21st Feb, 2006 0:00

The Centaur

 
  Lot 39
 
Lot 39 - 1963 AC Cobra Le Mans Competition Roadster

1963 AC Cobra Le Mans Competition Roadster


Lot details
Registration No: 39 PH
Chassis No: CS 2131
Mot Expiry: N/A

The rivalry between Enzo Ferrari and Carroll Shelby has been well documented. While, the latter certainly valued the domestic SCCA and USRRC Championship wins notched up the Cobra, it is clear that his real racing ambition involved breaking Ferrari's hold over the 'Grand Touring Category' of the World Manufacturers' Championship. Homologated by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) into GT Division III (2000cc and over) on August 6th 1962, the Shelby American Cobra made a somewhat lacklustre International competition debut at the Daytona 3-hours on 17th February 1963. Although, it finished fourth overall, the lead Cobra (CSX 2026) trailed the first and second placed Ferrari 250 GTOs by four laps. Just over a month later on 23rd March 1963, six Cobras (five Works entries, one privateer) lined up to contest the Sebring 12-hours. This time the principle car (CSX 2127) came home eleventh overall beaten in the GT standings by a trio of Ferrari 250 GTOs, two Jaguar E-type Lightweights and two Porsche-Abarth 356B Carrera GTLs.
Left in little doubt that the Cobra needed further development, Shelby American decided to bow out of the World Manufacturer's Championship until the FIA circus ventured Stateside again for the Bridgehampton 500km on September 14th 1963. However, this self-imposed exile did not prevent it from helping AC Cars and privateer Ed Hugus with their entries for the 1963 Le Mans 24-hours. The right-hand drive British car 'CSX 2131' (like its left-hand drive American counterpart 'CSX 2142') incorporated a number of lessons learnt from the Works 'Sebring' Cobras. Thus, its specification included a 37-gallon fuel tank, 'FIA' bonnet scoop, flared wheelarches, full-width roll bar, striated front wing side vents and rack and pinion steering. Finished in light metallic green with black leather upholstery, CSX 2131 - or '39 PH' as it would soon be nicknamed - was powered by a Shelby American supplied, 289ci V8 racing engine mated to a four-speed Borg-Warner T10 gearbox. To boost their top speed along the three-mile plus Mulsanne Straight, both Competition Roadsters gained a somewhat crude but effective long-tailed hardtop (complete with roof-mounted fuel filler cap) and a taller final drive ratio.
Despite sponsorship from the Sunday Times newspaper, a driver line-up that boasted former Le Mans winner Ninian Sanderson and the services of Stirling Moss as pit manager, the contemporary motoring press gave CSX 2131 little (if any) chance of beating its more aerodynamically sophisticated Ferrari, Jaguar and Aston Martin GT Division III rivals. Such pessimism looked to be well founded during practice when the Cobra had its rear window sucked out by low back pressure. Suitably reinforced, 39 PH was subsequently credited with a 167mph top speed down the Mulsanne Straight, duly posted a qualifying time of 4 minutes 12.4 seconds. Though, this was some way off the 3 minutes 50.9 seconds recorded by the pole setting Pedro Rodriguez / Roger Penske Ferrari 330LM TRI (NART) in the Prototype class, it compared well with the 4 minutes 7.8 seconds of the Jean Blaton/ Gerard Langlois von Ophem Ferrari 250 GTO (Ecurie Francorchamps), the 4 minutes 11.5 seconds of the Briggs Cunningham / Bob Grossman Jaguar E-type Lightweight (Briggs Cunningham), the 4 minutes 10.7 seconds of the Jacques Dewez / Jean Kerguen Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato (Jean Kerguen) and the 4 minutes 13.1 seconds of the Richard Atwood / David Hobbs Lola MK6 GT Ford (Lola Cars Ltd). Emphasising that the British car's pace was no fluke, Ed Hugus / Peter Jopp were just a second slower in CSX 2142 at 4minutes 13.4 seconds.
Starting twenty-first out of forty-nine runners, Peter Bolton and Ninian Sanderson piloted CSX 2131 to a strong seventh overall, the highest placing ever achieved by a Cobra Competition Roadster at Le Mans (as opposed to a Daytona Coupe). Surviving a nasty fifth hour spin (courtesy of oil dropped by Bruce McLaren's disintegrating Aston engine at the end of Mulsanne), the intrepid duo were up to tenth by half time. Displaying enviable reliability (in contrast to CSX 2142 that pitted illegally early for extra oil before retiring in the thirteenth hour with a broken con-rod), 39 PH covered 310 laps of the 8.364 mile course (2592.84 miles) at an average speed of 108mph to win the over 3,000cc category and come fourth in the FIA's GT Division III rankings.
As Sunday Times motoring correspondent Maxwell Boyd was to note some years later:

