<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Like the chassis and suspension, the new Shelby Can-Am car's body was also constructed by Terry's Transatlantic Automotive Consultants. The aluminium body was tightly draped over the rolling chassis, clearly to limit the car's drag. Halfway through the 1967 season, the first example was completed in England and then shipped, less engine, to Shelby's shop in California. Here it was completely disassembled, and rebuilt again to Shelby's high standards. The same had been done with the original King Cobras after they arrived from Cooper a few years earlier.
Officially known as the T-10 in reference to designer Len Terry, the car was at the time simply referred to as the King Cobra. As the car had arrived from England just ten days before the start of the season, it was no surprise Shelby had to sit out the opening rounds. The car finally made its long awaited debut at Shelby's home track, Riverside. Tasked to drive the car was Jerry Titus but the new King Cobra clearly proved out of its depth against the much more powerful Chevrolet engined rivals. Titus started the race in 13th but then retired with a fuel pump failure.
Titus and the King Cobra were back out at the Las Vegas round but this time the pairing did not even make it onto the grid following a practice crash due to a suspension failure. As it turned out, Terry's novel suspension design did have some drawbacks. Most notable from the outside was the tendency to continue to lean to one side following a corner. Titus' car was not rebuilt and the running gear was used to complete the second of the three tubs supplied by Terry.
At the end of the year, Ford suspended all motorsports activities and also withdrew its support of Shelby's private ventures. As a result, the King Cobra program was shelved and the only complete example and the spare tub were sold to Mike Koslosky. He raced the car with some success, particularly after fitting a Chevrolet V8. Shelby would continue fielding Can-Am entries but this time using off the shelf Lola and McLaren chassis, although success remained elusive. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Like the chassis and suspension, the new Shelby Can-Am car's body was also constructed by Terry's Transatlantic Automotive Consultants. The aluminium body was tightly draped over the rolling chassis, clearly to limit the car's drag. Halfway through the 1967 season, the first example was completed in England and then shipped, less engine, to Shelby's shop in California. Here it was completely disassembled, and rebuilt again to Shelby's high standards. The same had been done with the original King Cobras after they arrived from Cooper a few years earlier.