Carroll Shelby – Pulpaddict

SHELBY-POWERED BIRDCAGE MASERATI

Three American racing legends – Carroll Shelby, Briggs Cunningham and Al Momo – joined forces in 1963, resulting in a SHELBY-POWERED BIRDCAGE MASERATI racecar.

Transplanting American V8 engines into imported sports racers gained popularity in the early-mid-1960s. American V8s were often inexpensive, simple to modify and maintain, and in many cases lighter than imports. Most importantly, they produced maximum horsepower and torque at considerably lower and more useable rpm for improved performance and durability.

Ford’s lightweight 260-289 V8, which was elevated to international status by Carroll Shelby’s Cobras, caught the attention of Alfred Momo and Briggs Cunningham in 1963. Momo managed Briggs Cunningham’s racing team and operated a full sports car and racing services facility in New York City. Cunningham built sports cars and racecars in 1951-1955, took Corvettes to Le Mans in 1960 and was the highest-profile racing team owner-driver in the U.S in the late-1950s and early-1960s.

Both Cunningham and Momo were aware of Shelby’s success with Ford-powered Cobras and decided to bring him in while Momo was rebuilding one of two Maserati Tipo 64 Birdcages (#64.002). It had been built in 1962 as a Tipo 63 and later returned to Italy for chassis updates, rear suspension change, weight reduction and relocation of the engine for better weight distribution.

Its fully independent rear suspension was replaced with a De Dion setup located with its own tubular framework. Power came from a 60-degree 183-cubic-inch V12 with four cams and six Weber 35-DCV carburetors. Output was 320 horsepower at 8,200 rpm. This is the same engine used by Maserati in 1957 in its Formula One 250.Shelby suggested a 289-cubic inch Cobra competition engine that would put out more useable horsepower and torque at more than 1,000 rpm less than the V12. I spent a day in August 1963 at Momo Competition after the Shelby-Ford 289, fitted by Al Momo with four Weber 4610-M1 carburetors, was installed in the SHELBY-POWERED BIRDCAGE MASERATI and fired up. The 289’s headers were plumbed into rear exit quad megaphones. It had an incredible bark – much more raucous sounding than a competition Cobra. Rated at 340-horsepower at 7,000 rpm, the engine was fitted with ported and polished heads like the ones used on FIA Cobras, a Motorola alternator and Spalding Flamethrower ignition. It was shipped with an aluminum Cobra-Weber intake manifold sans carburetors, and a custom nine-quart oil pan.

Unlike previous Birdcages that Cunningham had raced, this was the first to utilize a De Dion rear suspension with a five-speed gearbox and an interchangeable Fifth gear. To adapt the Cobra engine, Momo chopped the Ford bellhousing and utilized a Maserati flywheel and clutch. Clutch and throttle, linkage were converted to hydraulic-assist utilizing slave cylinders. To compensate for the new powerplant, adjustable Armstrong shocks and beefier 42-mm knock-off hubs were added. An aluminum cross-flow radiator, aided by small vents in the aluminum rear body panels, cooled the fan-less engine. Ready to race, the SHELBY-POWERED BIRDCAGE MASERATI weighed in at 1,400 pounds, exactly one pound less than with the V12!With the help of Willem Oosthoek, author of Birdcage to Supercage and Larry Berman, Cunningham historian, we were able to track the Ford-powered Birdcage’s racing history. The first time out with Walt Hansgen driving, #64.002 took a Third overall at the Watkins Glen SCCA Nationals on August 24, 1963. Primary drivers were Cunningham, Augie Pabst and Paul Richards. Dr. Dick Thompson also spent some seat time in Tipo #64.002.

Over the years ownership of #64.002 passed from Cunningham to Pabst and then to Ham Vose. It competed at the Bridgehampton Double 500, Los Angeles Times GP at Riverside and many regional events in 1963. The last big race it ran was the USRRC event at Augusta. In later years, still fitted with the Shelby Cobra engine, it was on display at the Blackhawk Collection.

Checkout the history of the Maserati Birdcage @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati_Tipo_61

COBRA IN A MASERATI BIRDCAGE!

Three American racing legends – Carroll Shelby, Briggs Cunningham and Al Momo joined forces in 1963, resulting in an exotic COBRA IN A MASERATI BIRDCAGE!

Ford’s lightweight 260-289 V8, which was elevated to International status by Carroll Shelby’s Cobras, caught the attention of Alfred Momo and Briggs Cunningham in 1963. Momo managed Briggs Cunningham’s racing team and operated a full sports car and racing services facility in New York City. Cunningham built sports cars and racecars in 1951-1955, took Corvettes to Le Mans in 1960 and was the highest-profile racing team owner-driver in the U.S in the late-1950s and early-1960s.

