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78-694: The Shelby Daytona Coupe (also referred to as the Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe, incorrectly) is an American sports- coupé . It is related to the Shelby Cobra roadster , loosely based on its chassis and drive-train developed and built as an advanced evolution. It was engineered and purpose built for auto racing , specifically to take on Ferrari and its 250 GTO in the GT class. The original project had six Shelby Daytona Coupes built for racing purposes between 1964 and 1965, as Carroll Shelby

156-546: A car with 2 doors and no B style are considered a true coupe. In the United States, some coupes are "simply line-extenders two-door variants of family sedans", while others have significant differences from their four-door counterparts. The AMC Matador coupe (1974–1978) has a shorter wheelbase with a distinct aerodynamic design and fastback styling, sharing almost nothing with the conventional three-box design and more "conservative" four-door versions. Similarly,

234-547: A coupe-like roofline at the rear. The low-roof design reduces back-seat passenger access and headroom. The designation was used for the low-roof model of the 1962–1973 Rover P5 , followed by the 1992–1996 Nissan Leopard / Infiniti J30 . Recent examples include the 2005 Mercedes-Benz CLS , 2010 Audi A7 , Volkswagen CC , Volkswagen Arteon , and 2012 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe . Similarly, several cars with one or two small rear doors for rear seat passenger egress and no B-pillar have been marketed as " quad coupes ". For example,

312-403: A coupé by applying this description to models featuring a hatchback or a rear cargo area access door that opens upwards. Most often also featuring a fold-down back seat, the hatchback or liftback layout of these cars improves their practicality and cargo room. The coupe carriage body style originated from the berline horse-drawn carriage . The coupe version of the berline was introduced in

390-520: A honeycomb panel design supposed to both lighten and stiffen the car, but the design was unproven with high-speed prototype sports cars. After almost a day of testing at Riverside International Raceway in the very hot Southern California desert, Miles approached the end of the track's one-mile (1.6 km) downhill back straight at top speed—over 200 miles per hour (320 km/h)—when the car suddenly flipped, crashed, and caught fire. The car broke into pieces and ejected Miles, killing him instantly. After

468-594: A number of two-door sedans built as well, a bodystyle the French call a coach . The 1977 version of International Standard ISO   3833— Road vehicles - Types - Terms and definitions —defines a coupe as having two doors (along with a fixed roof, usually with limited rear volume, at least two seats in at least one row and at least two side windows). On the other hand, the United States Society of Automotive Engineers publication J1100 does not specify

546-485: A rollover were proposed, limiting the development of new models. The hardtop body style went out of style with consumers while the automakers focused on cost reduction and increasing efficiencies. Saab used the term "combi coupé" for a car body similar to the liftback . A two-door car with no rear seat or with a removable rear seat intended for traveling salespeople and other vendors carrying their wares with them. American manufacturers developed this style of coupe in

624-650: A second special based on MG components that was known as the "Flying Shingle". It was very successful in the SCCA F modified class on the west coast. Miles raced the "Flying Shingle" at Palm Springs in late March, finishing first overall against veteran driver Cy Yedor, also in an MG Special, and novice driver, actor James Dean in a Porsche 356 Speedster. Miles was later disqualified on a technical infraction because his fenders were too wide, thus allowing Yedor and Dean to get 'bumped up' to first and second. During 1956, Miles raced John von Neumann's Porsche 550 Spyder at most of

702-458: A successful GT race car, he realised that the weakness of the open-cockpit sports cars at Le Mans was the aerodynamic drag which limited top speed on the 3.7 miles (6.0 km) long Mulsanne Straight to around 157 miles per hour (253 km/h), nearly 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) less than the Ferrari 250 GTO , which itself could hold speeds of circa 186 miles per hour (299 km/h). Given

