The Shelby Daytona Coupe is America’s answer to the Ferrari 250 GTO
by Ciprian Florea, on LISTEN 04:13Carroll Shelby started making cars in the early 1960s by dropping V-8 engines in AC Ace bodies imported from Britain, and it took just a couple years of him to become a performance icon in the United States. A few years before he started working with Ford to produce some of the greatest Mustangs ever built, Shelby began to race his Cobras. Although highly competitive, the roadster wasn’t fast enough on Le Mans’ 3.7-mile Mulsanne Straight, so Shelby wanted a different Cobra that could beat the Ferrari 250 GTO. That’s how the Shelby Daytona Coupe was born in 1964.
It Takes Balls of Steel To Run a $7.25 Million Car on the Track
Developed with Pete Brock and Bob Negstad, the Daytona Coupe was far more aerodynamic than the Cobra and looked like a proper GT coupe.
The Daytona was raced extensively in 1964 and 1965, and its maiden class win came at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Shelby also won the GT class at Le Mans the same year, finishing one lap ahead of the fastest Ferrari 250 GTO. Through 1965, the Daytona had also won the Tourist Trophy, 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Reims, and the Nurburgring 1000 km. In 1965, the Daytona also set no fewer than 25 land speed records at Bonneville.
Shelby built only six Daytona Coupe, and as you might imagine, they’re very valuable nowadays. The car you’re about to see in the video below is valued at more than $5 million. Chassis CSX2300 was raced by legendary team Alan Mann Racing and scored 3rd place at Nurburgring. It was then owned at driven by Carroll Shelby himself until it was auctioned off for $4.4 million in 2000.
Daytona Coupes are usually valued at more than $7 million these days, and the winning models could hit $10 million if auctioned.
But beyond its impressive value, aggressive looks, and legendary history, the Shelby Daytona Coupe sounds incredible when driven in anger at the track. They are powered by 4.7-liter V-8 engines rated at almost 400 horsepower. Hear the mighty V-8 roar at Spa Francorchamps in the video below.
It Takes Balls of Steel To Run a $7.25 Million Car on the Track
Developed with Pete Brock and Bob Negstad, the Daytona Coupe was far more aerodynamic than the Cobra and looked like a proper GT coupe. The Daytona was raced extensively in 1964 and 1965 and its maiden class win came at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Shelby also won the GT class at Le Mans the same year, finishing one lap ahead of the fastest Ferrari 250 GTO. Through 1965, the Daytona had also won the Tourist Trophy, 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Reims, and the Nurburgring 1000 km. In 1965, the Daytona also set no fewer than 25 land speed records at Bonneville.
Shelby built only six Daytona Coupe and as you might imagine, they’re very valuable nowadays. The car you’re about to see in the video below is valued at more than $5 million. Chassis CSX2300, was raced by legendary team Alan Mann Racing and scored 3rd place at Nurburgring. It was then owned at driven by Carroll Shelby himself until it ws auctioned off for $4.4 million 2000. Daytona Coupes are usually valued at more than $7 million these days, and the winning models could hit $10 million if auctioned.
But beyond its impressive value, aggressive looks, and legendary history, the Shelby Daytona Coupe sounds incredible when driven in anger at the track. They are powered by 4.7-liter V-8 engines rated at almost 400 horsepower. Hear the mighty V-8 roar at Spa Francorchamps in the video below.
