{"id":2841,"date":"2009-04-24T11:56:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-24T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2009\/04\/snake-bite\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T12:00:56","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T17:00:56","slug":"snake-bite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2009\/04\/snake-bite\/","title":{"rendered":"Snake Bite"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cobras<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t usually give much attention to the so-called supercars, Ferraris, Duesenbergs, Corvettes and the like, for they all have their own very substantial constituencies. I don’t even dote on Mustangs, except to appreciate their Falcon origins<\/a>. As a result I was not wildly excited when invited to visit the Shelby American Collection<\/a>. By the end of the tour, though, I was glad I went.<\/p>\n

Unobtrusively located adjacent to a Boulder, Colorado, shopping mall, the Collection includes some of the most famous and significant examples of Shelby cars, the Cobras, Shelby Mustangs and GT40s. We were fortunate to have as our guides<\/a> Greg Volan (left), the director, and Frank Barrett, who has just written a book<\/a> about the detailed histories of the cars.<\/p>\n

The tour starts with AC, for it was the AC Ace<\/a> that was the basis for the original Cobra, powered by a 260 cubic inch smallblock Ford engine. The Collection also has street 289<\/a>– and 427<\/a>-engined Cobras, and a Sunbeam Tiger<\/a>, which also used the Ford engine, thrown in for good measure. The Dragonsnake<\/a> was a Shelby promotional competition car with movie credentials.<\/p>\n

Competition Cobras include CSX 2385, a 289 USRRC car<\/a> owned and driven by baby food scion<\/a> Dan Gerber, and CSX 2345, the factory team 289<\/a> FIA car<\/a> with rich competition history (the CSX numbers are their Shelby serials; the faithful know them by number). Something completely different is the Willment Daytona Coupe<\/a>, CSX 2131, bodied in England. CSX 2155 is a “customer” LeMans replica<\/a> roadster, campaigned in 1964. This Daytona Coupe<\/a>, CSX 2299, was built to race against the Ferrari 250 GTO. It won four races and finished second three times during 1964-65, driven by Dan Gurney, Bob Bondurant and Jack Sears, among others.<\/p>\n

Among the Shelby Mustangs are SFM 5R002, the first “R” model<\/a> completed, a factory mule, and SFM 5014R, the GT-350 advanced prototype<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The GT40 story is told with MkI P\/103<\/a>, the first GT40 to win a race (Daytona, 1965), and P\/1015, a Mk II 427 car<\/a>, first overall in the 1965 Daytona 24-hr race. The MkIV car J-7<\/a> ran at LeMans in 1967, but did not finish.<\/p>\n

Providing counterpoint is the Ferrari 410 Sport Scaglietti Spider<\/a> raced by Carroll Shelby and Richie Ginther. There’s plenty of memorabilia at the Shelby American Collection, including original Holman & Moody body molds<\/a> for the GT40 MkII racing coupes.<\/p>\n

Still, I didn’t become a supercar guy. My favorite of the lot was the “Cobra Delivery,” a 1963 Ford Falcon sedan delivery<\/a> that served as Shelby American’s delivery and tow vehicle. Originally a 260 V8 like our old Falcon station wagon<\/a>, it was converted to Cobra<\/a> status with a full race 289<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Shelby American Collection is open Saturdays<\/a> from 10 to 4. If you’re in Boulder on a weekend, by all means check it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t usually give much attention to the so-called supercars, Ferraris, Duesenbergs, Corvettes and the like, for they all have their own very substantial constituencies. I don’t even dote on Mustangs, except to appreciate their Falcon origins. As a result I was not wildly excited when invited to visit the Shelby American Collection. By the….<\/span>
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