09 Sep 04
Some 40 years ago the AC Cobra ruled the race tracks of North America. In national championships it was the class of field and, for many, that would have been enough. But not for Carroll Shelby. Shelby, the Texan who had won Le Mans for Aston Martin in 1959, was not content with simply dominating in his own back yard. He had gone to Le Mans in '59 in the face of apparently overwhelming opposition from Ferrari but humbled the might of Maranello. It was something he felt he could develop a taste for.
Problem was, when pitched against this rather more serious international opposition, the Cobra was found to be seriously lacking. Antediluvian suspension meant they struggled to keep up with such as the Ferrari 250GTO in the corners while the Cobra's bluff shape meant that, despite its bigger, more powerful engine, the rather more slippery GTOs still came past on the straights. So Shelby asked a young designer called Peter Brock to craft a new body for the Cobra and the Daytona Coupe was born. And it transformed the Cobra's fortune.
It was so fast that Enzo Ferrari had to get the last round of the 1964 world sportscar championship cancelled to stop the Daytona taking the title. How did he do this? Easy. It was at Monza. Knowing he was beaten, Ferrari withdrew from the GT class for 1965 and the Daytonas swept the field and passed into history.
What you're looking at here is not a Daytona Coupe. Just six were built and each is worth several million. But in many ways this replica, the Superformance Le Mans Coupe, is even better. And it costs just £88,000.
