Tags
250 GTO, AC, Carroll Shelby, Cobra, Daytona, Ferrari, John Wyer, Le Mans GT, Shelby
He was unmistakable. His cowboy boots and Stetson hat were part of Carroll Shelby’s signature at any circuit of the world. The Texan farmer was a quick driver and after a few years in the American racing scene during the 1950s he started to compete in Europe, brought by John Wyer. He would win Le Mans for Wyer 1959 sharing the fantastic DBR-1 Aston Martin with Roy Salvadori and beating another marque which would become his nemesis: Ferrari.
After this success Shelby caught the eye of Enzo Ferrari and came very close to join the Maranello Scuderia. However, Ferrari’s style with his drivers did not go well with Shelby and in the end he never joined the Commendatore’s team. In 1960 Shelby went back to the US and moved to California, retiring from driving due to a serious diagnosis of a cardiac disease at the end of that season.
The next year Shelby would start a new career building race cars. He combined a newly released lightweight Ford engine and a British AC roadster to develop an affordable fast car that could compete in the GT class at American and European venues. Shelby and his people worked hard to adapt the AC to the powerful V8 Ford engine and in February of 1962 the new car was ready. Carroll Shelby christened it the Cobra.
The car was convincing and Ford backed the project financially so the sights were set now on the FIA homologation which was obtained in August. This brought a new challenge as now 100 cars had to be built within a year. At any rate, the Cobra makes its racing debut in October with a retirement at Los Angeles; the car has demonstrated to be competitive against the Stingray Corvettes however so enthusiasm is high and the car is improved learning from this maiden outing.
January 1963 would bring the first victory at Riverside, an important milestone. Meanwhile in Maranello Ferrari had not been idle and the archrival of the Cobra was already being born and homologated: The 250 GTO.
(to be continued)