Through a lurid series of events worthy of a TV soap opera, CSX2287 resides in Fred Simeone’s museum.
When Shelby decided to build a Cobra coupe in 1964, he had already been out of sports car racing for some four years after winning Le Mans in 1959. After building the Cobra roadster he recognized that it was the easiest platform on which to build a world championship GT car quickly. Pete Brock, a graduate of the famed Art Center School of Design, was given the assignment to design Shelby’s new racecar. After the closed Cobra (CSX2287) was built, five additional chassis were sent to Italy to be bodied as Daytona Coupes.
In 1964 the GT Championship was barely won by Ferrari over the Daytona Coupe. However in 1965 Shelby won the Constructor’s GT World Championship. In addition, the Coupes had class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1964 and 1965, as well as other important races plus a record-setting session at Bonneville. The complete story of Shelby’s Bonneville adventure is documented (The Salt: Last Dance For a Champion) in Daytona Cobra Coupes, by Peter Brock, David Friedman
and George Stauffer.
Photo taken at Shelby American during painting of a Daytona Coupe
After Bonneville the first Coupe required three days of cleaning to get rid of the salt. Now a tired racer, it was sold and ultimately fell into the hands of record promoter Phil Spector who, after receiving many tickets, gave it to his bodyguard. The bodyguard gave it to his daughter who, in 1971, put it in storage in Yorba Linda, California. She kept it locked up, not allowing historians, collectors, or even Carroll Shelby to see it. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s it became obvious that this car was an icon and extremely valuable.
The Coupe’s first outing was at the Daytona Continental, a 2,000-kilometer GT race, and the first of 13 races for the 1964 FIA World Manufacturers Championship. During practice Shelby’s driver, Ken Miles told Pete Brock, “We’re much faster than the Ferraris, Pete, much faster.”
With Bob Holbert at the wheel, the Viking Blue coupe was doing well until pitting for fuel and lube. A mishap caused by overfilling the tank led to a serious fire that damaged the racecar’s differential and wiring. As far as Shelby was concerned, the race was over. It was later painted Guardsman Blue.
In 1964 this Daytona took the GT class win at Sebring. At the subsequent Le Mans test it was the fastest GT; at SPA it set a lap record of 4:04.4. It also ran in the Tour de France.
At Le Mans in 1965, its last competitive race, it was sidelined by a head bolt failure.
The next stop for the Coupe was in November 1965 when Shelby took it out of “retirement” to run at the Bonneville Salt Flats. They changed engines and tires, retained the Le Mans 2.88 gearing and they were ready. No special prep, no spare engine, minimal supplies. USAC really didn’t believe they were serious about running for endurance records. They were more than just a little surprised when drivers Breedlove and Tatroe clocked 1,931 miles, averaging 150 mph and breaking the record set by Bugatti in the 1936 Type 57G “Tank” (also in the Simeone Museum). It set 23 national and international Stock Car Speed and Endurance records!
The history of this car after Bonneville is truly bizarre. After one or two brief owners, including Phil Spector, the car ended up in the possession of his bodyguard’s daughter, Dorothy Brand. She stored it in 1971. On one occasion someone did manage to take some pictures that revealed front-end damage and blotches of a clay-like material on the body. It appeared complete, though very dirty. By the 1990s she was apparently aware that the value of these cars had increased but, though she was a Sears warehouse worker, turned down all offers.
Fred Simeone at the wheel of Daytona Coupe during video shoot
How the Guardsman Blue Daytona ended up in Fred Simeone’s hands could easily become material for a TV soap opera or mini-series! The scenario included an exotic car dealer, Spector, Brand and her boyfriend who claimed she had promised him the car. Plus there was a judge and litigation involved before it was over. After selling the Daytona, Brand willed the car to her mother and then committed suicide.
The job of bringing CSX2287 back to life was given to noted historian/restorer, Bob Ash. It is now as close as can be to the way Shelby sold it in 1966. The Weber-carbed small-block runs like new and the Daytona is capable of the same performance that set records over 40 years ago.
In the fourth edition of World Registry of Cobras and GT40s Rick Kopec and Ken Eber wrote, "The first Cobra Daytona Coupe was always something of a mystery ever since it dropped out of sight in the early 1970s. The combination of its being the first Coupe built in the U.S., the first Coupe to win a race, and the now-famous Daytona pit fire has established CSX2287 as arguably the most valuable of the six. The fact that it was hidden away for about 30-odd years by a female owner who was, at times, described as a paranoid, a recluse, an eccentric, and a 'kook' by Carroll Shelby himself, only added to
the car's mystique”
Jay Leno discusses the Weber-carbed small-block with Fred Simeone
CSX2287 is on display at the Simeone Foundation Museum. Check it out at http://www.simeonefoundation.org/
For more information about Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupes visit
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z9466/Shelby-Cobra-Daytona.aspx