"It was an auspicious debut for the Cobra, seen not least by two inconspicuous development engineers from US Ford, who spent the whole race in our pit, quietly noting every detail. Afterwards they flew back to Detroit taking with them the car's (CSX 2142's) engine for a minute post-mortem examination and a great deal of Le Mans enthusiasm".

Certainly, it would be interesting to know how much bearing 39 PH's Le Mans performance had on the Blue Oval's decision to help bank roll Shelby American's 1964 FIA campaign. Driven back to the UK (just as it had been driven out to France adding a further 736 miles to its adventure), the now famous Le Mans Cobra was track tested by The Motor. Reporting that "AC Cars Ltd, anticipating the possibility of using the car on circuits in this country changed the axle ratio from the Le Mans 3.07:1 to 3.77:1 before bringing it to MIRA, but otherwise it was in exactly the condition in which it had crossed the line at 4pm just eleven days before. Representatives of AC who accompanied the car said the oil hadn't even been changed and the front tyres were those with which it started the race. They looked about three parts worn, but the back tyres were very nearly 'gone'. They were much nearer the 'gone' by the end of the afternoon", the magazine found that by "using 6,500rpm on the very clear arc-type Rotunda tachometer, 40mph could be achieved in about 3 seconds; 60 in under 5; 80 in 8.1 and 100 in just 12 seconds. A further 6 seconds or so took us past 120 before the straight gave out and the time for the standing quarter-mile was 11 seconds with a terminal speed of almost 107mph, still in third gear". Naturally, AC professed itself 'disappointed' with these sensational figures blaming a lack of engine tune and resultant "flatspot around 3,500rpm".
Preoccupied with fulfilling its production car contract with Shelby American, AC then seems to have ceded control of 39 PH to John Willment Automobiles Ltd. One of the UK's largest Ford dealers, Willment boasted its own race stables run by Jeff Uren. Eager to exploit the Cobra's potential, its new keepers entered it for the 28th RAC International Tourist Trophy race due to be held at Goodwood on August 24th 1963. Allowed to practice, setting a best time of 1 minute 31 seconds, it was rejected by the scrutineers (alongside CSX 2142) due to insufficient clearance between the steering arms and front wheels. Before its ignominious exit, 39 PH was tested by leading sportscar racer and British Saloon Car Champion (1958, 1963) Jack Sears who recalled in a later magazine interview how he had had:

"Coombs pushing me on one side to drive his lightweight E-type in the TT and Willment on the other to drive the Cobra. I chased around in the E-type and it was superb. Then I tried the Cobra and was shattered by its performance - much quicker in a straight line than the E-type or 250 GTO. But I was shattered by its handling too because it went anywhere . . . you aimed it at the apex and somehow bounced it round the corner. I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and drove the E-type".

