|
Greetings!
Monterey! Need we say more? It was no doubt the premier Cobra gathering of our lifetime. The greatest Cobras and people were there with every moment filled with racing, seminars, tours, autograph sessions, picnic talks, etc. We dedicate this issue of the newsletter to sharing some of the activities and stories with you below.
Enjoy,
Peter (& Gayle) Brock
BRE
|
McCalls Motorworks Revival
16! Daytona Cobra Coupes on Display
 Our Cobra week started at the Monterey Jet Center where 16 Coupes from our group were on display in the midst of other amazing cars and aircraft. The Cobra displays all week were impressive but the best part was that the owners of these cars, who have been e-mailing and talking to each other over the years, now met in person and saw each other's cars in the flesh... so to speak.
|
Cobra Racers Seminar
A big thanks to Hagerty for putting on this free seminar
 The next morning after McCall's we headed out early to the Monterey Marriott for a morning seminar on Cobra Racers organized by, and free to attendees thanks to, Hagerty Insurance. The panel consisted of Shelby American members (from left to right) Lew Spencer, myself, John Morton and Allen Grant. What fun! The guys didn't hold back. In one exchange, the moderator asked Grant how he went from being a welder at Shelby's to being a driver. Lew quickly leaned forward, with a smile, to offer; "It's because he wasn't a very good welder". At which point Grant retorted: "Hey, I was saying nice things about you Lew. I'm going to stop lying now." It was a laugh a minute and showed the wonderful camaraderie that still exists with us today.
|
"Remembering Carroll"
Rolex dinner was as special as it sounds
| |
 Friday night was the Rolex dinner where John Morton, Edsel Ford and myself, moderated by Murray Smith, shared stories of "Remembering Carroll". Edsel pointed out how active Carroll was to the end. I compared how Shelby American was successful with both the $1.98 Cobra project and the multi-million $ GT40 program. John shared a very special moment as he described going back to the shop in Venice when Carroll died. As he said, it was where his career began and a part of that important history is now gone.
|
All Cobras on Track
Original or replica, roadster or coupe
 Hundreds of Cobras parked in the Corral parking area were quite a sight, then we hit the track! The Cobra parade laps Saturday weren't so much about the vision of hundreds of Cobras loping around the track following motorcycle cop escorts as it was about the experience for the participants. Karen Salvaggio shared (seen here on the parade laps in her FFR Coupe with daughter Tracy); "It was awesome to share this adventure with my daughter Tracy, who has grown up at racetracks, and has been part of my crazy racing life for all these years."
|
|
Bondurant and Myself Swap Cobra Stories
The Monterey "Picnic" was the place to be at noon Saturday
|  Immediately following the parade laps was the picnic gathering at Ford's trackside booth, moderated by Murray Smith (center) who asked Bondurant (left) and I to share some Cobra stories.
A story I love to hear Bob share was how he was greeted when he arrived at Heathrow airport in '65 to start his driving career in Europe. In 1965 the Coupes were handed over to Alan Mann Racing to race the season on behalf of Shelby American, as Shelby's sole focus was to be the Ford GT40s. Bob was impressed when he saw Mann himself at the airport to greet him. The impression quickly changed as Mann said he was meeting Bob in person so that if Bob wanted to take the next plane back to the US he could make it happen.
Mann explained that his was an English team and he had two English drivers that would be the top two drivers. If Bob wanted to drive for the team, he was to follow behind. Bob said he understood and he'd stay. He didn't however say he agreed and at that moment Bob vowed to qualify the fastest and to win every race possible. After many successful runs, on July 4th, 1965 Bob won at Reims, securing the FIA GT World Championship for the Daytona Cobra Coupe and the US manufacturer, Shelby American.
|
CSX2286 Hits the Track
Literally
 A highlight of Saturday's track action was the Cobra race with 35 original lightweight Cobras and one Cobra Daytona Coupe, CSX2286. I happened to be photographing the race at turn 5 when the Coupe's brakes locked and it went into the tire wall, no fault of the driver. It was the only race I covered, having run over to turn 5 with my camera gear as quickly as possible after the Ford picnic talk.
