Yesterday we shared with you the news that Ludovic Caron had travelled to Goodwood with his Shelby American ‘works’ Cobra for some pre-Revival testing with Anthony Reid. As we mentioned when we featured the car as one of our Goodwood Greats, this is not just a Cobra, but one of the Cobras.
It’s always good to see one of these cars driven as Carroll Shelby intended, but the fact that this car is a cornerstone of the whole Cobra story means that GRR sports a particularly broad grin whenever we see it circulating at ten-tenths.
At the Revival Monsieur Caron will pilot the car with BTCC hero Anthony Reid, who’d been invited along to offer the benefit of his vast experience and improve the car’s performance around Goodwood. What we have here is some footage of Reidy putting in some initial laps to get a feel for how the Cobra was behaving.
Without giving too much away, the challenge with this Cobra lies with the transverse leaf springs which it runs at both ends: Too stiff and the tyres do the work of the suspension, which reduces mechanical grip. However, relieving the spring encourages suspension movement but also means more camber and toe in/out change over the bumps. So it’s a fine balancing act.
Mr Reid reckons that the car could be a contender in the prestigious Tourist Trophy at the Revival meeting. Looking at the footage here, it looks plenty fast enough as it is to us. If the proposed set-up changes come to fruition and the car goes faster than it does here, what odds it becomes the second Cobra to win the TT in two years?
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