In 1963 Cunningham spent a lot of time racing Momo-prepared Maserati Tipos, also known as Birdcages because of their unique triangulated small-diameter tubular chassis construction. The original Tipo chassis weighed just 66 pounds and resembled a large birdcage. It was originally fitted with a three-liter DOHC V12 engine, below. While considered state-of-the-art because of unique space-frame construction, they were plagued with suspension failures leading to serious handling and reliability issues. At the time Maserati was cash-starved, negatively affecting racecar development.Both Cunningham and Momo were aware of Shelby’s success with Ford-powered Cobras and decided to bring him in while Momo was rebuilding one of two Maserati Tipo 64 Birdcages (#64.002). It had been built in 1962 as a Tipo 63 and later returned to Italy for chassis updates, rear suspension change, weight reduction and relocation of the engine for better weight distribution. Its fully independent rear suspension was replaced with a De Dion setup located with its own tubular framework. Power came from a 60-degree 183-cubic-inch V12 with four cams and six Weber 35-DCV carburetors. Output was 320 horsepower at 8,200 rpm. This is the same engine used by Maserati in 1957 in its Formula One 250.

Shelby suggested a 289-cubic inch Cobra competition engine, above, that would put out more useable horsepower and torque at more than 1,000 rpm less than the V12. I spent a day in August 1963 at Momo Competition after the Shelby-Ford 289, fitted by Al Momo with four Weber 4610-M1 carburetors, was installed and fired up. The 289’s headers were plumbed into rear exit quad megaphones. It had an incredible bark – much more raucous sounding than a competition Cobra. Rated at 340-horsepower at 7,000 rpm, the engine was fitted with ported and polished heads like the ones used on FIA Cobras, a Motorola alternator and Spalding Flamethrower ignition. It was shipped with an aluminum Cobra-Weber intake manifold sans carburetors, and a custom nine-quart oil pan.

Unlike previous Birdcages that Cunningham had raced, the COBRA IN A MASERATI BIRDCAGE! was the first to utilize a De Dion rear suspension with a five-speed gearbox and an interchangeable Fifth gear. To adapt the Cobra engine, Momo chopped the Ford bellhousing and utilized a Maserati flywheel and clutch. Clutch and throttle, linkage was converted to hydraulic-assist utilizing slave cylinders.

To compensate for the new powerplant, adjustable Armstrong shocks and beefier 42-mm knock-off hubs were added. An aluminum cross-flow radiator, aided by small vents in the aluminum rear body panels, cooled the fanless engine. Ready to race, the COBRA IN A MASERATI BIRDCAGE! weighed in at 1,400 pounds, exactly one pound less than with the V12!

With the help of Willem Oosthoek, author of Birdcage to Supercage and Larry Berman, Cunningham historian, we were able to track the Ford-powered Birdcage’s racing history. The first time out with Walt Hansgen driving, #64.002 took a Third overall at the Watkins Glen SCCA Nationals on August 24, 1963. Primary drivers were Cunningham, Augie Pabst and Paul Richards. Dr. Dick Thompson also spent some seat time in Tipo #64.002.

Over the years ownership of #64.002 passed from Cunningham to Pabst and then to Ham Vose. The COBRA IN A MASERATI BIRDCAGE! competed at the Bridgehampton Double 500, Los Angeles Times GP at Riverside and many regional events in 1963. The last big race it ran was the USRRC event at Augusta. In later years, still fitted with the Shelby Cobra engine, it was on display at the Blackhawk Collection.

For more information about the Birdcage Maserati, please visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati_Tipo_61

SHELBY COBRA DAYTONA COUPE: FACTORY FIVE EDITION

With only six original Cobra Daytona Coupes built and valuations in the millions, this 427-powered replica SHELBY COBRA DAYTONA COUPE: FACTORY FIVE EDITION is an affordable and potent show or road warrior.

Considered royalty, the original Peter Brock-designed Cobra Daytona Coupe delivered the U.S. in 1965 its first and only World Manufacturers Championship for GT Cars. It would be unimaginable for the average car enthusiast to not find themselves easily enchanted by the barking, burbling sounds when firing up a classic sports car like this replica Daytona, and seeing it unleashed on the open road. Chances of seeing a real one on the road is slim to none, but a number of kit car manufacturers offer bodies and rolling chassis ready for a powertrain. The one featured here is a modern Type 65 model, from Factory Five.