Interestingly, there was little to choose between the two in terms of lap times with the Jaguar proving just over a second faster during qualifying at 1 minute 29.9 seconds (a pace sufficient to earn Sears fourth overall on race day).
Invoiced through Shelby American Inc to John Willment Automobiles Ltd (Middlesex, ENG) as "1 Cobra-FORD, chassis no. CSX 2131" for a price of $4,000, 39 PH became a full-time member of the team in March 1964 with Jack Sears (already under contract to Willment as their number one saloon car ace) assigned as its principal driver. Alongside team mate Bob Olthoff for whom the Middlesex outfit acquired CSX 2130 two months later (another right-hand drive Competition Roadster that had been used as a prototype for the Le Mans racers), Sears set about refining the Cobra's handling. Through some judicious experimentation with wheels / tyres, shock absorbers, spring rates and camber angles etc, 39 PH was tamed to the point that in Sears own words it became "a predictable kind of car with lots of power and I could drive it on the throttle. I loved it - it was terrific". Reckoned by The Motor to have been packing an impressive 330bhp at Le Mans, its Ford 4.7 litre V8 racing engine (topped by four double-choke Weber 48 IDA carburettors) became yet more potent in 'sprint' tune. Running in Willment's distinctive red / white colours but without a hard-top, the revamped Competition Roadster soon turned the 1964 season into its very own Cobra-Ferrari war.
Making their first appearance at Goodwood for the News of the World International Trophy Race (Sussex Trophy) on 30th March 1964, the 39 PH / Sears duo not only beat the Aston Martin DB4GT of Mike Salmon and Jaguar E-type of Dick Protheroe but also split the Ferrari 250 GTOs of Graham Hill and David Piper to claim a strong second overall. Crossing the line a mere 0.8 seconds behind Hill, Sears had actually led the first few laps much to the consternation of renowned Motorsport columnist Denis Jenkinson who recounted their clash thus:

"There was an embarrassing moment when it looked as though Willment's hulking great AC Cobra V8, driven by Jack Sears, was going to beat Graham Hill in a 1964 Ferrari GTO, but right prevailed against might and the Ferrari got in front and stayed there, but for the rest of the race Hill could see the Cobra making ugly faces at him in the rear-view mirror and he had to press on to the bitter end".

No respecter of sports racers, 39 PH promptly lined up for the Oulton Park Trophy Race just over a week afterwards (April 8th 1964). Qualifying behind Jim Clark's 2.5 litre Lotus 19 but ahead of Bruce McLaren's 2.7 litre Zerex Special, Sears' solid drive to second overall was rewarded with a class win.
Described as "nothing short of fantastic" by Autosport magazine a qualifying lap of 2 minutes 2 seconds saw him secure second place on the grid for the 'Aintree 200' sports car race ten days later. Beaten to pole position by Bruce McLaren's Zerex Special and demoted to third during the race by a hard-charging Jim Clark aboard the new Lotus 30, Sears still managed second in the 'Over 3,000cc' class. His inability to keep the Lotus 30 at bay is perhaps understandable given that it was powered by a similar Ford Advanced Vehicles supplied 289ci V8 and enjoyed a 300kg weight advantage!
Borrowed by Frank Gardner for the Maidstone and Mid-Kent MC Silverstone meeting on April 25th 1964, the 'Number One' Willment Cobra won both the Sports Racing / GT and GT / Prototype races with a best lap around the Club circuit of 1 minute 3.4 seconds.
Reunited with 39 PH for the B.R.D.C.'s Silverstone based 'Festival of Speed' (May 2nd 1964), Sears managed a highly impressive third overall in wet conditions behind Graham Hill's winning Ferrari 250 GTO and Mike Salmon's pre-race favourite Aston Martin DP214. Convincingly quicker than David Piper's Ferrari 250 GTO and the Jaguar E-type Lightweights of Roy Salvadori, Dick Protheroe and Dan Gurney, 39 PH further distinguished itself by setting equal fastest lap with the Hill GTO and Salmon DP214 at 1 minute 51.2 seconds (95.135mph).
Due to augment the Shelby American team of 'FIA Roadsters' for the Nurburgring 1,000km (31st May 1964), 39 PH and CSX 2130 duly joined their brethren in Germany. However, an engine seizure during practice that left Frank Gardner upside down across a ditch meant that 39 PH never made the start line (luckily both car and driver survived comparatively unscathed). Left to fly the Willment flag alone, CSX 2130 failed to finish but was still classified as forty-seventh overall and third in class.
Suitably repaired, 39 PH's next competitive outing was the Ilford Films Trophy Race held during the RAC European Grand Prix meeting at Brands Hatch (July 11th 1964). Better known to a generation of enthusiasts as the 'black flag' race, Sears still considered it to be a career defining moment when interviewed by Autosport magazine some twenty-five years later:

