Shelby Cobra Daytona, Victory at Sebring '64

By late 1963 crafty race-car builder Carroll Shelby had already proven he was going to pose a serious threat to the Old World race teams from Europe. In January of that year, his 289-ci Cobra roadster had quickly chalked up its first win. And by midyear, four Shelby-American team Cobras and six independents were kicking booty in SCCA, USRRC, and FIA events.

But as stunningly successful as the Cobra roadster was, Shelby and his gang quickly realized the car had room for even hotter performance. Aerodynamics was the key -- the roofless Cobra pushed air around like a brick.

Knowing the Cobra would need every advantage it could get if it were to take on Ferrari and the rest of the European teams, Shelby in late 1963 began work on a slicker, faster coupe variant. He gave now-legendary designer Peter Brock (creator of what became the 1963 Corvette Stingray), freedom to pen the shape. From Brock's drawings, the body was hand built atop a Cobra chassis then quickly put into action.

In testing, the coupe bodywork alone gave the Cobra a 20-mph increase in top speed. Along with the higher top end came better fuel economy too.

Trial by fire -- literally
The car's first chance came soon, at the Daytona Continental in January 1964. It was from this debut that the car drew its "Daytona" name, and the tag stuck with it from then on. Unfortunately, it wasn't such a great day for the new car. With Bob Holbert and Dave MacDonald sharing the driving chores, the car had established a comfortable lead. But then the Daytona Coupe caught fire in the pits, abruptly ending its inaugural outing.

The next stop on the tour would be different. At the Sebring 12-Hour, there would be no such mishap, leaving Holbert and MacDonald free to blast the Cobra Daytona to an easy victory in the GT class, placing them third overall.