780-407: A transverse white stripe across the nose in 1965. In 1964 this car set lap records at Le Mans, Reims and Rouen and the race distance record at Le Mans and Goodwood. In 1965 the car set the lap record at Oulton Park. CSX2299 was the last Daytona coupe sold by Shelby with a Bill of Sale which read "the number one Cobra Daytona coupe". It is currently owned by Larry H. Miller Group and is displayed at

858-490: Is a fixed-roof car with a sloping rear roofline and one or two rows of seats. However, there is some debate surrounding whether a coupe must have two doors for passenger egress or whether cars with four doors can also be considered coupés. This debate has arisen since the early 2000s, when four-door cars such as the Mazda RX-8 and Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class have been marketed as "four-door coupés" or "quad coupés", although

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936-412: Is a lightweight sporty two-door car, typically with two seats but also including 2+2 cars. A club coupe is a two-door car with a larger rear-seat passenger area, compared with the smaller rear-seat area in a 2+2 body style. Thus, club coupes resemble coupes as both have two doors, but feature a full-width rear seat that is accessible by tilting forward the backs of the front seats. A hardtop coupe

1014-400: Is a style of automobile characterized by two side windows and a backlight (rear window). The front windscreens are not counted. The three-window coupe has a distinct difference from the five-window coupe, which has an additional window on each side behind the front doors. These two-door cars typically have small-sized bodies with only a front seat and an occasional small rear seat. The style

1092-477: Is a two-door car that lacks a structural pillar ("B" pillar) between the front and rear side windows. When these windows are lowered, the effect is like that of a convertible coupé with the windows down. The hardtop body style was popular in the United States from the early 1950s until the 2000s. It was also available in European and Japanese markets. Safety regulations for roof structures to protect passengers in

1170-677: Is an inductee to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America . As an automotive engineer, he is known for developing the Ford GT40 along with driver and designer Carroll Shelby , which won at Le Mans in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969. His and Shelby's efforts at Le Mans were dramatized in the 2019 Oscar -winning film Ford v Ferrari . Miles was born on 1 November 1918 in Sutton Coldfield , then in Warwickshire , now in

1248-484: Is based on the past participle of the French verb couper ("to cut") and thus indicates a car which has been "cut" or made shorter than standard. It was first applied to horse -drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. These berlines coupées or carrosses coupés ("clipped carriages") were eventually clipped to coupés . There are two common pronunciations in English: A coupé

1326-465: Is to others. I should like to drive a Formula One machine, not for the grand prize, but just to see what it is like. I should think it would be jolly good fun! With a very pronounced Brummie accent (from his hometown of Birmingham, renowned for car manufacturing) combined with a seemingly obscure and sardonic sense of humour, he was affectionately known by his American racing crew as "Teddy Teabag" (for his tea drinking) or "Sidebite" (as he talked out of

1404-562: Is voted on by the public. In addition to being the first American car to win the award, the Cobra Daytona Coupe is also the first American car nominated for this award. This was the second Coupe built and the first completed at Carrozzeria Gransport . It competed in nine FIA races (LeMans, Reims, Goodwood Tourist Trophy, Tour de France, Daytona, Sebring, Oulton Park TT, LeMans, Enna), won four FIA events (LeMans '64, Tourist Trophy '64, Daytona '65, Sebring '65) and one event during

1482-555: The 1964 International Championship for GT Manufacturers . The Shelby Daytona Coupes won the GT III class (by 19 points) for the 1965 International Championship for GT Manufacturers . A partial list of competitions and results includes: Carroll Shelby, after winning Le Mans in 1959, wanted to return to Europe to beat Enzo Ferrari at Le Mans with a car of his own design. Having developed the AC Cobra/Shelby Cobra into

1560-492: The 24 Hours of Daytona , sharing the Ford GT Mk II with Lloyd Ruby , and then won the 12 Hours of Sebring . Several months later, sharing the drive with Denny Hulme , Miles was leading the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans in the #1 car, but Ford Motor Company executive Leo Beebe, desiring a publicity photo of three of Ford's cars crossing the finish line together, instructed Miles to slow down, which he did. Accordingly, on