Only six original Coupes, powered by 289 Ford small-blocks with Weber carburetors, were built by Shelby American, the first in California and the remaining five at Carrozzeria Gransport in Modena, Italy. And, they were campaigned in the U.S. by Shelby American drivers and in Europe, with assistance from Alan Mann Racing in England.

This Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Type 65 replica, attracts a crowd whether at a show or parked on the street. Made by Factory Five, it’s owned by Edgar Leon, Englewood, FL, who considers his Coupe a show-car built with a Grand Prix personality. And yes, even though it replicates a successful racing car, it is street legal! From the laminate composite body to the hatchback rear window, the Type 65 Coupe delivers an aggressive racecar exterior. It’s built with a jig-welded tube frame (95-inch wheelbase) and features a quality composite body with a hinged glass rear window.

Resting under the well-secured hood is blueprinted 427-inch Cobra V8 engine, based on a Dart 351-inch Ford Windsor block bored to 4.125-inches and fitted with a forged 4.00-inch stroke crank from Smeding Performance. This is a serious engine with four-bolt mains, 10.2-to-1 compression forged aluminum pistons and forged steel rods. It’s a turn-key crate engine that Smeding Performance breaks in on an in-house DTS dyno before shipping to customers. Other details include 2.08/1.60-inch valve AFR aluminum heads, 750-cfm Quick Fuel Technology double-pumper on an Edelbrock Victor single-plane manifold, hydraulic roller cam, roller rockers and a seven-quart oil pan. Redlined at 6,500 rpm and running on 91 octane pump gas, output is a very respectable 560 horsepower!

Chassis details include independent double arm front suspension along with a solid axle, FFR three-link rear suspension and power-assisted rack and pinion steering. The engine is hooked up to a Tremec five-speed transmission. When measuring the muscle, looks are just the tip of the iceberg. According to the specifications from Factory Five Racing, a 427 Type 65 Coupe is estimated to average 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds, a 12-second quarter-mile at 115 mph, and a top speed of up to 150 mph. That’s serious performance, likely better than the original and more than adequate for vintage road racing. And, just right for the road!

From upshift to downshift, Edgar Leon’s Coupe sounds like a racecar thanks to its potent powerplant and low-restriction side exhausts. It’s loud enough to wake up Dennis the Menace’s Mr. Wilson from his mid-day nap! From the driver’s perspective, Leon said the car drives very smoothly and requires a smooth touch from its driver because a fast car can become a loose car when pushing its limits. Otherwise, the car will get tail happy and spin out of control, a reminder to Leon and to every car enthusiast he meets that his Type 65 Coupe is strictly for show and gets really hot inside after driving on the road during warmer weather. It’s hard to imagine that one of the original Daytona Coupes was driven on the Bonneville Salt Flats without the benefit of AC. That car is now at the Simeone Foundation Museum in Philadelphia, PA

Race ready under the hood as well as inside, Edgar Leon’s Coupe comes with quality bucket seats, five-point Simpson harness, and Allen Grant’s signature on the dashboard. Grant raced Cobras and Daytona Coupes for Shelby American back in the day. Its interior is far more detailed and luxurious than Shelby’s original which was designed and engineered purely for racing on the world stage.

This coupe is a reflection of an iconic all-American racecar, driven by legendary drivers to legendary wins in Europe and the U.S.

Words & Photos: Dan Fisher

For more information about the SHELBY COBRA DAYTONA COUPE: FACTORY FIVE EDITION, please visit https://www.factoryfive.com/type-65-coupe/

Check out engine builder Smeding Performance @ https://smedingperformance.com/collections/ford-engines/products/427-cobra?variant=11963071397924

SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK!

Read about The Renegades Who Built the Cars, Won the Races, and Lived the Legend in Preston Lerner’s SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK!

Carroll Shelby is an American hero and he’s been my personal hero since first meeting him in mid-1963. When he launched Shelby American and produced Ford V8-engined variants of the original British AC Ace, I was the editor of two hot rod and custom car magazines – CUSTOM RODDER and CAR, Speed & Style – and worked on the company’s flagship magazine, CARS, in New York City.

After riding shotgun with him in a black (Livery #198) competition Cobra at Riverside on June 11, 1963, Carroll Shelby became my hero. It was while I was covering Ford’s 1964 new model press preview. Shelby had been partying in his suite at the Mission Inn the night before and he was feeling no pain when I left at around midnight. There was an early morning breakfast call the next day and I was out at the track, not long after the sun came up, with Cobra racecar driver Dave MacDonald and Ford’s Fran Hernandez. I had signed up to ride with Shelby in a Cobra. They were tuning the 289’s Webers, making sure the Cobra was ready for the boss and out comes Shelby who couldn’t have had more than a couple of hours sleep. He tosses me a helmet and says, “Let’s ride.”

