The
Legend and The Late Night Host!
Carroll shared the klieg lights with North American TV celebrity,
Cobra owner and
"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno at Cobra.Day.2000. Jay
informed me that
he's installed a 427 'cammer' in his snake since I last enjoyed
a spin in it.
Above: This was
the biggest & best-est "Cobra Day" ever, with (at
Lynn Park's last count) 82 original Cobra roadsters and 3 Daytona
Coupes on display (85 total Cobras), plus dozens of GT350s and
GT500s, the original Gulf Blue.#6 GT40, and 2 or 3
very nice Sunbeam Tigers. Odds are you'll never witness this much
Shelby metal in one place in your lifetime. On the 2nd deck of
the show (whence I shot this image), was a serious lineup of Dodge
Vipers and dozens of fine Cobra replicas. With the assemblage
of Cobras and Vipers alone, the two parking decks closely resembled
the snakepit scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Above
& below:
The 2nd deck was reserved for Cobra replicas, Mustangs and Dodge
Vipers (8 Vipers in the photo below alone). That's Bob Shaw's
(Operations
Plus) #33 car in the foreground above (it's a Unique Motorcars 289FIA).
Above: That's all
original 427 and 289 roadster metal.
That
gorgeous blue/red leather slabside 289 is the proud possession
of Tom Hansen of Los Angeles. The license plate reads "REAL.65".
Hot-linked
image.
An
aluminium AC MkIV Cobra; note the triple wipers, lack of sidepipes.
Hot-linked
image.
Lineup
of three Mike McCluskey Daytona Coupes, each built upon an original
289 chassis.
Hot-linked
image.
The
#6 Gulf Blue GT40. Hot-linked
alternate image (engine compartment).
In
the foreground, an original 289 USRRC racing machine; just above
it on the passenger side is Hank Williams' one-owner 289 slabside.
Hank purchased it in November, 1964! Hot-linked
image.
Jason
Len's (San Luis Obispo)
exquisitely outfitted 4000-Series
427SC. Hot-linked
image.
Here's
an engine-compartment shot I took of a very nice blue 289 roadster.
Note the array of Webers, the spit & polished underhood appearance.
It's the proud possession of Drew&
Janet Serb from Orinda, California.
Hot-linked
image.
...A few fotos
with Leno...
Hank
Williams (along with his one-owner 289 roadster, enjoying a moment
of talkin' Cobra. You can count on Hank to show up with his well-known
Cobra at every major Cobra get-together. Hot-linked
image.
Janet
& John Marshall of Newport Beach, with Jay. Hot-linked
image.
Superformance owner Dwight
Van Horne
(of Santa Clarita) with Jay.
Hot-linked
image.
Carroll
posing alongside Lynn Park's original 289FIA racing machine (one
of the five original FIAs); that's Lynn in his trademark Smokey-da-Bear
campaign hat, at the far left. The California Virtual Tours'
camera/tripod setup you see in the foreground is outfitted with
a parabolic reflector (which you can see clearly in the hi-rez
hotlinked image), within moments scheduled to capture the entire
360° image of Cobra owners surrounding Carroll. Hot-linked
image.
On
your left that's AMP's (Accurate
Machine Products) president and Cobra owner/racer George
Petrus, maker of fine Jaguar IRS assemblies; me on the right.
Photo by Steve Huete.
Team
Shelby: Cleo and Carroll during the autograph session. Photo
by Steve Huete.
Carroll's
Series.1 car was
there. Alternate-view linked image by Stve Huete.
Hot-linked
image.
A
magnificent black 427SC; we didn't ascertain who the owner is,
but it proved to be a certified crowd-stopper. Hot-linked
alternate image (engine compartment).
...and the Shelby
'Stangs were there in force...
One
of the cleanest and straightest GT350s at the event; this '66
Shelby 'Stang is the property of Jeff Wombacher of Irvine, California.
License plate number is "1.RARE.66."
Hot-linked
alternate image (3/4 front/side view of car).
A
fine lineup of 1965 & '66 GT350s. Hot-linked
alternate image.
Left: This event
(and each of the Petersen Automotive Museum's Cobra Day events
preceding it) wouldn't have happened without the extraordinary
toil and choreography of Trigo
Wheels' mover 'n' shaker Lynn Park.
How
about pausing for a moment and email
Lynn your comments of appreciation.
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