Shelby Cobra Daytona
Not many cars take on Ferrari on the track and win--much less dominate. The Shelby Cobra Daytona was one such a car.
Based loosely on Carroll Shelby's Cobra--itself a mutated and steroid-injected AC Bristol--the Daytona was a far more aerodynamic closed-coupe version designed in the 1960s to tackle and topple Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. More a pure racer than the Cobra, the Cobra Daytona was one of the first big-engined American performance cars to win in international sport prototype racing.
Amazingly, the sensuous, menacing styling was penned by a race car driver and sometimes-journalist, Peter Brock, who had no real experience in industrial design and certainly no formal aerodynamic training.
The combination of Brock's curvaceous design and Shelby's beefy mechanicals led to a race car that combined elegant beauty and brutal power. The Cobra Daytona dominated sports car racing to an unprecedented degree in the mid-1960s, with a 24 Hours of Le Mans win, two victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring, and another triumph in th 24 Hours of Daytona. as well as the makes championship in 1965. The Cobra Daytona didn't just win; it dominated.
The Cobra Daytona project was later supplanted by the legendary GT40--a more purpose-built endurance racer that continued to hammer the Ferraris with ever-more-dominant wins at Le Mans. The GT40 will no doubt be a future Car Lust, but the Cobra Daytona has always stood out for me because of its slinky, drop-dead gorgeous lines. An American sports racing legend with a big V-8 and lines as gorgeous as a Ferrari's? Yes, please.
The Daytona Coupe wasn't strictly a street car; only six race cars were made, but very expensive reproductions for the street are in circulation today and hotly desired by the well-heeled 1960s racing enthusiasts among us. The photos here are of a Superformance Daytona replica, one such reproduction.
And, just to head off complaints from the angry Mopar fans among us--no, when I refer to "Shelby Daytona Coupe," I'm not referring to this.
By the way, I realize that featuring a beautiful high-performance car is a rarity; don't worry, we'll be back to my usual parade of mediocrity and irrelevancy tomorrow.
--Chris H.
mochi mochi on March 04, 2008 at 12:23 AM
What's this? An article about a completely competent if not highly effective and prized piece of automotive design? Excellence? I'm stunned and slightly appalled. I was expecting a celebration of automotive failure and incompetence! Some ugly duckling - something only a mother could love. Instead we are subjected to beauty, power, speed, and unparalleled design - what is the world coming to. Can't we go back to the good old days of trabants and ladas and their american 70's and 80's counterparts? Or cars of peculiar and questionable beauty?
Oh well ! let the excellence flow - let's get it out of our systems :) thanks Chris really interesting. Can't wait to read about the GT40.
Chris Hafner on March 04, 2008 at 08:40 AM
mochi mochi: " Excellence? I'm stunned and slightly appalled. I was expecting a celebration of automotive failure and incompetence!"
I know, I know - don't worry, I won't let you down again.
:-)
Frank Black on March 04, 2008 at 08:44 AM
Yeah, man, any moron can laud the qualities of a supercar. It takes someone special to celebrate a '73 Fury II.
Jeff on March 06, 2008 at 03:46 PM
Hmmm... perchance do I see the inspiration for the Corvette Stingray? Or maybe it was the other way around?
Cross-pollination perhaps.
Michael Sanderson on March 10, 2008 at 08:34 AM
Having borrowed my parents 70's era Fury when it was new I don't think it possible for Chris to find many redeeming qualities.
Jeff the Baptist on March 10, 2008 at 09:05 AM
Factory Five also turns out a Daytona replicar. The used to have an open-top Daytona called the Spyder, but I believe they canceled it.
emcerlain on March 10, 2008 at 09:31 AM
What a beautiful car. Just found this on eBay:
http://tinyurl.com/yuy5tl
matt on March 10, 2008 at 01:24 PM
one of my favorite designs of all time....it LOOKS like a race winner. As to the '73 Fury...let's nominate the Ford Maverick as well!
Ed Adams on March 10, 2008 at 05:51 PM
There are a few errors in this article, specifically the reference to the GT40 as being a "later" vehicle. The GT40 first ran in the 1964 LeMans race; the Daytona Coupe ran in 1965. The first GT40 ran with a version of Ford's Indianapolis engine. The later versions used the Shelby engineered 289 CID Cobra engine with 4 dual webers, then the Mark II and Mark IV used the NASCAR 427 CID in 1966 and 1967 respectively. GT40s won the 1968 and 1969 Lemans race under John Wyer's management - using versions of the small block engine once again (after the FIA effectively outlawed the 427).
So, the Daytona Coupe was not "supplanted" by the GT40, it coexisted with the GT40. The difference being that the GT40 ran in the GT Prototype class and the Coupe was GT production.....
Kane Rogers on March 11, 2008 at 01:15 AM
Actually the Daytonas first ran at Le Mans in 1964. Two cars were entered, one driven by Chris Amon and Jochen Neerpasch and the other by Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant. The Amon/Neerpasch car was disqualified in the 10th hour and the Gurney/Bondo car finished first in GT and fourth overall. If its oil cooler hadn't begun leaking, it would have won the race.
The Daytona was in fact supplanted by the GT40 in that Ford "asked" Shelby to shut down the Daytona operation and fully commit to the development of the GT40 for the 1966 Le Mans race after the 1965 disaster there for both Ford and Shelby. Too bad, because Shelby was at that time in the midst of building the "Super Coupe", Brock's evolved design that he still asserts would have done 200mph at the Sarthe in 1966. Problem was, it would have competed with the GT40 MkII and 1) Ford was having none of that and 2) Ford needed Shelby's undivided attention developing the MkII.
The best history of the Cobras, Daytonas, Shelby and all involved is Michael Schoen's landmark book, "The Cobra-Ferrari Wars, 1963-1965". In fact it's one of the best motor racing histories ever written.
Chris Hafner on March 11, 2008 at 02:37 PM
Michael Sanderson: "Having borrowed my parents 70's era Fury when it was new I don't think it possible for Chris to find many redeeming qualities."
That sounds like a challenge!
http://www.carlustblog.com/2007/09/1976-plymouth-g.html
Chris Hafner on March 11, 2008 at 02:38 PM
matt: "As to the '73 Fury...let's nominate the Ford Maverick as well!"
Ah, yes.
http://www.carlustblog.com/2007/10/ford-maverick-g.html
Chris Hafner on March 11, 2008 at 02:40 PM
Ed Adams: "So, the Daytona Coupe was not "supplanted" by the GT40, it coexisted with the GT40."
Yep, I should've been more clear. As Kane Rogers notes, more specifically the Daytona Coupe racing program was ended so that Shelby could concentrate on the GT40.
Dr. Gonzo on March 18, 2008 at 10:55 PM
>>Yeah, man, any moron can laud the qualities of a supercar. It takes someone special to celebrate a '73 Fury II.
special as in short bus special, probably. Cae in point: me
73 Fury kicks a**. I miss mine.
http://www.messengerpuppet.com/1981/04/25/furymobile-2/
http://www.messengerpuppet.com/wordpress/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2145
http://www.messengerpuppet.com/tag/the-fury/