1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe | Tribute by Superformance

Hey guys, what's up? I'm Sean Otto Topia La and today we return to SuPerformance. Today we delve into what I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for and today is finally the day we're going to dig deeper. It's hard to say this about the Shelby Daytona Coupe, but it's possibly the best Ferrari killer out there and not only are we going to delve into all the wonderful details of the car, but most importantly, I get to drive this car today, so let's go Let's jump in and do our thing and all I can say right now is hold on because here we go guys okay guys we're back with my friend Doug here at the top presentation so what we're going to do today is Let's take a deeper dive into this Daytona Coupe because there's a lot to it besides the legendary history of the Daytona Coupe.

I already learned a lot about this car, like number one, when you guys got the license to produce it. car, Peter Brock was involved in the design of this car, so Peter Brock designed the original car but he also designed this exact one, that's how Lance Stander had top performance and Shelby's legendary cars roll, yeah, he'll only do something if It's super legit, yeah, how else? legit and you give Peter Brock a blank sheet of paper and a second chance to design the Daytona Coupe of his dreams, like he would have done back then if he had the time instead of because he was in his 90s, yeah, I did. had. 90 days and a Cobra 289 chassis to come up with something that will be Ferrari redesigned the chassis, he couldn't do anything, he had to deal with that chassis, that engine now build something that could exceed 160 miles per hour exactly because fi rules in time te it allowed you to remodel an existing car, but you couldn't complete a new car, otherwise you had to go through homologation again, so he never tired of amalah Gatien in the 289 car, but he invented a

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body, literally sketches? the car on a napkin, the first sketches ninety days later, went out to Riverside at about 186 miles per hour, so it's just a

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version of the 289 FIA Brett and first competes with the Daytona Continental in 1964, so that they called it Daytona and then they were just crushing Ferrari.

Oh God, look at that car, laugh, and one of the best things about it is the aerodynamics that Peter designed into the fuel consumption of the car, which for drag racing is very important, yeah, so not only were they getting Tons of speed from the existing chassis and transmission, the fuel economy was insane, yes, it only allowed Ferraris to lap, yes, these cars are three percent larger overall than the original Daytona Coupe, it's Well, they're wider, a little taller, a little longer instead of a ninety-inch wheelbase. a ninety 3.2 inch wheelbase okay this car the chassis was designed new from the ground up by bob next at bob was one of the geniuses who worked on the chassis design for the gt40 at the time made this design, was working for a road, so They had all the great science and computer aided design, from Rouse to designing a modern super rigid chassis with frame, unequal upper and lower arms, custom Bilstein gas coil over shock absorbers, just like we used in brand three right in this car fifty five forty. weight distribution of five, so it is considered a front-mid engine car.

I'll show you like the motors are behind the front wheels, yeah, so this car I can't. I mean, I've owned a Daytona Coupe for fifteen years. Now my wife is the primary owner of my new yes and she is her daily driver, that's how she got the girl by the way she gave her a Daytona Coupe. The headers are so impressive and one of my favorite parts of the car because of the way they come out. up over the frame rail and then down onto these beautiful twin side tubes. One of the features of the Daytona Coupe is those twin sipes, yeah, so this one, unlike the 289 car, I guess we have considerably bigger butter here, yeah.

This is a Shelby Company all aluminum 427 stroke engine, the Windsor, so it's a 351 Windsor under alpha 427 breathing through something very nice, very correct for Weber double barrel, it's so cool, you know, I mean, even if you hate, you admit, even if you get a little. To get more horsepower with a different setup you would have to go with this because it just looks so do this when it's set up correctly. I mean, keep in mind that this was the hot rod set up on the day you took off the barrel and fired up the Weber for more horsepower, so these will really make a lot of horsepower.

Yes, this four-cylinder engine will typically make around 525 horsepower. This one, the Weber, makes 550 and this thing weighs about 2900. pounds right there carpeted what a nice interior power brakes sure leather carpet sure one of the changes we made to the Mark 2 car was actually narrowing the a little bit. tunnel and move the seats in so you know we are about the same size In my Mark 1 car, my shoulder was touching the door panel with the door closed. Now look at how much room you have between the seat and the door, so we've got guys like up to six really comfortable sixes in a Daytona Coupe, tons of headroom.

Tons of leg room and this has period correct 15 inch wheels. You can also get the car with modern 18-inch wheels, which handle a little better on the track, but this gives you more time, better, uh, with the bigger wheel. and a lower price, really what the chassis was designed for, initially we only offered the car with the 18 inch wheel package, but then a lot of people wanted the period correct look we designed and the F package for Akita knockoffs ultra pendrive. It has Avon tires, which are a great option for the 15 because they stick really well and you'll see how good it drives on the Avons, which means, oh yeah, I'm going to be able to drive this car, yeah, you are when you drive this one. car, what we can do is roll down the windows and not use them and you'll get that vintage feel, it's about 95 degrees out of the desert values, which my head will be nice and bright and you know it gives you an appreciation of an Onderon pop.

