OT(?) You Tell Me: REAL Cobra?

Kinda OT from a traditional hotrod I usually enjoy here, but then again what is MORE traditional than a great big engine in a lightweight car like a Cobra? It's '60's afterall.

Encountered THIS last night outside a Pollo Loco (where I was going) but in front of a sushi place (where the owner was, natch!).

I don't know much about Cobras but I could swear this was real and not a repro. If it WAS a repro it is decades old because it had lots of real patina (yes, I can tell real from faux). I only had my phone with me so apologies for the quality:


Rear:


If its real, anyone know anything about this car? The No. 54 mean anything, have a race history? I know these things are stupid expensive so its hard to imagine street driving one. Maybe it was a wild hair trip but this was a tight little parking lot.

 

Yeah, maybe OT, but ol' Shel was a hot rodder's hot rodder. I dunno shit, but that looks to be the real deal, I could be waaaay wrong though.

 

Battery was dying or I'd have taken more pix. I looked inside. It "looked" noisy, uncomfortable, old....just what you'd expect a 50+ year old quasi race car to look like. There was NO fiberglass look to any of the panels in or out. Radiators were seriously thick, but you can't see them in this photo.

 

Sweet car, real deal or not! '65 Daytona Coupe, Winner Nurgurging driven by Jochen Neerpasch if it's real. Hard to tell from the angle, but are those Foresight Ind. Drag Mags under it?

http://eknude.tumblr.com/post/4833081889/nurburgring-1000kms-1965-shelby-daytona-coupe

 

With a quick Google search it looks like none of the originals are wearing the #54 racing number, right now.

Which I think was the # on the 1965 Nurburgring winning Cobra Coupe.

Again, that was just a quick search, so I could be wrong.

 

Well, you Californians have been known to do some crazy stuff carwise, but I think an original would be just too valuable to drive, especially to just park in a lot like that and left unattended. I'm thinking it is a very nice reproduction.

Don

 

If you look at the 54 on the hood of the original pic I posted, you'll see it is turned to about the 2 o'clock/8 o'clock position, whereas the one in the OP's post is straight up and down. Also, you'll notice the visible wiper on the original and not on the color photo. Nurburgring car doesn't look like it has driving lights installed in the holes in the front valance, but it could just be the shadows making it look that way. I think it's probably a "clone" based on the '65 Nurburgring winner, but there just seems to be a few slight differences here and there. Still a SWEEEEEET car. Thanks for posting those pics!

 

Seems I read somewhere that they only made like 6 coupes and they are nearly priceless, I can't see anybody actually DRIVING one on the street, much less leaving it in a parking lot

 

Its a repo. There were only six made and I beleive they are all in private collections around the world. And if you want one the going rate is around 10 million if one shows up at action.

 

Thanks you guys. Yes, I see the difference in the clocking of the #54 on the hood. I'm NOT claiming it IS real, just wodnering. I could see the paint has been redone and nicely too. But in person you could tell; though truly nice, it does have some minor pecks and such from road grit. So most likely a some-years-old repaint at a high end place. The rear shot shows the paint as a bit nicer than it looks up close.

If I owned the real #54 would I "correct" the clocking of the number at repaint? No, hell I'd not repaint it.

If I owned a real one but not a race winner, would I put the number of a true race winning car on it? I kinda doubt it but I could see that someone might do it as an homage to the true race winner. It had a number of track inspection stickers (I think) on the drivers side of windshield and a few other places. All contributed to the "real" look.

 

WOW! No shit?! I told my wife the last time I knew what they were worth it was approaching $2 million but that was pre recession and I wondered if it was a bubble that had burst. TEN friggin million? Holy moly.

Gee, 'ya wouldn't drive a real one down to the local strip small for cheap sushi? Ha Ha. Ok, thanks for the info. Gotta admit, it still gives me a woody just seeing it.

EDIT: Hey E.D.D. These were 427's right? Were they DOHC? WHat kind of HP and Torque numbers are we talking about? Even if this is a repro with some other big bloc: 429 I'd imagine. I'm guessing it still goes like stink, huh?