1638-523: The Alfa Romeo GT or Infiniti Q60 – or have little engineering in common with other vehicles from the manufacturer – such as the Toyota GT86 . Ken Miles Kenneth Henry Jarvis Miles (1 November 1918 – 17 August 1966) was an English sports car racing engineer and driver best known for his motorsport career in the U.S. and with American teams on the international scene. He

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1716-629: The Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Stratus coupes and sedans (late-1990 through 2000s), have little in common except their names. The coupes were engineered by Mitsubishi and built in Illinois, while the sedans were developed by Chrysler and built in Michigan. Some coupes may share platforms with contemporary sedans. Coupes may also exist as model lines in their own right, either closely related to other models, but named differently – such as

1794-516: The International Championship for GT Manufacturers series, including events at Le Mans , Daytona , Sebring , Imola , Reims , Spa Francorchamps , Goodwood Circuit , Oulton Park , Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie , the multi-race Tour de France Automobile , Enna , Rouen , Monza , and Nürburgring . The Shelby Daytona Coupes, in their first year of competition, finished second (to Ferrari, by 6 points) in GT III class in

1872-535: The Rover P5 was a much earlier example, with a variant introduced in 1962 having a lower, sleeker roofline marketed as the Rover P5 Coupé. In the 1940s and 1950s, coupés were distinguished from sedans by their shorter roof area and sportier profile. Similarly, in more recent times, when a model is sold in both coupé and sedan body styles, generally the coupe is sportier and more compact. There have been

1950-473: The Society of Automobile Engineers suggested nomenclature for car bodies that included the following: Coupe: An enclosed car operated from the inside with seats for two or three and sometimes a backward-facing fourth seat. Coupelet: A small car seating two or three with a folding top and full height doors with fully retractable windows. Convertible coupe: A roadster with a removable coupe roof. During

2028-686: The Vintage Sports Car Club . He then turned to a Ford V8 Frazer-Nash . In 1952, Miles moved from England to the U.S. and settled in Los Angeles , California as a service manager for Gough Industries, the Southern California MG distributor. In 1953, he won 14 straight victories in SCCA racing in an MG-based special of his own design and construction. For the 1955 season, he designed, constructed and campaigned

2106-654: The West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2020. ( key ) Ken Miles was married to Mollie and had a son, Peter Miles (born September 28, 1950). He was also a close friend of Carroll Shelby . Peter was almost 16 when he witnessed his father's death in the prototype J-car crash in 1966. A few months after Ken's death, Peter went to work for Ken's friend Dick Troutman at the Troutman and Barnes custom car shop in Culver City, California . Peter stayed at

2184-473: The "coil-Spring Cobra" chassis. After sketching the proposed design on the floor of the Shelby America workshop, starting with the roadster chassis crashed at the 1963 Le Mans race, Brock removed the bodywork and placed a seat and steering wheel in alignment of where he felt that they should be. He then placed driver Ken Miles in the car, and using scrap wood and gaffer tape, designed the windscreen -

2262-499: The #59 at Le Mans on June 19–20, 1965, British drivers Sutcliffe and Harper ran CSX2602 with the distinctive Red & White Swiss colors for the famous Swiss racing team "Scuderia Filipinetti". The latter had already earned a reputation for themselves racing Ferraris. When Ford used up their allotment of entries for the 1965 Le Mans race, they asked team owner Georges Filipinetti to buy a Shelby Coupe from Alan Mann Racing and race it as his own annual entry. The red and white Cobra ran until

2340-544: The 10th hour, when a blown engine put it out of the race. After Le Mans, chassis CSX2602 was returned to Alan Mann Racing. It was repainted in the Shelby American team colors and never raced again. In July 2015 Shelby American announced that they would produce a limited run of 50 continuation Daytonas to honor the 50th anniversary of the Daytona's win in the International Championship for GT Manufacturers . Some of