"Practice hadn't gone too well for me; the car wasn't handling as well as it had in previous races. I think they'd changed the shock absorbers or something, and the car was more nervous - I couldn't get to grips with it or relax, and I was off the pace, fourth fastest. My team mate Bob Olthoff in another Cobra (CSX 2130) had put himself on pole, but then crashed, too severely for his car to be repaired, so he didn't make the race. Jackie Stewart in the Lightweight E-type was second fastest, Roy Salvadori in another Cobra third. That officially put me on the inside of the second row. During the warming-up lap I thought 'This is a bit of luck - Olthoff won't be starting so pole will be vacant and I can take a flyer into his slot and try and slide up inside Stewart'. In fact, when we got to the line, pole was occupied by Stewart who had moved over! Salvadori was in the middle slot. I paused momentarily on the second row then thought 'There's a blank space on the front row, they've moved over, that must be the form, closing up ranks', so I drove onto the outside place on the front grid. About a minute before flag fall, however, a marshal rushed up and said 'You're in the wrong row, you've got to go back', I said 'I can't! There's less than a minute to go, all the engines have been started it's too late!' He ran off the grid . . .
I didn't make a particularly good start - I think I was about third or fourth into Paddock. And then, at the end of the first lap, the black flag went out with my number on it! I thought 'Hell, why are they black-flagging me? Maybe there's something wrong with the car I can't see'. But it felt alright. At the end of the second lap I came into the pits, to be admonished by an irate official who said 'You've been brought into the pits because you started on the wrong row of the grid. This is your penalty. You may now go'. I was absolutely white with anger and belted up the pit road effing and blinding, shaking my fists at everyone, and rejoined in eighth or ninth position, something like that. All the problems with the car were forgotten; there was just this white heat. I began lapping 2 seconds quicker than in practice, and then nearly lost it at Paddock on the first lap after the stop! I suddenly thought '50,000 people are waiting to see you go off, so don't be stupid - settle down and drive the bloody motor car'. I kept gaining places, gaining places, gaining places, the pit signals showing my minus position on Stewart - 10 seconds, 8 seconds, 5 seconds, 1 second. And then on the 16th lap I came up behind Jackie, so I was up to second. I thought 'how the hell am I going to get past?', and from memory I took him on the Hawthorn Straight. Jackie admitted then, and in fact still admits today, that he could do nothing about it".

In the end, Sears finished over four seconds ahead of Stewart and nearly thirty seconds up on Salvadori. To celebrate this meteoric drive and the setting of a "New Lap Record of 89.66mph for GT cars" whilst using their tyres, Goodyear took a full page advertisement in Motorsport.
Returning to the fray eight days on for the Scott Brown Trophy at Snetterton (July 19th 1964), Sears' race ended when 39 PH's transmission locked up (the sole occasion the car would fail him that season). Lying second at the time on what he considered to be his home circuit, the Norfolk-based driver could only watch as Roy Salvadori cantered to an easy win aboard the Maranello Concessionaires' Ferrari 275LM.
Mobile once more, 39 PH was one of four Cobras entered for the Guards International Trophy Race at Brands Hatch (August 3rd 1964). Open to Prototypes, Sports Racers and GT cars, the event drew the attention of the Texan Mecom Racing Team whose impressive driver / car line-up encompassed Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt (Scarab-Chevrolet 5.4 litre V8), Augie Pabst (Lola-Chevrolet 4.6 litre V8) and Walt Hansgen (Lotus 19-Oldsmobile 4.2 litre V8). Other 'big guns' on the grid included Jim Clark (Lotus 30-Ford V8), Graham Hill (Ferrari 330P), Innes Ireland (Ferrari GTO '64), David Piper (Ferrari 275LM), Bruce McLaren (Zerex-Oldsmobile V8 Special), Jackie Stewart (Jaguar E-type Lightweight) and Roy Salvadori (Cooper-Maserati). Putting in a typically gutsy qualifying performance, Sears headed the GT times in 39 PH at 1 minute 46.2 seconds. Predictably slower than the likes of Hill (1 minute 43 seconds) and Salvadori (1 minute 43.2 seconds), he managed to show a clean pair of heels to Stewart (1 minute 47.6 seconds), Foyt (1 minute 47.8 seconds) and Pabst (1 minute 49.2 seconds). Starting from ninth on the grid, Sears spent the next forty-nine laps embroiled in a thrilling Cobra vs. Cobra battle with Chris Amon. Driving for Tommy Atkins' team, the latter crossed the finishing line just 1.4 seconds behind fifth-placed Sears. Their ferocious duel (which left David Piper's Ferrari 275LM languishing in eighth) won the admiration of Motor Racing magazine who considered it

