3rd Annual Cobra Day

Petersen Automotive Museum,
Los Angeles, 6 June 1998

Above: “Cobra row” at the event. There were over 40 original Shelby Cobra roadsters (289s, 289FIAs, 427s and Daytona Coupes) on display… many of them boasting a glittering racing history.

One of Carroll’s Oldsmobile-propelled “Auroras” (i.e., Series.1) was on display.

Above: There was no discernible shortage of Shelby Mustangs (GT350s and GT500s).

Above: “Smoky” Lynn Park with his 289FIA #97.

Above: Two vintage Ford flathead V8s were on display in the Museum’s “Speed Shop.” These reliable little powerhouses were the mainstay of streetrods throughout the ’40s and early ’50s.

The GT350 (above) has a license plate that reads “NO FAKE” (and is the proud possession of industrial designer Keith Kaucher of Santa Monica), although my flash rendered the plate text unreadable, while…

Hank Williams’ 1964 289 Cobra has a license plate that reads “NO KIT.”
Hank purchased his Cobra brand-new way back in 1964… it’s a one owner!

I recognized this racer; turns out that this very car was replicated
by Kyosho, as a 1:18 scale die-cast model.

NAAWT founder (and long-time producer of the venerable Beck 550 Spyder) Chuck Beck with his dazzling Lister reproduction was there to explain how Carroll missed the boat by going with Ford and abandoning Chevy, back in the early ’60s. Chuck estimates that the (hot-linked) Chevy powerplant you see above churns out approximately 650 horses. If you haven’t ridden in the passenger seat of a performance machine with Chuck Beck driving, then you haven’t lived…

Carroll and his new wife were there to greet well-wishers
and promote the Carroll Shelby Children’s Heart Fund.

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