This AC Cobra is a rare original American racer | GRR
Despite the passing of decades, the Shelby Cobra’s legend has never diminished. Known for not suffering fools, it has a reputation that precedes it.
A small number – just 31 – were sold as ‘independent competition cars’, intended for customer racer use rather than as road-going sportscars. ‘CSX 2448’ is one of those cars, and owner Adrian Willmott brought it to Goodwood for the first time for SpeedWeek presented by Mastercard.
Prior to Adrian buying the car from DK Engineering last year, it had a small number of previous owners, all of them in the USA. It came with a huge history file containing receipts for $470,000 worth of work; this is not a car that has been skimped on. The chassis is original, as are most of the body panels. Even the fuse box and chassis plate are exactly where they were when the car was built in 1964.
That’s not to say it hasn’t lived a life. The first owner, Paul Wood of Birmingham, Alabama, took a class championship win in the SCCA Regional in his first full year of ownership, and it continued to be in regular competition use until the late 1960s. It then had only one owner from 1976 until being bought by DK in 2019.
The high quality restoration brought it back to looking as new, the deep black paint accentuating not only the muscular shape, but also the quality of the bodywork. And it was the shape that was important to Adrian. “I wanted a 289 rather than a 427,” he says. “It’s also nice that it’s an independent race car, rather than a road car that has been converted.”
Since Adrian bought the car, it has been prepared by Classic Racing Cars, the most notable change being the introduction of a Le Mans hardtop to hide the full cage that has been fitted.
At SpeedWeek the other driver is Goodwood regular Andrew Jordan of JRT, the team that prepares Adrian’s Studebaker.
Prior to arriving at Goodwood, the duo’s seat time has been limited to a very wet test session at Silverstone before the COVID-19 lockdown. “Andrew loves it, so it must be good,” says Adrian. “Compared to the other historic cars I’ve been racing, like the DB4, Healey and Studebaker, it’s very raw. It’s properly fast on the straights and not quite so forgiving. You have respect it – it’s a full-on, hairy thing to drive.”
We spoke to Adrian ahead of his first outing and asked about his expectations. “I’ve got a bit to do, but Andrew is on the pace. I think he’s quietly confident. I think we should be up there in the mix. There is some pressure to perform, especially with someone like Andrew because he sets a benchmark and we know what the car is capable of.”
How did the duo get on in the RAC TT Celebration? Third in qualifying, fourth in the race. Missing out on a podium place by 2.3 seconds sounds like a very, very good reason to come back in 2021…
Photography by Joe Harding, Jayson Fong, Jordan Butters and Pete Summers.