This Month in Cobra History - June

[computerworks]

This Month in Cobra History - June


(We need to get a head start for June history... June is the month of LeMans, and there are tons of good stuff to recall. From the simple first-outing in 1963, all the way up to the GT40 sweep in 1967. Plus, there are many other events and Cobra milestones in June. Cal and I will be busy this month, for sure.)

LeMans - 1963
The first Cobra assault on the famed LeMans 24-Hour Endurance race was in June 1963. Shelby had AC Cars build two "LeMans Cobras" which competed in that race. The first LeMans Cobra was entered under the AC Cars banner and ultimately finished a respectable seventh, behind six Ferraris. The second was entered by a Shelby-franchised independant dealer-racer from Pittsburgh, Ed Hugas. This car was running 13th in the tenth hour when a connecting rod decided to vacate the premises...



The two LeMans Cobras were fitted with special aluminum hardtops to improve their aerodynamics and thereby increase top speed. It might even be said that they were the forerunner of the Daytona Coupes. The use of these tops -- longer that the street tops -- necessitated the fabrication of special shortened trunk lids that were hinged at the bottom and swung down when open...
The AC Car (#3) was right hand drive and, although entered and campaigned by AC, it was originally built for Shelby (although not for export). It carried a special serial number that had the prefix "CS" instead of "CSX"...CS2131.



The Hugas car, CSX2142, (#4) was left hand drive.



CSX2142 was driven by Ed Hugas and Peter Jopp
CS2131 was driven by Peter Harper and Ninian Sanderson.

These were the first Cobras to have the side vents.

Interesting to note that six "LeMans Replicas" were also built. The first series of three were used by the Shelby American Factory Team in the USRRC series; the second batch of three were sold to private parties and campaigned in the SCCA A/Production series.

First batch of LeMans Replicas= CSX 2136, 2137 and 2138
Second batch of LeMans Replicas= CSX2154, 2155 and 2156

Here's CS posing with one of his first "replicas" - CSX2138



(most text edited from Cobra/Mustang Guide - SAAC)

[Cal Metal]

Good pics, Ron. Just a side note. The AC entry was shipped to the coast of France where Phil Remington and Charles Hurlock's (owner of AC) son Derrick, proceeded to drive the car the entire distance to the track at Le Mans--a distance of 150 miles or so. So much for Cobra caravan concept. Talk about tight budgets.

[Jahred]

Very nice piece of history. Thanks for posting! Keep it up...............

[Excaliber]

"Back in the day" it wasn't uncommon for a lot of folks to drive their car to the track and then race. Hey wait a minute, I'm still doing that today!

Ernie

[Trans-Am Jim]

And, for the price of a CSX4000, 7000, or Kirkham, you can own one
(if this listing is all it seems to be)
http://www.4-lesco.com/pages4/car4sale1.html

[PDHse]

If anyones interested i noticed on the Goodwood website that the ex Le Mans car CSX2142 will be at the Festival of Speed in july. It mentions that Sir John Whitmore will drive it, he drove it to victory in a sportscar race in South Africa 1963.

[Cal Metal]

Jimbo:

That is the Ed Leslie car. It has a dubious history. I will post a piece from the Registry regarding its heritage. "R" probably stands for replica. Buyer Beware!

[mr bruce]

any good pics of the BIG side louvers. tryin' to gauge their size

[computerworks]

Originally posted by Cal Metal
Jimbo:

That is the Ed Leslie car. It has a dubious history. I will post a piece from the Registry regarding its heritage. "R" probably stands for replica. Buyer Beware!

Cal's correct... CSX2136 is one of the "Amazing Stories"
(..not near my Registry, but here goes...)

The car was seriously raced hard all the way until the end of the sixties, when it was crashed. It was subsequently burned to death in a trailer accident. The car was totalled out, settled by the insurance and sent to a junk yard.
In the Seventies, a Canadian talked to the last owner... and purchased from him two wheels and a bill of sale (piece of paper) for a buck! ...then had Anglis build an entire new car, using the bill of sale as the rights to the s/n, CSX2136... hoping the "body" would never be found.

Well.. a few years later... guess what floats up out of a Canadian scrap heap?...



...you guessed it! The real CSX2136.
(MAP... thanks for the picture)

I remember seeing this at SAAC/Great Gorge.(?)

...found at last, sold to Ken Eber, restored, and then... a legal battle which finally proved the Anglis-built car a replica in the real sense of the word.

Irony let the owner re-badge the car as CSX2136R ...but it is not considered an original Cobra at all. The REAL CSX2136 is restored to concours condition, and alive and well.

[Excaliber]

Well that settles that mystery!!!! I was shocked to see the ultra low price the "R" model was offered at. And of course thinking the "R" stood for "race" I just KNEW something was not right here!

I love a good mystery! Excellent sluething you guys!

Ernie

[computerworks]

(...here are some more shots of the cars run at LeMans 1963, courtesy Cal Metal)

Two pictures of the Jopp car, CSX2142, taken at Snetterton...





Here, entering the Tertre Rouge corner, is the Sanderson car, CS2131, with 2142 bringing up the rear...



The gendarmes watch 2131 negotiate a turn...



A little excitement on one of the straights. Notice the car to the right of CS2131... it is a Lola, the precursor to the GT40.

[computerworks]

Originally posted by mr bruce

any good pics of the BIG side louvers. tryin' to gauge their size

Bruce... get out them calipers (the drafting kind) and scale the vents here, shown on CSX2137...



(Jamo- please take note of the front of this car... it shows a solution to your "head-hittin-quick-jacks" problem.)

[map]

2136 at Summit Point WV. 4yr's ago.
2136 last month 30 min from me!
Mike/Map

[Nedsel]

Mike:

I believe the #10 car at Summit Point 4 years ago is misidentified. 2136 has been black for more than 4 years, and I think you'll find the red "Le Mans Replica" car is actually Jim & Sandy McNeil's 2156.

[map]

Yep your right! I plead the 5th

Mike/Map

[Excaliber]

Once again I must say:

You can't put squat over on these guys when it comes to Cobras!

All will be revealed. Ha ha,,,gotta love it!

Ernie

[computerworks]

This Month in Cobra History - June

June 1964-
As was mentioned in the May report, the 1964 racing season saw literally dozens of race-prepared 289 Cobras competing on both the International level, as well as across the USA.

The independant but factory-sponsored cars continued to score on all levels in June 1964.

CSX 2189, piloted by Bob Johnson, scored 4 times in the money in May... and followed up with this stunning performance in June 1964:

Mid-Ohio, SCCA Nationals, A/Production, 2nd. Place
Elkhart Lake (WI), SCCA Nationals, A/Production, 1st. Place
Lyndale Farms (IL), SCCA Divisional, A/Production, 1st. Place
Watkins Glen (NY), USRRC, Factory Team Car, 3rd place Mfg.

(USRRC = United States Road Racing Championship ... SCCA = Sports Car Club of America)

CSX2189-



Bob Johnson and CSX2189

[PDHse]

Excellent photos guys, keep up the good work.

[Trans-Am Jim]

Cal & Ron:

Mucho thanks for the interesting tale of the 2136s. A friend has a Corvette body up for sale at Lesco's website and told me about the Cobra. I must admit that I was a bit interested considering the price.

[Jamo]

Very funny Gramps

Gone thru this thread several times since you put it up. Just now noticed the comment about the quick jacks.