THE COBRA-FERRARI WARS 1963-1965 - AWARD-WINNING CLASSIC DIRECT FROM AUTHOR

Al Schenker (right) did the metal and paint work on my Daytona coupes in his backyard in Casa Grande, Arizona. Al apprenticed on horse-drawn carriages in New York City, was a B-29 crew chief in WWII and ran a blacksmith shop in New Jersey before moving out West in 1969. Al was a tough old guy who really cared about others.

For a while, Al had more Daytona coupes than anyone else in Casa Grande, Arizona. That is Al standing to the left the left of the cars in a white shirt and suspenders. You have to remember that, in early 1970, when Al started working on the coupes, they were clapped-out old race cars, with no category to race in and, generally, useless. Their history was largely unknown.

My wife Christa outside our Vancouver, WA home in 1973. She was 22 years old. In 1971 I committed to doing the book, the wisdom of which even I doubted. Christa was always patient and supportive, and the book never would have been done without her.

Don Roberts, 1975. We took this car, CSX 2299, and a roadster, CSX 2345, to Willow Springs where Bob Bondurant and and Don each won a race -- the first two Cobra victories in American vintage racing. Don helped me put the coupe back together during 1970 and '71.

Don and I raced 2299 and 2345 at the second Monterey Historics in 1975 and each won a race, the beginning of the Cobra domination of that event. I won because Don backed off just before the finish to let me win. Steve Earle saw it and credited Don with the win.

Carroll Shelby, Monterey 1975. Carroll was (is) a great guy and was always supportive. In 1975 he didn't have the following he does today. When I first met Carroll, circa 1971, he had a little one-room office with one employee, Sally, who also ran the Chili company.

Austin Graig (left) and Allen Grant (right), Monterey 1975. Austin was a dynamo, honest and smart. The Cobra club lost heavily when they lost Austin. Allen Grant realized the importance of the Cobras when they were originally racing.

CSX 2002 circa 1978. Geoff Howard, Danbury Conn., did the restoration and performed miracles to save the original frame and aluminum body. Geoff later re-restored 2299, restored CSX3006 and is now finishing the last (Shelby American) Cobra ever -- the 1967 "Cobra III" "Lonestar".

Billy Krause with 2002 at the 1982 Riverside Vintage races, the 30th anniversary of the Cobra's debut there -- same car, same driver, and some poor result. Bill would have won this race but was black flagged for passing prematurely. Bill pushed the car hard despite scary (to me) throttle-off oversteer.

Post-Riverside 1982. Left to right: Vicki Howard, Geoff Howard, Billy Krause, Maria, Carroll, Ray Geddes, myself, Christa , Christa's parents Berta and Paul, John Mueller, Terry Scarborough. Foreground: Sloan and Lindsey Howard.

The European Cobra team (Bartoletti) transporter at our Arizona home in 1984. Underneath the red paint was Cobra '64 blue and '65 blue. In the foreground is the most important part of the picture -- our children Paul and Lilli. Our kids, Paul, Lilli and Hanna, played in the Cobras, jumping in and out of them, slamming the doors, etc. Paul would stand on the seat of one of the cars and whip that steering wheel right and left with a giant grin.

Our son Paul in 1996 at Sears Point. We sold the car shortly thereafter, but Paul grew into a fine young man. He is now 24 years old, 6' 1", just graduated from law school and has good sense as well!

Bernard Cahier (l) and Dave Friedman at the Monterey Historics in the mid '90s. Dave helped me a lot with the book and has now done several of his own. I cannot say enough good things about Bernard. He has a lovely family and had a life of adventure. Check out Bernard's Foreword to the book, and his distillation of its contents, a "story about the men who made the adventure possible."

Hey, I sold quite a few books this way, once over $10,000 in one three-day weekend at Laguna Seca. By then I was selling posters, t-shirts, bumper stickers and whatever else I had around. I would bring along a sleeping bag and bubble wrap and sleep right under the table where I had all my stuff.

Bob Bondurant in 2299 just before I sold it in 1996 to raise money to fight other battles. During my tough times John Wyer, Shelby, Bernard Cahier and Skip Hudson went out of their way to help me, particularly Shelby and Wyer. I wanted Bob to be the last person to drive the car before it went away.

The only Cobra we still have, only because I gave it to my wife in the '70s and she wouldn't let me sell it later. Geoff Howard is restoring this car and we look forward to driving it across Nevada at 140 mph like we did the Daytona coupe 33 years ago.

My last race in a team Cobra. I am in the blue car, no. "98", though the image resolution does not show the race numbers clearly. The card was given to me by Scott Schleh, a very nice person and the guy who does the ceramic race cars. In a past life he did ceramic airplanes and he gave me his last plane, an awesome Me-163, plus a lot of slides of his other planes. Scott, if you are out there, I still have the slides and they are yours anytime.

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