2418-403: The 18th century as a shortened ("cut") version with no rear-facing seat. Normally, a coupé had a fixed glass window in the front of the passenger compartment. The coupé was considered an ideal vehicle for women to use to go shopping or to make social visits. The early coupé automobile's passenger compartment followed in general conception the design of horse-drawn coupés, with the driver in

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2496-566: The 2003 Saturn Ion , the 2003 Mazda RX-8 , and the 2011-2022 Hyundai Veloster . Particularly popular in Europe, many cars are designed with coupe styling, but a three-door hatchback/liftback layout to improve practicality, including cars such as the Jaguar E-Type , Mitsubishi 3000GT , Datsun 240Z , Toyota Supra , Mazda RX-7 , Alfa Romeo Brera , Ford/Mercury Cougar and Volkswagen Scirocco . A two-door car designed for driving to

2574-585: The 20th century, the term coupé was applied to various close-coupled cars (where the rear seat is located further forward than usual and the front seat further back than usual). Since the 1960s the term coupé has generally referred to a two-door car with a fixed roof. Since 2005, several models with four doors have been marketed as "four-door coupés", however, reactions are mixed about whether these models are actually sedans instead of coupés. According to Edmunds , an American automotive guide, "the four-door coupe category doesn't really exist." A berlinetta

2652-427: The 427 "Type 65" Shelby Daytona Super Coupe # CSB3054 prototype that was developed but never officially completed by Shelby, is not included in this article. Build #CSX2286, was built as a one-off special for the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans race however it never made it to the race. Carroll Shelby told a fictitious version of the story, claiming that it had an accident when being put on the truck to go to Le Mans. The truth

2730-564: The 50 are to be aluminum-bodied, while others will have cheaper fiberglass bodies. In 2004 Ford and Shelby created a sports coupe dubbed the Ford Shelby GR-1 , with a sleek body and the new V10 powering the new Shelby Cobra . Carroll Shelby has explained that he does not want it to be called a Cobra, but it does bear resemblance to the Daytona. Coup%C3%A9 The term coupé was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from

2808-588: The Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in November 1965, while driven by Craig Breedlove , Bobby Tatroe and Tom Greatorex during a Goodyear tire testing session. Shortly thereafter, it was reconditioned and was advertised for sale. Slot car racing magnate Jim Russell bought the car from Shelby in 1966 after seeing an ad in the newspaper, for about $ 4-$ 5k. Russell eventually listed the car for sale and music producer Phil Spector bought it from him. The car

2886-644: The Cal Club and SCCA events. For the 1957 season (in co-operation with Otto Zipper), Miles engineered the installation of a Porsche 550S engine and transmission in a 1956 Cooper chassis and body. It was the second successful race car to be known on the West Coast as "the Pooper", the first being an early 1950s Cooper chassis and body powered by a Porsche 356 power train that was built and campaigned by Pete Lovely of Tacoma, Washington. The resulting car dominated

2964-477: The F Modified class of SCCA on the west coast in the 1957 and 1958 seasons with Miles driving. Due to his great skill and talent, both as a driver and mechanical engineer, Miles was a significant member of the Shelby / Cobra race team in the early 1960s. Miles described himself this way: I am a mechanic. That has been the direction of my entire vocational life. Driving is a hobby, a relaxation for me, like golfing

3042-411: The French past participle of couper , "cut". Some coupé cars only have two seats, while some also feature rear seats. However, these rear seats are usually lower quality and much smaller than those in the front. Furthermore, "A fixed-top two-door sports car would be best and most appropriately be termed a 'sports coupe' or 'sports coupé'". Coupé ( French pronunciation: [kupe] )