"A wonderful dice, with the massively built cars drifting very smoothly on their fat Goodyears, Sears seeming to have the edge on steam out of the corners, and Amon closing up on braking. A great dice, from which a dead heat would have been a fitting verdict".

On something of a roll, Sears and 39 PH swept to overall victory in the GT race at Croft Autodrome on August 22nd 1964. Arriving at Goodwood the following week for the 29th RAC International Tourist Trophy, they lost out in qualifying to the Shelby American entered Daytona Coupes of Dan Gurney (1 minute 27.2 seconds) and Phil Hill (1 minute 27.4 seconds) but proved usefully swifter than the Ferrari 250 GTOs of Innes Ireland (1 minute 28.4 seconds), Richie Ginther (1 minute 30.2 seconds), Tony Maggs (1 minute 29.6 seconds) and John Surtees (1 minute 28.4 seconds). Indeed, Sears' best time of 1 minute 28.0 seconds was a stunning three seconds a lap faster than he had managed during practice the previous year (an indication of just how much development time / money Willment had poured into the Cobra).
In many ways a microcosm of their 1964 season, Sears and 39 PH enjoyed a typically eventful race as enthusiastically recounted just over a month later by Motor Racing magazine:

"Roy Salvadori, driving Tommy Atkins' Cobra, had made a fine start to lead the GT class, while Jack Sears had spun his Willment car on the very first corner, dropping him to the back of the field, and putting himself in just the mood for a big comeback drive. Sure enough he carved his way through the field until he was challenging Dan Gurney's second place in the GT class with the Daytona Coupe. This in turn speeded up Gurney, who began to eat into Salvadori's lead, and was given a 'bonus' when Roy spun his car and lost several valuable seconds. After all the routine half-distance pit stops, Gurney emerged with the GT leadership . . . and Sears continued to challenge".