When I had left his suite the night before, I was pretty sure he would not make it to the track before lunch! MacDonald buckled me in and off we went. Bottomline, he joked with me all the way around the track, and I got the feeling he could have nailed it blindfolded. He knew the “line” as though it had been embedded in his brain, and he drove it like he was in a race. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

He was happiest when he was behind the wheel of a race car, especially on his home track. I still have the photo of Shelby wearing a white Ford Racing baseball cap, MacDonald cranking the engine and Hernandez making final adjustments on the Webers. Had it not been for serious medical conditions, Shelby could have been a world championship driver. He did win Le Mans, above, with co-driver Roy Salvadori, in a factory Aston Martin DBR1/300 in 1959. He was that good!

Unlike the typical coffee table tomes covering Shelby, his cars, and his wins at Le Mans, Lerner has produced an old-fashioned book that you want to read and not skim for the art. What a concept! Don’t expect beautiful color photos, coated stock and endless racecar specs and chassis numbers. That’s not what this book is about.

Over my career as a magazine editor and photojournalist I had spent a lot of time talking with Shelby, mostly at the track and at Ford press events. Even though I had interviewed Shelby numerous times and visited his 12-acre facility at LAX, reading SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! I learned so much. Not necessarily about the cars. It was the people who worked for Shelby and built its winning cars that really made Shelby American: Phil Remington, Ken Miles, and an endless parade of fabricators, mechanics, managers, crew chiefs administrators. Working with Ford’s Roy Lunn (Godfather of the GT40, and Le Mans-winning 427 Mark II and Mark IV) and his team at Kar-Kraft, Remington, on loan from Shelby, was directly involved in the creation of the 427 Mark II prototype, and later sorting out the Mark IV (body design and aerodynamics) after Miles’ fatal crash during testing at Riverside.

There’s a laundry list of Shelby American alumni, in addition to Miles and Remington, who get their due from Lerner: Charlie Agapiou (crew chief, mechanic and serial trickster), Peter Brock, Chuck Cantwell, Gordon Chance, Peyton Cramer, John Collins, Al Dowd, Bill Eaton, Phil Henny, Max Kelly, Bernie Kretzschmar, Frank Lance, Dave MacDonald, Steele Therkleson, and many more. Because I had spent all of my time with Shelby or one of his PR people, and spent little to no time with most of the car building and racing team members, SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! proved to be a real treat for me.

Preston Lerner also takes you behind the scenes – post-1967 Le Mans – at some of Shelby’s less successful ventures like, how he got and the results of, Toyota’s first 2000GT, above, racing program and the overly complex Turbine Indy car, below, project sponsored by Botany 500 that ended up costing $500,00 over its one-million-dollar budget. They ended up with a pair of cars, that never made the starting grid. Lerner explains the why and how the cars had to be withdrawn from the race. It was not a pretty picture.

Brock Yates wrote about the Indy 500 Turbine cars in his Car and Driver, August 1968 column: “They were the Ken Wallis/Carroll Shelby turbines that have to be included with the Titanic and the Gallipoli campaign as one of the great debacles of the Twentieth Century.”

After winning Le Mans in 1967, Henry Ford II got what he wanted but the company’s bean-counters wanted more. They wanted to end its relationship with Carroll Shelby. But not completely. There was still a contact to run Mustangs, above, in the Trans-Am Series and Shelby delivered with Ford winning the 1967 Championship. And, even after Ford cleaned-out Shelby’s LAX facility, taking trailer loads of everything related to GT40s, Mark IIs, and Mark IVs and delivering them to Holman & Moody, Ford contracted with Shelby in 1968 to build and field a Can-Am car. That was another debacle.

Carroll Shelby never really wanted to build low-volume production cars like the GT350 and GT500 Mustangs. He wanted to build and campaign racecars, but they were a valuable profit-center. Losing control of the 1968 GT Mustang program was both financial and public relations losses. Shelby made a lot of money with the Mustang GT program even though the cars were incredibly hard to sell. They often languished at Ford dealers until they were discounted. Today they are pricy collectibles, not unlike the Cobras that challenged the status quo before the Mustangs, and won!

After losing control of Shelby GT Mustangs, Carroll Shelby spent a bunch of years exploring business opportunities in Africa, building his chili brand and other ventures. Lee Iacocca left Ford to go to Chrysler and brought his old pal in to get involved with a line of Shelby performance cars. He worked with Ford once again during the 2005-2006 Ford GT program, and once again Carroll Shelby was welcome in Dearborn!

