing school at Riverside, claiming the car was breaking California's 65-mph speed limit and questioning the legality of its wide wheels. It turned out to be a lucky escape.

"He didn't write a ticket, so I asked why he stopped me and he said he didn't know what it was, but it looked fast," he recalls. "'If it had been any other type of car you could have gone 5 or 10 miles faster and I wouldn't have caught you.' That's the closest I came."

Not Entirely Original
Testament to its impressive factory setup, Hank raced the car in almost original spec, adding only a handful of tuning parts bought directly from Shelby and fitted himself. The deafening 3-inch motorsport-spec exhaust, roll cage and smaller windscreen have since been retired, but by keeping almost all the original parts he's got some incredibly valuable spares locked up in his garage.

Hank lifts the trunk lid and pulls out a well-worn hammer, branded Thor, which was used to fit the knock-on wheel centers. It's part of a full, original tool kit still in the back of his Cobra and something he feels very protective about.

He explains: "People would kill for those tools because they're rare. Extremely rare. I usually take my pistol with me because you never know; if someone wants them they will take them. Someone came over from Michigan, close to 3,000 miles, to photograph these tools because he was going to try and copy them."

Unofficial Blue
Another rare feature is the car's unusual silvery blue paintwork. It's a color never officially offered on the Cobra, but is the original shade applied at the factory. Only three cars were ever painted the same, of which one has since been sprayed white.

"The car was supposed to have been Princess Blue," he says. "That's a light blue from what I understand, a Shelby color. My car never was silver; that's been the original color. No one knows what color this one is, but it's one of three cars.

"What we came up with is in Europe, whoever painted the car ran out of blue and was painting another car silver. Somehow he mixed the two colors together to finish the last three cars."

Even the genuine hardtop, bought to keep his future wife warm, is an exclusive part. When Carroll Shelby saw the original hardtop on the Cobra at an event in Nevada back in '89 he was so impressed that he told Hank to leave it on for the event. It hasn't been removed since.

Possibly the biggest sign of changing times is the personalized number plate. Bought as the Cobra became a popular kit car, it was Hank's way to let enthusiasts know his is the real deal.

Life Saver
It may be nearly 40 years since the car was last used daily, but the Cobra is far from a retired show pony. Hank drives, and sometimes trailers, the car to events all over America, often collecting awards for the farthest distance travelled. And it still gets driven properly, too.

"The car itself has given me 25 years more life," he says. "I don't idolize it. It's not something to be chesty about, it's just a part of me."

After nearly five decades together, Hank's partnership with the Cobra has outlasted plenty of marriages and doesn't look set to end any time soon. In that time, the car has become a motoring icon, and with it the owner has become a part of Shelby history. Like the original concept, it's the perfect pairing.