above: Peter beginning his discourse on his part in the "The Legend Years" when he (in close collaboration with Ken Miles and John Ohlsen) played a key role on Team Shelby, especially his and Ken's and John's part in shaping and designing and then testing and tweaking the Coupe's aerodynamics. Pete's most challenging task was to convince the doubting Thomases that the aerodynamically-optimized sculpturing would itself provide the extra edge that the small-block Cobra chassis needed to wrest the crown from Ferrari.

Brock: "Ken Miles was really the champion in backing my concept with Shelby. At first Carroll seemed all for the idea, but there were so many naysayers within the shop that he was uncertain. Especially with Remington down on the idea it looked like it might not go. Ken understood and believed, as he was learned enough to know that the Germans had built some pretty trick cars in the late '30s. John Ohlsen, being a Kiwi, was an "outsider" to the close-knit California guys, who weren't keen on the idea either. Rem' gave the job to Ohlsen and to his credit he did most of the initial fabrication. He was the real "crew chief" on the project. In fact it was he who was severely burned at Daytona when he crawled under the car to inspect the rear end in that fateful stop. Lucky he wasn't burned to death! After he recovered he was back at LeMans... again leading the team—and the car won!"

Peter explained to me Ken Miles' bewilderment upon Ken's track-testing of Peter's new/untested Coupe at Riverside (it didn't get graced with the "Daytona" label until it was scheduled to debut at Daytona Speedway): "Ken's confusion was that the rear-end ratio was in question—Ken was sure we had a lower (higher numerical) gear as he was getting so much more rpm and speed out of the corners; when he had gauged the speed of the car via reading the RPMs, he couldn't believe the numbers, and deduced that the rear end ratio must have been changed. It's easy to verify a ratio by jacking up the rear and turning the rear tire one revolution. At the same time you make a mark on the driveshaft and then count the revolutions as you spin the tire. Example... three and three quarter turns would represent a 3.77:1 ratio. Ken was confident that we had a lower gear as he knew the track by heart and would gauge his speed in the roadsters by how many RPMs he was turning at certain spots. The coupe was 3.5 seconds quicker right out of the box! Also speed went from 160 mph to about 180 mph... moreover, we didn't know the fuel mileage improvement until we got to Daytona and ran some tests... 25% better—which would of course translate into fewer pit stops!"

In the end, it was Peter's dogged persistence that enabled his finely-tuned coachwork to transform the fire-breathing (albeit aerodynamically-challenged) Cobra roadster into a world-beating/Ferrari-trouncing racing machine. The proof-in-the-pudding was Team Shelby's* seizing the 1965 WMC (World Manufacturers Championship) from the clutches of Enzo Ferrari.

Peter's presentation lasted over 90 minutes... and you could hear a pin drop throughout his presentation. Peter is 'history on the hoof,' and no one was willing to miss a word.

*Peter corrected me on my giving unwarranted credit to "Team Shelby." Here's how Peter set the record straight: "It all looks fine with the exception of giving credit to 'Team Shelby' for capturing the World Championship. Actually it was Alan Mann Racing, of the UK, that did the job. Shelby American 'won' the championship simply because they were the manufacturer of record with the FIA. The only reason the Daytonas raced in '65 was the fact that Ray Geddes, our main liaison with Ford, figured that we might as well give the cars to Alan Mann to race, as the contract to race the GT40s for Ford had been given to Shelby, provided he didn't race the Cobras! At that time the Daytonas were faster than the GT40s, but Ford didn't want those $1.98 west coast hot rods blowing off their $12 million investment in FAV (Ford Advanced Vehicles). The GT40s clearly had more potential, but you can't beat a well-proven old racer with a brand-new unproven one! Once Phil Remington and the Shelby crew got hold of the GT40s they began to develop them into winners... but it took more than a season... and even then they had to toss out the 289 engines in favor of the 427s. PB"

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