Motoring Book Review
Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe
By Rinsey Mills
ISBN: 978 1 907085 42 0
£60.00
Porter Press International – www.porterpress.co.uk
Under the current state of ‘house arrest’, having viewed the latest Hollywood blockbuster chronicling the on and off-track battle undertaken between Ford (Carroll Shelby) and Ferrari (‘Le Mans ’66’), my resolve to conclude the review of the latest Porter Press blockbuster was strengthened. I am delighted to tell you which of the pair I preferred…it was NOT the movie! I make zero apology for being an ardent fan of Porter Press’s publications. As the fourteenth in the series of ‘Great Cars’, its 336pp follow the cover sleeve precepts of elegant photography on a gloss black background, which looks great on either coffee table, or bookshelf, and deals with the model-specific CSX2300. Interestingly, this great car, one of just six ever built, has as much relevance to historians as motoring and motorsport enthusiasts, having commenced its run of success for Shelby’s equipe in 1964, contesting four World Sportscar championship rounds the following year. Ford Motor Company needed a world-beater away from the constraints of US oval racing; that it would also be a Ferrari-beater was an incidental bonus. Texan Shelby was the means to that end and the author of this outstanding tome, Rinsey Mills, is probably better qualified than any other Shelby, or Cobra fan, having compiled the great man’s biography, which was published just weeks prior to his passing, as well as several other Cobra related titles. Designed by the infamous Peter Brock, who also wrote the book’s foreword, CSX2300’s racing history is explored in tremendous detail. It endured a record not entirely free of disappointment that also underscored the Shelby American team’s remarkable mechanical capabilities, eventually lifting the title at Reims, despite suffering a broken connecting-rod. The eight international drivers of the car warrant their own sections within the contents. It is a wonderfully comprehensive study of a superb machine, from concept, design and build, through to a stunning collection of colour plates snapped at Reims in readiness for the book’s publication. The car continues to make star turns at various international events.