Any Closer And You’d Have To Build The Kit: Shelby Daytona Coupe At Circuit Paul Ricard


Any Closer And You’d Have To Build The Kit: Shelby Daytona Coupe At Circuit Paul Ricard

There were originally six of them. After finding out that the Shelby Cobra roadster could not compete against the Ferrari GTO at LeMans due to aerodynamics, something had to be done. The Shelby Cobra could top out on the Mulsanne straight somewhere in the upper 150 MPH range, where the GTO was hitting mid-180s. No amount of doing better in the corners is going to make up for that kind of difference and Shelby knew it. So he tapped Peter Brock to get the body shaped right and Bob Negstad to get the suspension beefed up and ready for the upcoming attack. With Ken Miles doing the fine-tuning and sorting, the six production Shelby Daytonas went out and and proceeded to wreak havoc in the International Championship for GT manufacturers and at Bonneville, where 25 speed records (at least) were attributed to the coupe.

Nice history, but what really makes a Daytona Coupe? One, that shape…the blunt Kamm tail combined with the new nose and the fat-bodied form that seemed to be designed around the tires catches eyes faster than Priyamani walking into a McDonald’s on a Tuesday afternoon. The noise…that glorious noise that the subtle “Powered by Ford” badge severely underrates. Together, it makes for a beast of a machine that is as radical now, tearing around Circuit Paul Ricard, it’s 289 wailing in full anger, as it had to be when it first rolled onto a track all those years ago.


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One thought on “Any Closer And You’d Have To Build The Kit: Shelby Daytona Coupe At Circuit Paul Ricard

  1. Patrick

    Great shots of the Coupe. Too bad Paul Ricard as a circuit has become the poster child for socialist safety measures run amok. Hard to even with the silly run off areas. Bubble boy meets track safety.

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