Painter Called

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Said he is done with paint. This is huge for me. I built it in my little 2 car garage and had been trying to get it out to a painter as Covid kicked off. Life dealt a few blows but I finally got back up on my feet and got her sent off for paint around Thanksgiving. The extra time gave me more time to save and I ended up finding this painter who could aluminum plate the nose. It's not like I'm trying to pretend it is original with a Coyote with AC, but I think the aluminum looks a lot nicer than the fiberglass and I'll brush it to match all the panels in the engine bay I already did.

When I originally planned the build, I planned a more modern blue. Over time, the modern shades started to look wrong on the car to me. I think I got used to the original colors Guardsman Blue so much that anything else seems off.

With everything I have had to deal with during this build and how I stalled for a few years, these photos were amazing to see and I had to share. Please excuse the stance and backdrop for the photos. I raised it up as high as possible to make getting it on and off the transporter as easy as possible and will get better photos once I finish up the final details here at home.

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Since it is a rare car never sold to the public, I figured I should have shared what it was. It is a recreation of the 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. The first and only American car the win the FIA GT World Championship. Most people recognize the iconic Shelby Cobra or know the story of the Ford GT after the Ford vs. Ferrari movie. However, the coolest story by far is the Shelby Daytona Cobra. They just did not have a giant marketing team to tell everyone.

The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe was built by a team of under 20 people out in California in 90 days and went to Europe to embarrass Ferrari at their own game on their own turf. The cars design was done by 23 year old Peter Brook, who was also the youngest designer in GM history and made the original C2 Corvette design before leaving to work at Shelby. The 23 year old's design flew in the face of the current aero theory and nobody but Brook thought it would work. Shelby decided to trust him and his team. They ran only two cars in 1964 and while it took them some time to find their footing, before the end of the season it was clear they would pass Ferrari for the overall season championship. Enzo Ferrari ended up using his political weight in Italy to have the final race of the 1964 season canceled in order to keep Shelby from getting the points needed to win.

Shelby was so pissed, he painted NYF AIM on each of the two cars. It stood for Next Year, Ferraris A## Is Mine! Shelby wasn't taking his ball and going home, he was calling his shot like Ruth and swinging for the fences.

In 1965, Shelby came back with the 6 allowed cars and a team of legendary drivers who embarrassed Ferrari on their own turf as promised by winning the 1965 FIA GT World Championship.

At this point, Ford had already spent two years and millions of dollars trying to get the Lola they bought and rebadged as the Ford GT to work. They decided to throw money at Shelby and his team to fix the Ford GT. The next year, Shelby and his team delivered for Ford and the GT40 won at Le Mans in 66, 67, and 68.

I loved the Cobra the first time I saw one and I dream of a GT40 at some point, but the Daytona Coupe is the story that resonates with it.

While I knew why Ford wanted to beat Ferrari after Ferrari turned down Ford purchase offer at the last second, that is rich guy ego nonsense that does not resonate with me. The reason Shelby wanted to beat Ferrari is because Enzo Ferrari forbade his son Dino from being around Carroll after they became friends while Shelby was racing in Europe. Enzo felt the American was beneath them. Shelby was also friends with Ferrari drivers who died racing for Ferrari after Enzo refused to add safety features that would slow his car and Shelby felt Enzo thought of his drivers as replaceable and not worth protecting. That means something to me. It may not be the most famous car, but it is special and I love everything it stood for and accomplished. This is core Shelby and American Racing to me.

 

[G.T.]

Thanks for sharing the story of this car and the people involved. Saw a Daytona Coupe homage sometime ago locally and am grateful to know more of the history that make these cars so special.

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