10 replies to this topic

[Dave Crevie]

There is an excellent article about the legendary Cobra Daytona Coupe, C/N 2286. It tells the real truth behind the car, and dispels all the myths surrounding it.

 

The article appears in the Hagarty e-mag that I receive as part of my membership in what is now called The Hagerty Driver's Club. This is just one of the many great perks I receive as a customer of Hagerty Insurance. The article is based on an interview Scott Oldham had with Peter Brock, and covers the entire history of the car and all construction details. For most of my life, I have heard about this car and all the stories behind it. And in reading this article, was surprised how much of what I had heard was just plain baloney. The car is now part of the collection of Rob Walton from the Walmart family.

 

The car used in the photos accompanying the article is an exact replica, built under the supervision of Brock, which will be used in the upcoming movie "Ford vs. Ferrari," starring Matt Damon as Shelby, and Christian Bale as Ken Miles. Can't wait to see it.

 

The article goes into the construction of that car, the chassis of which was built in South Africa by Superformance. The body was done by Tom Kirkham in Utah and is shown in polished aluminum. At first, I took exception to the shape of the replica's nose. It is visibly different from the other Daytonas. But in cross-checking the info in the article, it seems that the nose was changed on the original during the lengthening of the front end to take the big block Ford FE. The replica faithfully copies the original shape.

 

It is a good read, and if you are a Hagerty customer, it's worth joining their "Driver's Club." You also get what I call one of the best magazines on vintage cars out there. I have all my cars, excepting the Challenger I drive as my primary car, insured by them. Over the 25-plus years I have used them, I have seen several cases where the owners of the damaged cars came away very satisfied. Too bad I can't get the Dodge covered by them.       

[Cheater]

Crevie, at least half of the check Hagerty sends you for making this post should be donated to Slotblog, OK? LOL...
 
All kidding aside, that article is online and here's the link to that great piece as well as a cropped version of the lead image. It is a very good read and Pete Brock, whom I have met and corresponded with, is a super-nice guy.
 
The truth behind Shelby’s 1964 “secret weapon” Cobra Daytona Coupe

 

Hagerty is a stand-up company BTW, one of the best collector car insurers.

[MattD]

Only time I ever got paid for working on a car was when a girl backed into my '34. She had no insurance, of course. I had Hagerty, they accepted my estimates on parts and labor for me to repair, replace, and re-paint the front of the car.   I was happy with the bottom line and they picked up a couple extra bills where I needed more supplies than I expected.

 

Not the cheapest around, but certainly what you want when you need insurance.

[blue&orange]

If you have a chance, go to the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philly on one of their 'run' days when they run their Daytona Coupe. You can see and hear CSX2287 run, and afterwards you can check it out close (though they discourage touching). 

 

On the people's choice Saturday I went, it was run along with a 1958 Testarossa, a 1970 Hippie 917LH, and a 1966 Alan Mann GT40 MKII.

[Dave Crevie]

Greg; I didn't want to post it, I didn't know how you would feel about it. But I did want to alert people that the article existed. Thanks

for posting the link. 

 

On a side note, that wasn't the only Cobra Daytona Coupe that didn't get finished at first. There was the "Super Coupe" that Brock

designed, and was stillborn when Shelby's interest turned to the GT-40 program. The body was quite different in some details,

particularly in the shape of the rear of the car. It did get an honest-to-goodness NASCAR side oiler 427, and was finished I believe

in the late 1970's. I remember when George Stauffer owned the car, and I was all over it as a tech inspector for the old Chicago

Histerical Races that Joe Marchetti ran. And he didn't baby it on the track. I watched him and Joe Hisch, driving a special bodied

Aston-Martin Zagato, hammer at each other lap after lap.   

[n9949y]

 

Attending the 2011-12-13-14 &15, Goodwood Revivals, I shot this photo 17 September 2011, from the Lavant grandstands focusing on Daniela Ellerbrock’s Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe, chassis CSX 2300, that Tom Kristensen and Kenny Brack took an emphatic win in the 2011 RAC TT Celebration race. The one-hour, two-driver Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration race(s), one Saturday, the other Sunday, qualifying Friday, was the jewel in the 2011 Revival's crown race. The event featured more than £100 million worth of exotic racing machinery such as Ferrari 250 GTO, GT SWB and 330 LMB models and the sublime Aston Martin DB4GT, Zagato and other project cars.
 
From 2011 program notes this car, chassis CSX2300, was completed late in 1964, one of only 6 built, and was only raced in the Tour de France that year where it was forced to retire after a gearbox mount failed. During the 1965 season, it was extensively raced by the Shelby team, scoring three third place finishes. At the end of the year, it was sold to Japan where it was raced with little success. In the 1970s none other than Carroll Shelby bought the car back. During the 2000 edition of RM's Monterey Auction, it changed hands for $4 million; twice the low estimate. Today it is owned by a German collector and historic racer, and is entered in some of Europe's historic races.
 

 

What's a race in the UK without rain, Sunday, 18 September, 2011
 
September, 2012, Lavant Straight. Great car, great watering hole. This time raced in the Shelby Cup race for AC and Shelby Cobras driven by Derek Hill, the former F3000 racer, and son of 1961 Formula One World Champion Phil Hill.