Dan Gurney and Alan Grant, all those guys in the Fisher era of Daytona coupes, I mean, all they had was a little folded sliding window, there were fixed windows, yeah, a car and there was nothing like it. It's completely matted with Dinah, thermally insulated, everything they had. They didn't have any of that right and they had that uncomfortable seating position and their wheel on the car those cars with the 289 in the past, we're going like 197 down the Mulsanne straight, that's just unbelievable, yeah, I just can't. Imagine because look at the car, the seating position looks like your body would be like that, yeah, you know, it became like really, can you imagine spending 3 or 4 hours like they did in the past because they didn't do my verses like they often did back then so, you know, those guys were taking a long stance, you know, it rained, yeah, you know, when men were men, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that was just a different era.

I think it's time to go to the furniture. I think so too, so let's stop looking and get to cooking and I heard the side pipes that you had, you have to thank you that you wanted to offer them to the I think the owner of this, this is actually a car that is for sale on consignment and It's owned by a gentleman named Jim Bauer, so Jim, thank you for allowing us to use your baby today. Thank you very much, Jim. I mean, on the one hand, I really wanted to drive one of these and then also the gt40 that we filmed before the Gulf turned color. while the Golf GTI Ord that you loved was also Jim's car, yes, so Jim has been very generous to let his guy be so cool.

I can't believe how quiet it is in here now, these are considerably quieter, although even in the house where the Cobras are, yes. they say it would be a little wider this one has an all aluminum Shelby 351 Windsor is a 427 cubic inch small block for Weber two cylinders on top that are very correct 550 horsepower and then a Tremec five speed and I love it, it has the little 289 shifter, yes, true to its 289 roots, I tell you what it feels considerably more planted on the road, yes, more like a modern car than a Forrester chassis, yes, definitely Cobra, although I felt safe in it.

Felt dartie, you know what I mean, this has a three inch longer wheelbase which helps a lot and a little bit of wine, but that nose is so cool to look at, it's got that big radiator fan in front of the big bulge of fault power in the middle. you have those sexy raised fenders, it's just a beautiful car, it's truly amazing the story of Carroll Shelby and the number of wins it produced, yes, taking this new car from concept to Livan and winning the class almost beat it all. Crazy, I mean especially the idea that he did it in 90 days, yeah, from a cocktail napkin, that's an area that has disappeared, you know, I'm not going to say that guys don't do that, the reality is the cars, now you know they are designed. by designers in computer programs salt and 3d and yada yada yada all the different things the idea that you drew it at the cocktail party anyway yeah I know what we're going to do organically from your brain to your hand to the genius of the pain design guy, it feels so good again and again Italian it feels old it's even better with the temps they are great on this card it has to be what 19 omg 96 brown wheels like I know, I know, I want to hear the tube side, it's not that Bad, this is our fifth core with you and some of the cars caused a bit of controversy and in the conversation, not far away, everyone has a different view, so many people will maintain the fact that the superior performance comes without a transmission without the The engine and transmission are great, of course, it's not a bad thing and some people take it as if it's a bad thing, you know?

I have great friends with Dave Smith who is the owner and manufacturer of Bob's. I have a lot of respect for him and the cars. that they make the problem with the car not being a fully built car, you're at the mercy of whoever builds it, the build quality is going to fluctuate a little bit, but I've seen great cars that are built to an incredibly high standard. standard and very well made one of my best friends Karen Salvo Geo raised 25 hours under Hildur factory 5 Daytona she has a factory

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race car 5 she races those cars and puts them to the test and they hold up and then she beats a lot of people with more horsepower and stuff.

I mean, it's a good chassis, the way she set it up is great, but it's down to the way she built it and set it up properly, so if you find someone who doesn't know what she does. What you're doing or you're just not that competent ends up with what you end up with God, don't you guys? That's all for another glorious day here at your performance and being able to drive another one of your cars, that's one. I have dreamed of him all my life. I mean, this is a damn Daytona Coupe that I just drove.

It's everything you want it to be. I'd love to know what it's like to hit him, but I'm just not going to do that. I'm not going to show disrespect for what these guys do, it's someone else's car, but what an incredible experience to drive this. I'm literally shaking right now and on the verge of being speechless so I'm just going to Thanks to the guys at SuPerformance for letting me get down and shoot, thanks to my friend Doug for guiding us and talking about this car and ultimately, I thank you for being present, observing and supporting what we are doing here.

I know I appreciate it and I'll see you in the next episode, okay, later.