The Poor Shelby Daytona Coupes... [PIC]

Rich Sufficool · 2026-03-30T14:52:06Z

With the Shelby Cobra roadster aerodynamically limited on the long straights like Mulsanne at Le Mans when Ferrari's 250 GTOs had a 30 mph advantage, designer Peter Brock sat Ken Miles in drivers seat, reworked the steering and dash and then surrounded him with wooden bucks and then the crew hammered out the sheet metal that would become the first of 6 Daytona coupes built between 1964 and 1965. The remaining coupes were assembled in Modena, Italy. Powered by the same 390 HP 289 Windsor as the Cobra, Shelby sought to dominate the over 2.0 liter GT Class. Losing to Ferrari by only 6 points in1964, it crushed the competition in 1965, with class wins at virtually every European event in 1965, winning the International Championship For GT Manufacturers. But Shelby was then re-assigned to the GT40 program and Ford denied the desired upgrade to the 427 FE V8 wishing to concentrate solely on the GT40. Ford's manic desire to crush Ferrari in the prototype class meant that the Daytona Coupe racing days were over. Maybe saw the future for front engine GTs as bleak with the advent and success of new mid-engine cars, or he had Enzo Derangement Syndrome and just couldn't be bothered. Who knows. Here's a pair of Exotos that I found pics of. All my pics were on Google's Picasa platform that they unceremoniously dumped and I'm having a hard time finding a lot of files. I'm glad I at least found the red car of the Swiss Scuderia Filipinetti race team as well as this Standox Chromillusion one.

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Steve Jacobs

(@100ford2003)

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01/04/2026 6:35 am

@franklemire

Great custom works cars Frank! Thanks for that pic! 👍

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michaeljames

(@michaeljames)

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01/04/2026 7:41 am

That’s a fantastic shot of the Shelby Daytona Coupes. Custom work like this really highlights the detail and craftsmanship in diecast models. It’s always impressive to see how enthusiasts capture the curves and racing heritage of these classics. Thanks for sharing the pic—it’s inspiring for anyone interested in model customization.

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