I've been frequently asked for my opinion on the racing/crashing of one of the original 6 Coupes. I personally think it's great that this car is being raced. Any race car for that matter, should be honored as art in motion, not art sitting still on grass or behind glass. Cobras are easy to fix and the Daytonas, especially with their "on-track test period" in '64, were modified from race-to-race. I hope we will see it out there again next year!
|
| Autograph Sessions
The BRE booth was a hub of activity
| |
 Autograph sessions were held each day at our booth. It's always a treat to hear people tell their own car stories. Saturday's one hour autograph session went 4 hours as I couldn't tear myself away from all the interesting people stopping by. It was a great time.
 The most popular items in our booth were our staple of Cobra shirts and our new comfy fleece pullovers (seen here).
 Then the original '97 Monterey event posters commemorating Shelby (seen above featuring Bill Neale's art) were snapped up quite quickly. We have 23 of these original posters left. A reproduction poster will not be made.
Next popular was the first poster Shelby American came out with, celebrating the 1963 Cobra Roadster Championship (seen here to the left, these are reproductions).
 Books were also very popular. Colin Comer stopped by to autograph our remaining inventory of his Fifty Years of Cobra book (available autographed while our supply lasts). And of course the Shelby biography was a special offering.
|
| Raffle Winner
My Author's Proof book goes to a deserving winner
| |
Thanks go to everyone that entered the raffle to win my team autographed Author's Proof edition of the Daytona Cobra Coupe book from 1995. This is such a great community of people that whenever someone entered, that was the person we wanted to win. Yet, we were still surprised when the raffle ticket I picked out of the bowl matched up with Charlie Stringfellow's receipt. You may remember Charlie's name from a previous newsletter where it was mentioned he provided his McCluskey-built Coupe to the Jefferson 500 to use as the pace car, for parade laps and for worker rides, when I was their Grand Marshal this year. Winning the book is a really good example of good deeds coming right back at you (-:
 And speaking of good deeds, we want to thank the great BRE team that made our participation in all the activities this year possible. From L to R back row: Brian, Alison and Stan (Gayle and I at the table).
|
|
Speaking of Good Homes
Coupe SPC010 finds the perfect home in VA
|  SPC010 has gone to a wonderful home in VA where it will join a Superformance Cobra roadster and a late model Shelby GT500. All cars are swiss red with white stripes... it's definitely at home! Thanks to all who inquired about it.
|
|
In Closing
 I was reminded repeatedly during Monterey week how great this car community is (not that I really need reminding). Last year when the Cobra marque was announced, Gayle came up with the idea to rent a motel at Monterey for Coupe owners (we had more than 20 Coupes stay with us this year (seen here), along with 50 owners and guests). She negotiated with the hotel for rooms and marked off parking, and with the track for trailer parking, and with various events (the passes to the McCall's event were worth more than $12,000 alone and she got front row seating for our Coupe group at the Cobra Racers seminar). She worked with SAAC Norcal to get info to people on how to get Corral parking, track admission and parade lap passes. Everyone staying at the motel got a shirt, an issue of Classic Motorsports with the article I wrote on the Cobra Daytona Coupe and was provided maps, contact lists and schedules.
 Her consistent response as people thanked her, was that she wouldn't have for a second considered doing this if they weren't the wonderful people they are. She in turn thanked them, saying she was having the best time thanks to their being such great people.
Now it's my turn. Thank you all for being who you are. You enrichen our lives in ways you cannot imagine.
All the best,
Peter Brock (& Gayle, the woman standing behind me wearing all the hats around here)
BRE
342 Sunpac Ct
Henderson, NV 89011
702-558-3374
|
|
|
|
