Original Daytona Coupe vs original GT40

[turnpike boy]

Originally Posted by Naumoff

Small Blocks blow up too.

They sure do......just not as easily

[Badger]

One thing not being considered here. when questioning the Daytona Coupe's 187 mph speed at Bonneville, is the altitude and the condition of the salt. The altitude killed much of the 289's potential power and the salt is not an ideally tractive surface like asphalt. That the coupe could even run 187 at Bonneville is incredible. Badger

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Bill Kesner

I agree with CSX2300, as he would truly know first hand. After Shelby and his team re-worked the GT40, this car would dominate anything Shelby and his team had in those days, as well as all the others out there at the time.
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One thing to remember is that the GT40 engines were detuned for durabiltiy. If the supercoupe were to be campaigned by shelby, I don't know if he would have done the same to the engine, so the supercoupe may have had an advantage on HP.

The other thing to remember is that Lemans I believe was mainly a top speed contest, and although handling was important, you could lose alot more ground if your car was not competative in top speed, as was the reason for the daytona coupes in the first place. The cobra roadsters were faster on short straight, many turn raceways, but were not as competative at Lemans to the Ferrari's, i.e. common knowledge.

Therefore, even though the GT40 had better aerodynamics (although Brock said the supercoupe would be faster), and handled better, if the supercoupe had a more potent engine, I think the supercoupe could have a chance in beating the GT40 at Lemans.

My understanding is that Ford killed the supercoupe project, not to compete with the GT40, or even worse, a production car beating a prototype.