Only bettered by Graham Hill's Ferrari 330P, David Piper's Ferrari 275LM and Dan Gurney's Daytona Coupe, 39 PH finished fourth overall and second in the GT class. Coincidentally, Hill's winning Ferrari was the same one that had denied the AC fourth place in the Guards Trophy race a few weeks before (and placed second at that year's Le Mans). Similarly, Gurney's car (CSX 2299) - which set a new GT class lap record of 1 minute 27.8 seconds (98.40mph) while keeping ahead of Sears - was the same Daytona Coupe that had upstaged 39 PH's Le Mans record when it took fourth overall on the 1964 endurance classic. Though, there are those who feel direct comparisons are invalid arguing that the Daytona Coupe was just as much of a FIA rule-bending jump over the Cobra Roadster as the Ferrari 250 GTO had been over the 250GT SWB.
Faster and more fuel efficient than the Roadster, the Coupe's myriad web of 'bodywork supports' (which looked suspiciously like a spaceframe) meant that it also exhibited notably less chassis flex.
Denied a Works Daytona by Shelby American, Willment built their own version using a chassis that they had originally acquired as a spare for either 39 PH or CSX 2130. Known as the Willment Coupe, it effectively sidelined the two Competition Roadsters. Duly advertised in the November 1964 issue of Motorsport, the pair were said to benefit from "special racing cam, ports / combustion chambers developed and tested to superb efficiency, 4 double-choke Webers, special gearbox / brakes plus wide rimmed Halibrand wheels with fat Goodyear racing tyres". Dyno-tested at "350 + bhp", they were credited with a "top speed of 165mph" and "0-100 in under 8 secs". Found gracing the back pages of the next month's issue too, the "Group III roadsters as raced by Jack Sears and Bob Olthoff in International events" were now claiming "around 400bhp" but to no avail.
Unlike CSX 2130, which Bob Olthoff procured from Willment before returning to his native South Africa, 39 PH was still under Jeff Uren's stewardship by May 1966. Pictured in an Autosport advertisement that month, the "Fabulous Willment Cobra" was apparently "to be sold to the highest offer received by June 10th". Looking somewhat forlorn (perhaps as a result of its last few Willment outings in 1965), 39 PH was purchased by policeman Jeremy Bagshaw. An amateur racer, he strove to extend its competition career. However, by the time the car appeared at the ACOC's Silverstone 6-hour relay race in 1968, it was long overdue an overhaul.
Passing briefly through the hands of Ron Stern, 39 PH was acquired by Dennis and Nigel Hulme in 1973. Authenticated by AC Cars as the Le Mans and Willment Roadster, it was reportedly "without trim or interior panels but otherwise surprisingly original". Determined to return the racer to its former glory, Nigel Hulme soon embarked upon a meticulous two-year plus restoration (his efforts being rewarded in 1977 when the car won the ACOC concours). Checked over, refurbished and realigned by Brian Angliss, the Cobra's original ladder-frame chassis was reunited with its four-wheel Girling disc brakes and specially fabricated Willment wishbones (like all MKIIs, 39 PH's fully independent suspension relied on transverse leaf-springs front and rear). Salvaging much of the original aluminium bodywork (plus the Le Mans 'night-running' lights), Hulme chose to revive 39 PH in 1964 Goodwood TT guise complete with voluptuously flared wheelarches, cut-back doors, oil cooler 'scoop', quick-lift jacking points and sundry brake / cooling ducts.
Seeking greater tractability for road use, he had the Willment 4.7 litre V8 engine detuned slightly and fitted with a 750CFM Holley carburettor. Thought to retain the same cylinder block that it had used at Le Mans (or so Hulme's comments in a June 1991 Supercar & Classics magazine article suggest), the iconic motor was mated to a "close-ratio Sebring gearbox with an aluminium casing and NHRA burst proof bell-housing out of the Nick Granville-Smith racing Cobra".
By recreating the special two-piece, hinge-down boot it wore at Le Mans, Hulme once again gave 39 PH the option of running in both open and closed forms. Luckily Ron Stern had managed to locate both the factory-fitted hard-top and 'straight-through' exhaust system (removed by Willment in favour of open side pipes) during his brief stewardship. Stocked with almost all its original instruments (including the wonderful swing-needle 8,000rpm Rotunda tachometer), the Cobra's dashboard was complemented by a new passenger seat and the old Willment / Sears roll bar.
Featuring in a host of British and European magazines over the course of Hulme's twenty-nine year long ownership, 39 PH competed in a large number of historic events as well as being a frequent visitor to Goodwood, Le Mans and the Brighton Speed Trials. Initially honed on Hulme's behalf by former Aston Martin and F1 mechanic Jimmy Potton, the desire for greater speed in later years saw it revert to quad Weber carburetion etc. Shortly before its acquisition by the vendor in late 2002, 39 PH was pitted against Nick Mason's Ferrari 250 GTO (which finished third at the 1962 Le Mans) during a back-to-back track test for EVO magazine (August 2002 issue). Driving and writing with typical aplomb, Mark Hales concluded that

"The Cobra was by no means the GTO's poor relation on the track. It didn't have the Ferrari's romantic side but in many ways it was probably a more effective racer for short dirty dogfights. Sure, when you have a clear track with long fast corners, you can use the Ferrari's balance to keep up the momentum, and where you have several miles flat out, like at Le Mans, the GTO's more beautiful body shape would count. But on a crowded track where you trip over slower cars and lose corner entry speed, or somewhere with lost of slow corners, the Cobra's power would always come to the rescue".