3120-475: The GT III Class, while also earning the points needed to secure the 1965 International Championship for GT Manufacturers . This car was featured in the 1965 film Red Line 7000 , then was purchased by its driver Bob Bondurant, who sold it in 1969. The car sold for $ 7.25 million on August 15, 2009, and it is currently owned by Perez Companc family from Argentina. This was the fifth Shelby Coupe built and

3198-749: The GT class at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 1964 with MacDonald and Holbert behind the wheel. The race at Sebring marked the first victory for a Cobra Daytona Coupe. At Le Mans in June 1964, the car was finished in Viking Blue metallic very distinctive white painted front fenders. The drivers were Amon and Neerpasch. They led the GT class until the car was disqualified in the 10th hour for an illegal jump start due to battery and alternator failure. This coupe ended its racing career by setting 25 USAC/FIA world records at

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3276-414: The GT winning Alan Mann entry driven by Bondurant and Neerpasch ), and 12th overall. After the race, this white coupe was returned to Alan Mann Racing and was repainted in the official Guardsman Blue metallic and white stripe of the 1965 Shelby American team. Carroll Shelby himself owned this Daytona before it was sold by RM Auctions for $ 4.4 million on August 19, 2000. This was the fourth Coupe built and

3354-536: The Shelby American Collection in Boulder, Colorado. This Shelby Daytona Coupe was leased from Alan Mann Racing by Ford of France, to race as the national "Tri-Colore" entry in the 1965 Nurburgring 1000 km race, for which it was painted a white body finish with blue and red stripes. Well known French drivers André Simon and Jo Schlesser drove this coupe to 3rd in the GT 3 category (behind

3432-628: The Tour de France (Rouen). The car was driven through this period by Dan Gurney , Bob Bondurant , Maurice Trintignant , Bernard de St. Auban, Jo Schlesser , Hal Keck, Jack Sears and Dick Thompson . At LeMans in 1964, drivers Gurney and Bondurant, clocking over 196 miles per hour (315 km/h) on the Mulsanne Straight, took First Place in the GT III Class. CSX2299 was painted Viking Blue with two white stripes in 1964 and repainted Guardsman Blue with two larger longitudinal white stripes and

3510-575: The archive stores at Ford. Brock used these as the basis for the new design. Brock, driver Ken Miles, and fabricator John Ohlsen were the original members of the project. The design was initially snubbed by the rest of the Shelby team but after the car started to take shape and driving tests showed impressive results, the rest of the team got on board with the project to help finish it. In the May 2020 issue of Classic Motorsports Brock recounted "...In spite of all

3588-698: The car before he lost his license. The car made an appearance in a 1968 episode of The Monkees , where it was driven against the Monkeemobile in a race. The car was given an iron cross on the 'meatball'. All trace of CSX2287 was lost by the mid-1970s, with car historians and collectors fearing the car had been destroyed. In 2001 the car was rediscovered in a rental storage unit in California. The owner Donna O'Hara had committed suicide by burning herself alive. The car had remained undiscovered for almost 30 years. Due to its estimated worth of over $ 4,000,000

3666-537: The car driven by Bob Bondurant and Dan Gurney . This car finished fourth in the main race but won in the GT class. CSX2286 was returned to California, returned to stock, and was raced at Le Mans the following year with drivers Gurney and Jerry Grant . Due to clutch trouble it failed to finish. Owned and successfully vintage raced by S. Robson Walton , but crashed at Laguna Seca Raceway in August 2012. The car has since been repaired and fully restored. Chassis #CSX2287

3744-582: The car was part of an extensive legal battle between her mother who sold the car to Dr. Frederick A. Simeone, and a friend of Ms O'Hara who was the recipient in her will of the contents of the storage unit. CSX2287 is restored. It has been preserved and mechanically reconditioned. It is part of the permanent collection at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA, USA. In January 2014 CSX2287 became