 

 
 
What makes the Revival racing program so fantastic is that most drivers were/are professional and notable retired drivers, so the cars, no matter their ages and rarities are raced with upmost enthusiasm. Must be around London, UK, specialty shops and restoration outfits that do well after the Goodwood  Revivals.

 

 

 

In the 2012 Revival Martin Brundle had a prang in Bill Shepherd's Cobra during Friday's practice for the Shelby cup. Also involved was the no.1 car (Grahame/Oliver Bryant), which was rebuilt after being wrecked last year by Gerhard Berger.

[Dave Crevie]

These cars are not babied, on either side of the pond. And, as they say, s**t happens.
 
On my first outing with one car, I knew the BMC box was the weak point, and decided to take it easy that weekend. But I got into a tête-à-tête with another car in practice, and I suffered the consequences. There is no antidote for that "red mist."

[Slot_Grasshopper]

Interesting old ad  for CSX2287 , it was also used in an episode of the Monkees.

Attached Images

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[Uncle Fred]

The 2287 has a most interesting history...…..

Chassis # CSX2287 - The Original[edit]

Chassis #CSX2287 was the very first prototype Cobra Daytona Coupe, and is the only coupe that was built entirely at the Shelby American race shop in Venice, California. It has an extensive race history, competing at Daytona, Sebring, Reims, Spa Francorchamps, Oulton Park TT, Le Mans, Tour de France and Bonneville Salt Flats. It was driven by Dave MacDonald, Bob Holbert, Jo Schlesser, Phil Hill, Jochen Neerpasch, Chris Amon, Innes Ireland, André Simon, Maurice Dupeyron, Bob Johnson and Tom Payne.

Chassis CSX2287 won the GT class at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 1964 with MacDonald and Holbert behind the wheel. The race at Sebring marked the first victory for a Cobra Daytona Coupe. At Le Mans in June 1964, the car was finished in Viking Blue metallic very distinctive white painted front fenders. The drivers were Amon and Neerpasch. They led the GT class until the car was disqualified in the 10th hour for an illegal jump start due to battery and alternator failure.

This coupe ended its racing career by setting 25 USAC/FIA world records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in November 1965, while driven by Craig Breedlove, Bobby Tatroe and Tom Greatorex during a Goodyear tire testing session. Shortly thereafter, it was reconditioned and was advertised for sale.

Slot car racing magnate, Jim Russell bought the car from Shelby in 1966 after seeing an ad in the newspaper, for about $4-$5k. Russell eventually listed the car for sale and music producer Phil Spector bought it from him. The car was not suited for street driving, however certain features were added including traditional rear-exit mufflers and interior carpeting, in order to make if more user-friendly. It is unknown if these were added by Spector or Russell.

All trace of CSX2287 was lost by the mid-1970s, with car historians and collectors fearing the car had been destroyed. In 2001 the car was rediscovered in a rental storage unit in California.^[7] The owner Donna O'Hara had committed suicide by burning herself alive.^[8] The car had remained undiscovered for almost 30 years. Due to its estimated worth of over $4,000,000 the car was part of an extensive legal battle between her mother who sold the car to Dr. Frederick A. Simeone, and a friend of Ms O'Hara who was the recipient in her will of the contents of the storage unit. An earlier owner of the car appears to have been music producer Phil Spector who had been known to drive it on the streets of Los Angeles.^[9] Built for high-speed sprints, the cab became uncomfortably warm as the car engine heated up, among other problems. "It wasn't a street car; it was a race car", Shelby said. Still, Spector drove it on the streets, and legend is that Spector racked up so many speeding tickets, his lawyer advised him to get rid of the car before he lost his license.

CSX2287 is the only Daytona Coupe which has not been restored. It has been preserved and mechanically reconditioned. It is part of the permanent collection at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA, USA.^[10]

In January 2014, CSX2287 became the first vehicle added to the Historic Vehicle Association's National Historic Vehicle Register in the United States.^[11] Concurrently it became the first automobile to be recorded under the United States Secretary of the Interior Standards for Heritage Documentation, kept on file in the Library of Congress.^[12] In November 2014, CSX2287 won the International Historic Motoring Awards "Car of the Year", which is voted on by the public. In addition to being the first American car to win the award, the Cobra Daytona Coupe is also the first American car nominated for this award.^[13]

[Uncle Fred]

Before Russell sold it to Spector; genius record producer (Wall of Sound), now convicted murderer and all around mad man, Team Russkit members Mike Morrissey and Sandy Gross spent sometime tooling around in LA with it.  Iam sure "Slot Car Magnate" Jim Russell felt that that he got a good return on his money selling it to Spector for nearly three times what he paid for it.

[ajd350]

When Jim Russell was Introducing the Rokar line at the Chicago Hobby show I asked him about CSX2287 and how was it to drive on the street. he said it didn't have good sight lines and sat very low. Both made it challenging in traffic. His eyes lit up and said it was fun to drive but he had to be choosy about where to park it with the tender aluminum body. Jim told me about CSX2300, Oscar Koveleski's Daytona Coupe. Just cool used obsolete race cars at the time.