With the recent death of automotive icon Carroll Shelby, a sudden glut of rare sports cars bearing his name has hit the market. While there have always been different Shelby’s for sale, 2012 has become a landmark year for the company with the 50th anniversary of the Cobra and the recent passing of their founder. If ever the time was right to sell your Shelby, it is now.

We expect that many of the lesser-known Shelby’s will even see their value go up. Cars like the 1999 Shelby Series 1 found on Hemmings Auto Blog. It was a limited production modern interpretation of the Shelby Cobra…powered by an Oldsmobile V8.

Actually built in 2005, the ‘99 Shelby Series 1 came before Shelby rejoined Ford’s efforts at bringing the GT500 back. Only 440 miles have been racked up on this custom-built body, which sees the 4.0 liter Oldsmobile V8 engine set in the back-half of the car. Mated to a ZF 6-speed transaxle, the mid-engine Shelby is some 700 pounds lighter than a C5 Corvette. In other words, it’s a real performer. The 320 horsepower Olds engine helped the Series 1 achieve a top speed of around 170 mph.

Not many Shelby Series 1 cars were built; just 249 at last count, and all were labeled 1999 models, no matter what year they were actually built. While hardly Carroll’s most popular creation, his recent passing has no doubt made the car and its $129,000 price tag an attractive investment. Then again, maybe you’d rather hold out for a real, classic Cobra…