<< Prev Page 2 of 2 In the mean time, the world's largest manufacturer and Ford's biggest competitor, General Motors worked intensively on building their fastest GT-racer yet. Dubbed Sting Ray, the fastest Corvette to date was set to make its debut at the 1962 Riverside 3-hour race for Grand-Touring cars. Coincidently Shelby's workshop was around the corner of the Riverside track and his competition Cobras were about ready to make their debut as well. So in a weird twist of fate, both GM's and Ford's latest racers made their debut in the same race.
In qualifying Shelby took the wheel of one of the two Cobras entered and shocked the crowd and even more so GM's racing division by lapping over four seconds faster than the fastest Sting Ray. In the race Bill Krause had built up a lead of over 30 seconds in the first 30 minutes. He was forced to retire when a wheel came off and in doing so he handed the victory to one of the Sting Rays. A legend was born that day, but it wasn't the Sting Ray!
Vowing to decimate the Sting Rays in the following season, Shelby and his Cobras took part in the first US manufacturers' championship in 1963. The Cobra's dominance was total and Shelby took the title with 111 points over Ferrari's 28 and Chevrolet's 19. All but one of the seven races of the championship were won by a Cobra. During the season, the Cobra received a full FIA homologation, which made it eligible for the World Championship races. Around the same time a new Ford engine became available; the 4.7 litre '289', which in competition form was good for at least 340 bhp.
Two of the new FIA homologated 289 engined cars were prepared for the most important round of the World Championship; the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ford was not very cooperative, but the hardtop equipped cars were ready in time to be handed over to AC Cars in the UK and Ed Hugus representing the US. In the high speed race the roadster's biggest problem was its poor aerodynamics, which limited is top speed considerably. Eventually the British car finished seventh overall and fourth in class behind three Ferrari 250 GTOs. The American car was forced to retire after one of the con rods pierced the engine.
Although the Cobra's first outing at Le Mans did not prove as successful as its American campaign, it did learn the team a valuable lesson. In the 1964 running a special low drag coupe version was campaigned, which solved the roadster's problems and ended Ferrari's dominance in the GT class. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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In the mean time, the world's largest manufacturer and Ford's biggest competitor, General Motors worked intensively on building their fastest GT-racer yet. Dubbed Sting Ray, the fastest Corvette to date was set to make its debut at the 1962 Riverside 3-hour race for Grand-Touring cars. Coincidently Shelby's workshop was around the corner of the Riverside track and his competition Cobras were about ready to make their debut as well. So in a weird twist of fate, both GM's and Ford's latest racers made their debut in the same race.