There are few American cars more deserving of a tribute on its 50th anniversary than a Shelby Cobra. Especially when it’s the anniversary of two cars.
1965 saw not just the introduction of the legendary 427 Cobra Roadster, but it was also the year that the Cobra Daytona Coupe became the first American car to win the World Sportscar Championship. So it was with great delight and anticipation that I accepted Baume & Mercier’s invitation to travel to Las Vegas to celebrate that historic event and witness the unveiling of a new commemorative chronograph, the Capeland Cobra.
The allure of a few nights and some spa time at Mandalay Bay, dinner surrounded by half a billion dollars worth of artwork at Picasso’s in Bellagio, a tour of the Shelby American manufacturing facility and the opportunity to ride in an 800 horsepower 427 Cobra Roadster only sweetened the deal.
To understand the importance of this timepiece, you must first understand the significance of the cars it is honoring. Shelby Cobra was America’s first global sports car. Yes, Corvette had debuted in the ‘50s and grown ever more capable through the decade, but it was strictly built for American roads. Carroll Shelby developed his eponymous roadster as a challenge to the most storied European sports car brands and was determined to beat them at their own game, especially Ferrari.
A brash Texan, Carroll Shelby had a long-running feud with the reclusive Enzo Ferrari that began when Shelby was winning European sports car races in the late ‘50s, including the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Aston Martin. After he was forced to retire from driving due to a chronic heart condition, Shelby was determined to continue to take on Ferrari, so he created the Shelby-American Racing Team and built cars that could do just that. It started with his famous roadsters. Adapted from the AC Ace, Shelby stuffed a Ford 289 C.I. V8 engine under the hood, improved the underpinnings and the Cobra was born. But while his roadsters were quick, winning shorter sprint races in the states, their aerodynamics (or lack thereof) couldn’t achieve the top speeds necessary to win on fast tracks like Daytona, Nürburgring or Le Mans.
Fortunately Shelby had recently employed the services of a young automotive designer, Peter Brock, who had been doing pioneering aerodynamic work at General Motors Styling Studio. While there, Brock had found a German aerodynamic study from 1939 that had been given to General Motors by the U.S. government after it had recovered it at the end of World War II. He knew at some point in his career he’d be able to use the information. It turns out that point was just a few years later.
As Brock recounts, “In the summer of ’63 Carroll Shelby confided in me that he wanted to race his Cobras in Europe. We both knew the cars didn’t have the top speed to compete against Europe’s best. I explained that I had a possible solution to the problem with a new body design but it was so radical that few would accept the idea. He said, ‘I don’t care what it looks like. Will it go fast enough to compete?’”
Brock and his team took an old Cobra frame from a car that had been wrecked in a race earlier in the year and put his new coupe body on it. At the time the design was so radically different that several Shelby team members didn’t want to work on the project. But after it hit the track, everything changed. The performance improvements were immediately apparent. In the car’s first test run at Laguna Seca, without any tuning the car was a full 30 miles per hour faster than the Cobra roadster. And in the capable hands of Bob Bondurant, it wasn’t long before the Coupe was breaking lap records at Daytona.
The key to the design was not just the long tapered nose and raked windshield, but the chopped tail that helped improve the way the air flowed around the vehicle. Brock shared images with us of the Cobra Daytona Coupe in testing and how they worked every inch of the body to ensure optimum aerodynamic efficiency. This included the revolutionary idea of using the opening in the hood not just to draw air through the radiator, but over the car creating additional downforce at competition speeds.
At the time, the Shelby-American operation was a small team of just a few engineers, designers, fabricators, and drivers. But working virtually non-stop, they were able to field a team of coupes that in 1964, with drivers that included Bondurant, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill and others they were competitive right away. That season came down to the last race in Italy, with the Ferrari team holding a slight edge over Shelby for the championship. Worried he was going to lose the race in Monza and the championship, Mr. Ferrari lobbied to have the final race cancelled and retained the trophy. In 1965, however, Ferrari could not stem the tide and the Cobras defeated the mighty 250 LM to claim the FIA World Sportscar Championship.
So it was with this backdrop that the team at Baume and Mercier, the legendary Swiss watchmaker, set out to create a chronograph that honored the achievement. The company’s Director of Design, Alexandre Peraldi explained, “We tried not to be too obvious in the homage, rather creating a watch that looked like an elegant and sporty timepiece from afar, but revealed stunning detail as you got a closer look.”
Based on their very successful Capeland design, the Cobra watch has a Guardsman Blue face with subtle tone on tone striping, mimicking the race car’s iconic stripes. The leather band is accented in red, just as the Cobra’s logo is. The hour and minute hand emulate the Cobra’s classic steering wheel spokes. The Cobra logo adorns the sweeping red-tipped seconds hand indicator. Another nice touch is that the inset dials echo the instrument panel on the Shelby. All in all, the watch is an ideal accessory for any Cobra enthusiast.
Two versions of the Capeland Cobra will be available in June. The first, featuring a satin-finished stainless steel case, will sell for $4,450 and is limited to a production of just 1965 watches. For those who want something a little finer, 98 Capeland Cobra watches will be produced with an 18 karat gold case and sold for $19,950. Both have a sapphire crystal case back and are engraved with Mr. Shelby’s signature.
The Capeland Cobra comes packaged in a presentation case, complete with a scale model of a Cobra Roadster and a portion of the proceeds of the sale is donated to the Carroll Shelby Foundation. Founded in 1991 by Mr. Shelby following years of heart-related difficulties, which culminated in his successful heart transplant, the organization is dedicated to providing assistance for acute coronary and kidney care for young people who share many of the same afflictions.
In addition to getting a preview of the beautiful watch, my fellow journalists and I were treated to a Shelby American Factory tour where we were able to see how they create both the current fleet of Cobras and the Shelby Mustangs that roll off the line destined for enthusiasts from around the world. The following day we were shuttled out to the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch to learn more about the two companies and ride in a 427 Cobra around the track.
Having been in the passenger seat of several race cars in the past twelve months including the 1975 BMW 3.5 CSL and a Ferrari 458 Challenge car, only one word describes the experience of riding in the 427 Cobra: brutal. And I mean that in the very best sense of the word. The Cobra is raw, visceral and emotional. Its deep-throated growl makes your heart jump in your chest, and with 800 horsepower in a car that weighs just under 2,300 pounds, it feels like you’re being kicked in the back by a clydesdale when you hammer the accelerator. Overall, the sensation was incredible and now I know why Bob Bondurant offers a two-day class to new owners of the 427 powered car.
After getting a taste of the Cobra’s performance from the passenger seat, I just might have to find a way to get back out to Vegas, take the course and see what it feels like to be behind the wheel.
One side note, in addition to being able to buy new Cobras and Shelby GT Mustangs from Shelby American, Peter Brock is overseeing the production of street-legal Daytona Coupes as well. All cars are eligible for the Shelby American Automobile Club owners registry.