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« on: July 17, 2020, 04:40:52 AM »
I'm not going to go through the process of posting all of the old photos again but I'll present all of the facts known about both Cobras (2137 and 2142) during a specific time period (September 1963-December 1963).
2137: owned and raced by Shelby American Inc., Le Mans spec bodywork (FIA hood scoop, enlarged side vents, rear hinged shortened trunk lid), standard front fender flares with side spats, rear enlarged fender flares, 6 1/2" and 7 1/2" Halibrand Kidney Bean magnesium wheels, 3" full length side exhausts on both sides, Raydyot side rear view mirror, center support for the windshield (attaches to the top of the cowl and to the top of the windshield), single hoop roll bar mounted through the rear bodywork, exterior color black at last race under SAI (October 13, 1963-LA Times GP-Bob Bondurant at the wheel....sustained damage to the driver's side rear fender flare).
2142: run under the John Willment Autos Ltd. banner, Le Mans spec bodywork (FIA hood scoop, enlarged side vents, rear hinged shortened trunk lid), standard front fender flares with a thin aluminum fender lip extensions attached to the lower trailing edge of the fender lips (these were added at Le Mans to cover the wheel offsets not fitting under the stock flares-a rules infraction), rear fender flares were unmodified and stock in profile and shape with thin aluminum fender lip extensions attached to the lower leading edge of the fender lips (also a necessary modification done at Le Mans to cover the wheel offsets not fitting under the stock flares), 6 1/2" Dunlop magnesium front and rear wheels, dual non-full length exhausts on both sides (Willment Team modification done after Le Mans), no rear view side mirrors, no center support for the windshield, no roll bar or holes cut in the bodywork for one, number lights located on the sides of the front fenders on both sides for night time racing and identification, a bug deflector mounted across the top of the hood and hood scoop, exterior color of white with two thin dark blue stripes front to back at Le Mans (June 1963). Once the ownership changed from Ed Hugus/SAI to John Willment the front of the nose stripes changed to the traditional Willment stripes (triple and color change to red instead of the dark blue). 2142's last race in England was the Snetterton 3-Hour enduro at the end of September of 1963 before it was to be readied and shipped off to South African Springbok races (November 1963-early January 1964).
October 1963 Ford of France had no Cobras in their stable and the Tour de Course and the Criterium des Cevennes were just around the corner (late October through mid-November). So SAI had just finished the Riverside LA Times GP (mid-October 1963) and they were planning to attend the Hawaii races at the end of October 1963...the problem was which cars would we take for the two drivers that we have in our stable (Ken and Dave)? The possibilities were 2127, 2136 and 2137....2127 (Gurney's Cobra) escaped the Riverside races fairly clean, 2136 (Spencer's Cobra) had a fair amount of damage to the front grill area and the driver's front fender and headlight area were crushed and 2136 (Bondurant's Cobra) had some damage to the driver's side rear fender. This is just a guess....but Ford of France got in contact with SAI inquiring about a Cobra during this lull between upcoming races. How they picked which cars were to be fixed and for which drivers is something I don't know about, but there was a color change in the works for the Cobras (2127 and 2136) that were scheduled to be readied for the Hawaiian races....and since they were to be repainted "Princess Blue" what would stop them from fixing the damaged bodywork on 2137 and also painting it "Princess Blue"? All of this work and planning must have been competed in the first week after the Riverside LA Times GP so both sets of Cobras could be air freighted to their destinations in time (Hawaii and Paris, France) for the upcoming races. The latest edition of the leaf spring Cobra Registry also notes that 2137 was lent to Ford of France for a short period of time. Here is also some interesting news that was in Motorsport magazine covering the November 1963 Tour de Course race: J. Schlesser "only had a limited number of wheels, after his spares were held up in a Paris airport by a customs strike." Schlesser went through all of the set of wheels and had to change tires on a few of the wheels since he didn't have extras (lost lots of time on the race due to tire issues). Later one of the wheels got loose and while he was fixing it, the jack slipped and went through the bodywork. Now during this time the Ford of France Cobra was Princess blue and 2142 was racing in South Africa and was still white. (You can't be on two different Continents racing the same Cobra in different colors at the same time? 2142 still had the same Le Mans bodywork and white exterior paint (#6) at it's first South African race at Kyalami at the end of October 1963 through early November. 2142's next several races in South Africa during November and December it sprouted "modified" rear fender flares to now cover the 8 1/2" Halibrand FIA mags and an opening cut in to the front lower valance for more cooling and it was still painted white. The fender flares that Ned keeps talking about and showing in the same photos didn't happen until later in 1964/1965 when the ownership of 2142 was transferred from John Willment to Ford of France.
SunDude's photo of the Ford of France Cobra (October 1963) in what looks to be a black and white version of "Princess Blue" (I did post color photos on the old SAAC Forum showing that this particular Cobra was blue), Raydyot side mirror, Le Mans hood scoop and side vents, front fender spats, flared rear fenders, 3" full length side exhaust, center windshield support, single hoop roll bar and Kidney Bean wheels looks to be suspiciously like 2137 not like 2142, which was still white during this time and under John Willments stewardship?
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