 

LOL, nobody said it wasn't a REAL Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe though... Just not one of the original Nurburgring cars. Kim Kardashian in a burlap sack is still Kim Kardashian...

Here's a kind of a neat story... http://thecarsource.com/shelby/cobra/daytona/csx2287.shtml

 

Yeah, but any other young woman in a burlap bag with the right parts sticking out could make you THINK its Kim Kardashian, ha ha!

Seriously though, I didn't catch it. There were how many TOTAL made? So the "six" mentioned are just the true race cars? Or just the ones that competed at the 'Ring in '65? There were others sold as street cars?

Obviously, I know jack about Cobras and true race cars in general. I'm a '55 Chevy truck guy - generally they didnt run well at the 'Ring!

 

"Yeah, but any other young woman in a burlap bag with the right parts sticking out could make you THINK its Kim Kardashian, ha ha!"

(I'd be OK with that, too...)

 

The last one changed hand for over 6 mil,....I don't think you're going to see a 6 million dollar car in a parking lot,.... especially a parking lot for a chicken joint these days.

 

The six original Daytona Cobras were all 289 powered.

 

somebody posted some pics from a little get together at the Pomona Fairgrounds with a bunch of shelby stuff and i think it was there, i think its a local. There was an original one, the #4 car that was locked away in a storage facility in Anaheim for a couple of decades before it popped up a few years back..I think the article said it was sold for a few thousand bucks after its racing days, and then dissapeared in the 70's..

 

Real or not, an amazing sight in that tiny lot across from PCC!

I wouldn't even park my beat up '74 MGB in that lot, it's so tight and full of people flying around without looking!

 

there is another one i remembered that a guy made from scratch, he taught himself how to do metalwork and built one. he went off all the specs of the originals.. i forget where i saw that build

 

I've seen the 6 car total number as well, but I can only find 5 chassis numbers.

Did they count the Willment Coupe as number 6?



There is also the Cobra that was rebodied with a Ghia body for Willment as a road car.



The 427 prototype that didnt race.



And the coupe that AC built themselfs.



Thats it... Those are all the originals I can think off.

If its not one of those, its not an original one.

 

Pete Brock, the designer of the Daytona coupe and owner of a 46ish ford with cobra stripes that can be found in 50s RnC little pages (look for it), produces these cars... This is one of those

 

The six chassis numbers are : CSX2286, CSX2287, CSX2299, CSX2300, CSX2601 and CSX2602. CSX2287 was the only body built in the U.S as the rest were built by Carrozzeria Gransport in Modena, Italy.

The Willment Coupe is chassis number CSX2131.

"In the opening races of the 1964 the Shelby team had impressed many, including Willment, with their 'Daytona' coupe bodied Cobra, taking a class win at Sebring. Shelby built six cars for his own use, but Willment convinced the coupe's designer Pete Brock to send him the drawings. Some revisions were carried through to the design and then a coupe body was crafted from aluminium and fitted on the refurbished chassis with the help of Shelby engineer John Ohlsen. Compared to the 'original', the 'Willment' coupe has a sharper nose and a higher tail. Another unusual cue was the open rear window."

 

Cool.

Thank you for the info.

 

always thought this car was way ahead of its time.... but then again, so was everything else Pete Brock did

 

THere is a Gentleman in Illinois who has a Replica.
Extremely nice.
You usually can see it Sat night at a Cruise night
at 139th and Bell Road in Orland Park Ill.

 

Don't know much about the Cobra's, but if I remember right, I think the shock towers, or around them is an impression stamp that proves the authentisity of at least the chassis.

 

When you consider that Shelby only built 5 Daytonas and 1 prototype, the car in your pic is definitely a replica. And there are several replicas and continuation cars that have aluminum bodies.

 

There were actually two Willement coupes, the red one with a small block and a big block powered car that was involved in a fire at one stage. In the early 90's we had both cars at the shop where I worked. As noted the Willement cars were built in England using photos and sketches from Shelby American as reference and as such have a few variations from the original S-A cars. Here are a couple of pix that I took in 1992 or thereabouts. Sorry about all the white space but I am still figuring out how to operate the scanner at my shop.

Roo