Two Shelby King Cobras to highlight Ford-Cobra-Shelby Reunion

Photo courtesy Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum

Posted in Hemmings Daily

Written by Daniel Strohl

The great thing about anniversary parties is that some choice pieces of history come out of the woodwork, and that’s exactly what will happen when not one but two of the remaining Shelby-modified Cooper Monacos better known as the King Cobras will appear at the Ford-Cobra-Shelby Reunion at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, one of several events taking place across the country to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra.

Conceived and built to compete against the mid-engine cars then coming into dominance in sports car racing, the King Cobras followed essentially the same pattern as the Shelby Cobras, with Carroll Shelby marrying a British chassis and body with an American engine – in this case the mid-engine tube-frame Cooper T61M Monaco with a full-race Ford 289-cu.in. V-8. The contemporary press called them King Cobras. Shelby built just eight in 1963 and 1964, and while the cars took a number of wins and accolades, Ford never backed Shelby’s development of the cars. Competing mid-engine sports cars thus rendered the King Cobras obsolete in a hurry, and Shelby soon turned his focus to the Ford-funded GT40 program.

According to Bill Hartman, the owner of one of the two King Cobras to appear at the reunion, only three King Cobras remain in existence: CM1/63, which belongs to Hartman; CM 3/63; and CM 6/64, which belong to Donn Vickery. Hartman’s King Cobra is best known not only as the first King Cobra, but also as the car that Dave MacDonald used to win the 1963 LA Times Grand Prix, the 1963 Monterey Pacific Grand Prix and Laguna Seca, and the 1963 USRRC championship. Vickery’s, which will also appear at the reunion, is best known as the car that Parnelli Jones used to win the 1964 LA Times Grand Prix.

The Ford-Cobra-Shelby Reunion, scheduled for April 19-21, will include three days of open track time on the historic Pomona Road Race course, a car show open to all Shelby and Ford-powered vehicles, a panel discussion with Bob Bondurant and Parnelli Jones, and a banquet honoring Carroll Shelby.

The reunion will also coincide with the opening of “Speed Merchants of Venice,” an exhibit at the museum commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra that will include Hartman’s King Cobra, the El Cid Dragonsnake, Bruce Meyer‘s first production Cobra, and a number of other 289 and 427 competition cars. The exhibit will run through August.

For more information on the reunion and the exhibit, visit Museum.NHRA.com.