The Cobra Daytona Coupe was first inspired by the rarest of the Shelby Cobras and it was these cars which dominated the American tracks in the 1960’s. In its day, the Cobra Daytona Coupe was a legend and today, it’s the Cobra Daytona Coupe Replica that you can relish. It’s been hand fabricated from the highest quality materials available and that translates to high performance, reliability and safety. This modern version of the Cobra Coupe really stands out when you lay your eyes on it and combined with the nostalgia and romance of the early 60’s, it’s in a class of its own apart from the Vettes, Porsches, and BMWs.
Looking back, the baby boomers will remember how the power of the Cobras on the short American tracks was unbeatable. The aerodynamics of race cars was just becoming popular in the early 60's and the actual word 'aerodynamics' was something that fit better in a conversation about jets rather than cars. There was no such thing as a ‘wind tunnel’ for a car until a man named Pete Brock convinced Shelby to develop the Shelby coupe. Brock had been hired to run a Driving School at Shelby American after graduating from the Art Center School in LA. He had done some styling work on the Corvette Stingray during the late 50’s and had become Director of Special Projects at Shelby American. He was convinced that a closed coupe would provide more speed and it was all about that new word “aerodynamics.”
In those days, designing a Cobra coupe was not the top priority for Shelby American but Brock drew up some designs anyway and eventually convinced Carroll Shelby. Together they built a plywood body buck on the 289 chassis with aluminum panels that resembled the existing coupe model. The first coupe was assembled at Shelby American as CSX 2287 and it was totally unique. The roof was a strange shape and the rear end was chopped off with a movable wing on the back. The designers may not have been engineers but they had a lot of practical experience and they knew how to build cars that went fast. The Cobra Coupe became the final product of a group of experienced racers. Now today, you can get your hands on the replica coming out of Powell, Wyoming. Highland Daytona Racing is the modern answer to an age old legend. Check them out at www.hdrcoupe.com and you won’t be disappointed.