Hales' analysis had been borne out in period when 39 PH had beaten the Mason GTO (then owned / raced by Peter Clarke) at both the Maidstone & Mid-Kent MC Silverstone (25th April 1964) and Croft Autodrome (22nd August 1964) meetings.

Reproduced below is the substance of an e-mail that Nigel Hulme kindly sent us regarding his twenty-nine years with 39 PH:

"When I bought the car from Ron Stern it came to me complete albeit that its cylinder heads were lying on the passenger side floor and most of the interior trim was missing (only the driver's seat and dashboard remained). In terms of the body and chassis, however, it was exactly as last raced by Willment. I took the car apart and started the restoration process. Brian Angliss realigned the chassis and replaced the front A-frame (damaged by a Bagshaw off at Crystal Palace) after which I had the whole assembly stove enamelled in British Rail's Swindon workshop! It took me a further two years to complete the refurbishment but the suspension and running gear were all original. The diff ratio was 3.77:1 initially but this was later changed to 3.54:1 for racing later on. The engine was rebuilt to a high-performance plus spec by Mathwall Engineering using the original block etc. Fitted with a double pumper Holley carburettor, it was good for around 290bhp.
I ran the car principally on the road except for the Brighton Speed Trials (six class wins I recall). In 1990, I took it to Japan with David Piper and participated in a 'staged' race as part of the Aida circuit's opening ceremony. I did one all Cobra race at Donington and led for a while on borrowed slicks but things got more serious in 1998 when the Goodwood Revival entry was received. That first year I ran the car 'as was' and had a coming together with Willie Green in Bamford's NART '64 Ferrari 250 GTO (I like hitting expensive ones!). The damaged nose was repaired (see photos on file) and I decided that a race engine was required in future. Malcolm Willcox of SRE did most of the work including re-fitting the Weber carburettors (though, Jack Cramp ex-Weslake fettled the cylinder heads). The car was then race checked all over by Uniclip Ltd. I raced in a further four TTs at the Goodwood Revival sharing with Richard Attwood, Frank Gardner, Martin Birraine and John Atkins (who deputised for Desirae Wilson in the aftermath of 9/11). While other competitive outings included the 1999 Centenary Tour Auto and the 2002 Trofeo Baleares Classico Rally achieving creditable finishes in both with the help of Chris O'Neill".

Finished in its original Willment racing livery of red with white stripes, 39 PH is described by the vendor as being in very good overall condition (though he consider that it could do with "a little work on top of the wings where there are a few dents"). Driven by him at the prestigious Le Mans Legend meeting and on the 2004 Tour Auto (during which it sustained a slight rear end knock since repaired by RS panels), the Cobra has recently benefited from an engine and gearbox rebuild etc. Although, 39 PH was inverted at the Nurburgring and has had a couple of 'fender benders' over the years, it has never been involved - as far as we can tell - in an accident that has threatened its integrity / authenticity.
A Le Mans veteran that went onto conquer some of the very best cars and drivers of its generation, 39 PH is undoubtedly among the most historic and important of all Cobra Competition Roadsters. A truly exceptional machine, it is offered for sale with 1963 Le Mans Race programme, 1964 Goodwood Tourist Trophy programme, assorted period magazines and a highly detailed history file.

Competition Highlights:

1963
June 15/16th Le Mans 24-hours 7th O/A, 4th GT, 1st in class

1964
March 30th Goodwood, Sussex Trophy 2nd O/A
April 8th Oulton Park Trophy 2nd O/A, 1st in class
April 18th Aintree 200 3rd O/A, 2nd GT
April 25th Silverstone, Maidstone & Mid-Kent MC 1st
April 25th Silverstone, Maidstone & Mid-Kent MC 1st
May 2nd Silverstone BRDC 'Festival of Speed' 3rd O/A
May 31st Nurburgring 1,000km DNS
July 11th Brands Hatch, Ilford Films Trophy 1st O/A (Lap Record)
July 19th Snetterton, Scott Brown Trophy DNF
August 3rd Brands Hatch, Guards International 5th O/A, 1st GT (Lap Record)
August 22nd Croft Autodrome 1st O/A
August 29th Goodwood, Tourist Trophy 4th O/A, 2nd GT