The publisher’s press release copy for Preston Lerner’s SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! says a lot about the man whose name is on so many cars that are topday considered iconic. “Always standing above it all was Carroll Shelby himself. Dynamic, charismatic, mercurial, mercenary, and a little bit dangerous, he had to fight Ford bean-counters as fiercely as he dueled with Enzo Ferrari. But for a few magical years, Shelby managed to beat both of them at their own games.”

True that is. However, what Ford had given, Ford had also taken back! One of those contacts that Ford and Shelby had signed included a multi-million-dollar loan agreement and ended up giving Ford use of the COBRA name. Add that to the wins at Le Mans; over decades Ford has certainly gotten its money’s worth out of the relationship.

Books written about Carroll Shelby and Shelby American during the 1960s and 1970s, rarely ever delved into the negatives and glossed over Shelby’s less-than-successful projects. Preston Lerner’s SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! opens doors rarely opened before to see the man with all his warts as well as his genius. And, pays tribute to the people who supported him during the golden years of Shelby American. All the great road and race cars bearing Shelby brands and cars are covered as well, including the Cobra Daytona Coupe, above.

SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! is a great read and, best of all, you can take it along when traveling unlike all the coffee table books that best remain on coffee tables!

Published by Octane Press, the 328-page hardcover SHELBY AMERICAN: The Renegades Who Built the Cars, Won the Races, and Lived the Legend is available at, https://octanepress.com/book/shelby-american-carroll-cobra-mustang-GT350-GT500-Ford-preston-lerner

https://www.amazon.com/Shelby-American-Renegades-Built-Legend/dp/1642341215

SHELBY GT350: MUSTANG WITH COBRA BITE!

Converting a 1965-’66 Mustang into a SHELBY GT350: MUSTANG WITH COBRA BITE! may not have been rocket science – but the results were: Sound, fury and the SCCA B/Production National Championship.

Ford market surveys revealed that a sizeable percentage of young Mustang shoppers who didn’t buy Mustangs, did buy Corvettes and imported sports cars. Marketing manager, Bob Johnson, shared the details with Ray Geddes at Ford Special Vehicles Activity. At the time, there was a small, low-profile group at Ford trying to get SCCA approval for a modified 289/271 Mustang notchback. But they weren’t getting anywhere.

Ray Geddes went to SVA’s Jacque Passino who felt that participating in SCCA road racing was the key to creating an upscale sports car image for the Mustang. “If you want to get a Mustang homologated for Production class racing, it should be built by Carroll Shelby,” said Passino. He had worked with Shelby during the early days of Ford’s involvement in the Cobra program and knew that he had the resources to make it happen. Passino also supported some involvement in drag racing GT350s in NHRA’s B/Sports class. Gus Zuidema at Harr Ford was a top contender in B/SP competition. Lee Iacocca agreed and supported Passino. The results: SHELBY GT350: MUSTANG WITH COBRA BITE!

David Conwill writes about the details and values of the first generation – 1965 –’66 Shelby GT Mustangs in the July issue of Hemmings Motor News.

The Ford Mustang had a problem when it was first introduced. Although it was a sales success, performance-oriented consumers couldn’t take it seriously. To them, it was mostly just a slicked-up Falcon and the hottest V-8 engine, the Fairlane-derived 271-horsepower Hi-Po 289, didn’t move the needle when compared with the fire-breathing 427-cubic-inch big-blocks in full-size cars. Ford’s answer was to turn to Carroll Shelby, the ex-racer who had begun importing AC roadsters in 1962, fitting them with 260- and 289 Ford small-block V-8s and unleashing them on the sportscar scene where they proved very effective at humiliating Chevrolet’s Corvette. Shelby’s job was to give the Mustang fastback the Cobra treatment and turn it loose in SCCA racing to build the new pony car’s sporting credentials.

Shelby started with Hi-Po fastbacks and pulled out back seats to comply with SCCA B-Production rules. The 271-horsepower engine was reworked to put out 306 horsepower. Other tweaks included a thicker front anti-sway bar and Koni shocks, faster steering, 15 x 6-inch wheels with low-profile tires, bigger brakes, a Detroit Locker differential, and control-arm relocation and a trunk-mounted battery on the earliest cars. The full-race 350R versions went even further, with 360 horsepower, fender flares to clear wider tires, a hood scoop, plain rear quarter-window panels instead of louvers, a special plexiglass rear window with a slot under the roof for ventilation, and an enlarged front air intake—but any GT350 had the makings of a competition car already.

Continue reading about the SHELBY GT350: MUSTANG WITH COBRA BITE in David Conwill’s feature @ https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/06/30/1965-66-ford-mustang-shelby-gt350-value-profile-0622?refer=news