Miles and CSX3002 down under.....

[wicked fast]

Just thought I might share few pictures of Ken Miles
driving CX3002 during the Australian Tourist Trophy race
in November of 1965.

Enjoy,
Bill Cook

[wicked fast]

.

[wicked fast]

Cheers,
Bill Cook

[Excaliber]

Wow, I just noticed that car has the front end opening like the 289 cars! I wonder at what point they lowered the nose and made the opening more oval in appearance?

Ernie

[KobraKarl]

Bill,

Wow is right , thanks for sharing. I am also puzzled about the front end ,as I thought the first 427 car was opened up {although crudely} for more air flow even with 3? smaller holes just in front of the hood.do you know what engine was this car running at that time?

[computerworks]

Originally posted by Excaliber


Wow, I just noticed that car has the front end opening like the 289 cars! I wonder at what point they lowered the nose and made the opening more oval in appearance?

Ernie

...the very next car.

[CSX 4027]

CSX 3003 is in New Jersey. I met the owner. The car has a few strange things on it as I recall. The story was...,it was partially apart in California before the NJ owner got it. There was some sort of argument between parties and the car was delivered without the original serial tag which was never to be seen again. The car has as good of a repro as I had but still of course, a repro..

[computerworks]

Does it still have the blue scallop paint?

[750hp]

I live a short drive from Lakeside International Raceway (where those photos were taken), and my Dad was actually at that race meeting. He took some 8mm film of the meeting, and the sight of Ken Miles drifting CSX3002 through the fast right hand sweeper is truly spectacular.

Unfortunately, there's no sound to the film, but Dad always tells me how the Cobra was the noisiest racecar that had ever been on the track at Lakeside. He recalls the feeling of the sound out the sidepipes actually pounding at his chest....

[Chris L]

I too have also a story to tell about that visit, although it is vague. I used to work with a bloke (Tom Fraser) who told me that story when I was an apprentice years ago. He noticed pictures of Cobra's around my work area, started yapping and I was amazed.
He was there that day as a guest from a relevant sports car club and insists Ken Miles took him for a lap of Lakeside. It was an experience that frightened him and he maintains that car was by far the fastest thing he'd ever sat his bum in. One point he made was that this car has some sort of computer hooked up to it and they could actually deliver info to the US and wait for suggestions on what to "tweak" from either Shelby or Ford to make it a better thing to drive. There were other details also, but I can't recall them with enough accuracy.He did insist that Ken was an absolute gentleman and one hell of a driver, but I guess most on this forum allready know that.
Regards
Chris Lidgerwood
Melbourne
Australia

[PDHse]

Excellent photos Bill, thanks for sharing these historic moments with us. Has anyone on club cobra got a photo of Ken Miles in a king cobra besides the Dave Friedman books. He actually drove the king cobra two or three times.

[Specialk]

Karl, your thinking of CSX2196. In it's first race, the bodywork was as you described.

[KobraKarl]

Kris,

ahhhh , thanks. but if that was the predesessor of 3002 ,why was the 3002 nose left as original ? Just curious.

[PDHse]

Just wondering, was that the only time Ken Miles raced cobras in Australia and did he bring any other Shelby members with him?

[mike_cavanaugh]

Craig (Marsh),
Please send me an E-mail, I would like to obtain a copy of the 8mm tape of CSX3002 if possible. It is for the present owner of the car.

[mike_cavanaugh]

Craig,
I did get an E-mail from you last week, did you get my reply?
Sorry to bore the rest of you with this!!! We are working on it!

[snakeeyes]

Bore us? Hell, you guys could probably make some money if you copied the 8 mm to VHS (NTSC format!) and sold them here...

CSX 3002 was the first coil-sprung Cobra. It's body started life as a 289, if I recall correctly. As such, it had the smaller grille opening, etc. of the 289 body. The fenders were widened to accept larger rubber but the car always retained the smaller "mouth", as well as a forward-braced rollbar.

CSX 2196 was the car that eventually became known as the "Flip Top". It was leaf-sprung and was the first Cobra to have a big-block installed, when Miles & Co. dropped one in as a "what if?" project. The car still had its stock body at that time although the fenders were flared to accept larger rubber. Miles raced it at Sebring in '64, when the three "GTO"-type holes were cut in the nose. Miles acquired his "Teddy Treebagger" nickname at that race, after hitting one of the only trees at Sebring during a practice accident. John Morton co-drove with him during the race itself, when they did everything they could to keep the faltering car going after Ford brass declared they'd "really" like to see it finish. It finally died after several hours and was taken back to Shelby American, where it morphed into the Flip Top over the summer and fall of '64. Miles took it to Nassau in December '64, where--as well-doucmented by Dave Friedman--it took the fight to it's arch-nemesis, the Corvette Grand Sport. The "Flipper" succumbed to a variety of mechanical woes at Nassau, but not before Miles had his way with the 'Vettes...

[750hp]

Hi Mike,
Being the computer novice that I am, I just need to get the right guy to transfer the footage to CD (mpeg or DVD???). Being that the footage isn't all that long, it would be easy for me to host the movie on my basic little website, thus allowing anyone with an interest to get themselves a copy.

I don't want to make any money out of it, I'd be happy for others to see some historical footage of Ken Miles in his element. I don't mind the fact that others will have the footage the my father took all those years ago - he has the memories of actually being there, and that's something that can never be duplicated. He's happy for other Cobra guys to have the chance to see the footage.

All that being said, it was a basic old 8mm film with no sound (Bummer!), taken from a couple of different parts of the track. There's probably no more than 30 or 40 seconds of CSX3002, but I'll be damned if you don't find it interesting viewing nonetheless

[CSX 4027]

You have to do it from a historical point. I am sure we would all love to see it on your site.
PS What is your site?

[computerworks]

Steve -