Jack Sears a.k.a. 'Gentleman Jack' (1930 - ):
Recruited by the BMC Works team as a race / rally driver in 1955, Sears won the inaugural British Saloon Car Championship aboard an Austin Westminster some three years later. Transferring to Tommy Sopwith's Equipe Endeavour for 1960, he spent three successful seasons piloting Jaguar MKIIs, E-types and an Aston Martin DB4GT before joining the Willment outfit. Progressing from a Ford Cortina GT to 39 PH via a 7-litre Ford Galaxie (which helped secure him a second BSCC title in 1963), Sears was granted works drives by both Shelby American and Team Lotus during 1965 but chose to retire at the season's end. In great demand for Le Mans, his first encounter with 39 PH was actually during the 1963 event when he piloted a Maranello Concessionaires entered Ferrari 330 LMB to fifth overall (some two places and four laps ahead of the Cobra).

Please Note: The above account of 39 PH's history is by no means definitive and we would ask potential purchasers to satisfy themselves as to its provenance (for example various sources conflict as to the exact back axle ratio used at Le Mans, while others differ as to horsepower, qualifying times and race results etc). We have also chosen to fall in line with the Shelby American World Registry (1997) by referring to 39 PH's chassis number as CSX 2131 and not CS 2131 (which is how it appears in several marque books). The Registry has now ascribed the chassis number CS 2131 to the Daytona-style Coupe that Willment built in 1964 (Willment registered its creation as 39 PE and gave it a 2131 VIN because "this offered tax / duty advantages when racing took the vehicles in and out of the country").

SALEROOM NOTICES

(1) Since the catalogue went to press, we have been told that 39 PH was not - as stated above - left "comparatively unscathed" by its engine seizure during practice at the Nurburgring on 30th May 1964. Indeed, the resultant accident supposedly saw "the car flipping end over end at over 100mph" and necessitated an extensive rebuild. Although, no contemporary accounts are thought to exist detailing its refurbishment, two have subsequently been given. The first is that AC built a new mid-1964 specification chassis and 1964 specification FIA body (with cut-away doors and flared wheel arches) for 39 PH before Willment completed its rejuvenation, while the second is that Willment undertook all the work in-house. The former version has credence because AC are known to have been responsible for repairing all Shelby cars damaged in Europe at the time (and indeed undertook the reconstruction of another Nurburgring casualty the CSX 2323 Shelby team car). Though, the latter description is also plausible given the wide-ranging facilities available to the Willment race shop. Whoever was responsible, 39 PH emerged faster than ever and promptly won the infamous Ilford Trophy race.
(2) Another source claims that 39 PH was missing its original 'Le Mans' engine by the time Willment entered it in the August 24th 1963 Tourist Trophy (Goodwood) meeting.
(3) In light of this new information it seems that most of the period components currently contained within 39 PH date from 1964 (post 30th May) rather than 1963. Thus, our statements about the car's original chassis, bodywork and engine would appear to be invalid. Although, we leave it up to potential purchasers to decide what bearing all this 1964 'DNA' has on the Cobra's "integrity / authenticity".

PLEASE NOTE:
Further to the above saleroom notices we have been advised that:
(A) The AC Owners Club Cobra Registrar and others have pointed out that in their view the correct chassis designation of this car is CS 2131, not CSX 2131. This error was made by Shelby American themselves when they invoiced the car to Willment, and is the same issue as was explained in the last paragraph of the catalogue description for this Lot.
(B) [As to Saleroom Notice Point 1 above], the ACOC Registrar states that the car was rebuilt with a new mid-1964 specification chassis and FIA body definitely by AC Cars Ltd, and only finished off by Willment.
(C) [As to Saleroom Notice Point 2 above], the ACOC believes the car was acquired by Willment in 1963 without its Le Mans engine.
 

All successful bids must be paid in full by midday the day after the auction at the latest.

You can collect your new pride and joy from our venue until 1pm the day following the sale or our partners are on hand to help arrange safe transportation:

               

Auction: The Centaur, 21st Feb, 2006

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