As the 39th annual vintage racecar festival on California’s Monterey Peninsula, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, unfolded this past August, more than 500 historic racing cars crowded into the paddock at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on a warm and sunny weekend to take part in the show. Included among them as part of the featured marque’s 50th Anniversary celebration were nearly 50 competition Cobras—289s, 427s and Daytona Coupes—as well as 10 sibling Shelby GT350 Mustangs, one of the legendary Cooper-Ford King Cobras, a Shelby-built Sunbeam Tiger and the team’s original Fiat transporter, all on hand to honor the marque founded half a century ago by the recently deceased Carroll Shelby.
In addition to the real Cobras actually racing were a dozen significant examples—including CSX2000, the first Cobra, CSX2001, the first production car, and CSX2287, the first Daytona Coupe, and the only one built in the USA—in the central Heritage Display, and many, many more real Cobras, “continuation” cars and replicas scattered around the paddock and in nearby corrals.
The event’s annual Saturday Picnic on the Lawn featured a pair of legendary Cobra stalwarts, Bob Bondurant, leader of Shelby American’s successful 1965 FIA World Manufacturers Championship campaign, and Pete Brock, designer of the Cobra Daytona Coupe. They regaled fans with tales from their days with Shelby in response to questions from host Murray Smith.
One sad note marred the weekend’s proceedings, however, as during Saturday afternoon’s Cobra Race, one of the six original Cobra Daytona Coupes (CSX2286) was crashed heavily—but without physical injury to owner/driver Rob Walton—and took no further part in the proceedings.
On the brighter side, the Spirit of Monterey Award for the driver who excels in the “spirit of the weekend” was presented to Cobra expert Lynn Park, of La Canada, California, who owns 14 Cobras and had three in competition at Laguna, driven by himself and his two sons. That featured Cobra-only contest was won by Jim Click from Tucson, Arizona, in his 1964 289. Click was also presented with the Henry Ford Trophy for fielding the most significant Ford-powered entry.
Among the many presentations made during the event was its Paragon of Speed Award, presented by Danny Sullivan to Fred Knoop in recognition of his “lifetime pursuit of speed, and unerring support of automobile racing.”
Another highlight of the weekend was the appearance of Formula Atlantic on the Reunion schedule, as the event recognized the valuable contributions made by this late, lamented training category. Limited to pre-ground-effect cars built between 1974 and 1980, the class drew a healthy field of 29 entries with the feature race won by Woodinville, Washington’s Wade Carter III in a March 76B. The strong showing left many participants hoping that a Historic Formula Atlantic revival might develop.
Other featured race categories included: USRRC Sports Racing Cars (1960-’68), won by Robert Ryan, Avila Beach, California, driving a 1968 McLaren M6B; Historic Trans-Am cars (1966-’71), claimed by Jim Hague, Santa Clara, California, in a 1972 AMC Javelin; and IMSA GT, GTU, GTO, GTX and AAGT (1973-’82), where victory went to Bruce Canepa, Scotts Valley, California, in a 1979 Porsche 935.
In the days following the event came the announcement that next year’s featured marque will be the Chevrolet Corvette, in honor of its 60th birthday. For complete information, please visit www.mazda-raceway.com.
