Vintage Electric's Shelby e-bike combines classic design and modern tech


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What's better than a vintage-style electric bicycle? How about one styled after Carroll Shelby's personal 289 Cobra?

Timed to coincide with the release of "Ford v. Ferrari" (for obvious reasons), the Vintage Electric Shelby e-bike was officially shown to the world late in 2019. The N6 blue metallic paint is a nod to Shelby's personal 289; the seat and hand grips also were designed to mimic the steering wheel and seats of Shelby's original classic.

"The Shelby Cobra is an American icon, and we wanted to express that in our newest vintage electric Shelby bike," Vintage Electric said in its original announcement.

Those who are familiar with Vintage Electric's other work will probably recognize most of the Shelby bike's hardware specs. The company offers five different flavors of electric bicycle: Cafe, Rally, Tracker, Scrambler, and Roadster, and like the Roadster on which this Shelby model is based, it offers between 40 and 75 miles of range and a 36-mph top speed in what the company calls "race mode." Typically, it's limited to just 20 mph.

The drivetrain on the Roadster is a 750-watt hub motor that gets a little extra oomph in the aforementioned race mode, to the tune of 3,000 total watts of power. The 48-volt battery pack can be recharged in 4.5 hours, making this ideal for short-distance commuters who'd rather not mess with a car but don't quite have the energy (or incentive) to walk.

The Shelby e-bike is limited to just 300 units, so if this is how you like your vintage-style electric two-wheelers, you may already be too late. Fortunately, V.E.'s other models are available year 'round.