3822-756: The car, clocked at that point capable of speeds over 190 miles per hour (310 km/h). CSX2287 was transported to Daytona Speedway for its debut race in the February 16, 1964 Daytona Continental 2000 km. Driver Dave MacDonald earned the pole position with a time of 2:08.200 and average speed of 106.464 miles per hour (171.337 km/h). The first Shelby Daytona Coupe was built at the Shelby American race shop in Venice, California. The remaining five were built at Carrozzeria Gransport (Italian for "Grand Sport Coachbuilders") in Modena, Italy. A seventh semi-related car,

3900-726: The car. The significantly revised J-car, renamed the Ford Mk IV , won the only two races in which it was entered: the 1967 Sebring 12 Hours , and the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans . Miles is interred at the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood , California . Miles was posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001. He was inducted in

3978-466: The city of Birmingham . He was the son of Eric Miles and Clarice Jarvis. After a failed attempt to run away to the United States, Miles left school at the age of 15 to work as an apprentice at Wolseley Motors , who sent him to a technical school to broaden his knowledge of vehicle construction. He raced motorcycles before joining the British Army , during World War II . Miles' first role in

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4056-624: The crash, the aerodynamics of the J-car were greatly modified to correct the rear-end lift generated at race speeds. Years later Porsche and others had the same problem, as the long low silhouette of a Kammback tailed car behaves like an aerofoil aircraft wing and lifts at high speed. Ford executives, under pressure after the second fatal accident in the program in five months, ordered a roll cage similar to those used in NASCAR Grand National competition , be installed in future versions of

4134-572: The extension would have been "too much work" and would have made the car too long, but that Howard had been right all along. Miles took the car to the Riverside Raceway , and on the 1 mile (1.6 km) main straight, took the car on his first five laps to 186 miles per hour (299 km/h), admittedly after it had been found to have "almost flown, lightening the steering a great deal" at speeds above 160 miles per hour (260 km/h). It took another 30 days of development before Miles signed off

4212-437: The final lap the next car from Ford driven by Bruce McLaren/ Chris Amon and the third-place car from Ford drew up, and they cruised to the line together. The French race officials, after initially agreeing to Ford's dead-heat "photo-finish", reneged during the final hour of the race. Miles's #1 car and McLaren's #2 car crossed the finish line almost at the same time, with photos showing McLaren's #2 as slightly ahead when crossing

4290-789: The first Cobra Daytona Coupe became the first vehicle recorded under a U.S. federal program for documenting historically important national treasures. During 1964 and 1965, Ford entered their six Shelby Daytona Coupes in numerous races through the British Alan Mann Racing Ford factory team, as well as temporarily selling or leasing to other racing teams such as "Tri-Colore" of France and Scuderia Filipinetti of Switzerland. During this period, Shelby Daytona Coupes raced in GT Division III, for engine displacements over 2000 cc. They competed at numerous 500 km, 1000 km, 2000 km, 12 hour and 24 hour races on

4368-422: The first component to be manufactured for the car. He then interspaced wooden formers and, using these as a guide, hand-made the aluminum bodywork for chassis #CSX2287 around them. Shelby conferred with an aerodynamics consultant from Convair , Ben Howard, who said that the design needed to be extended on the tail by at least 3 feet (0.91 m), but Brock stood by his design. Shelby later said that, in hindsight,

4446-837: The first vehicle added to the Historic Vehicle Association 's National Historic Vehicle Register in the United States. Concurrently it became the first automobile to be recorded under the United States Secretary of the Interior Standards for Heritage Documentation, kept on file in the Library of Congress . In November 2014, CSX2287 won the International Historic Motoring Awards "Car of the Year", which

4524-624: The fourth completed at Carrozzeria Gransport. It competed in six 1965 races (Daytona, Sebring, Monza, Spa, Nürburgring and LeMans) and was driven by Rick Muther , John Timanus, Lew Spencer, Jim Adams, Phil Hill , Jack Sears , John Whitmore , Peter Sutcliffe and Peter Harper . Prior to the Le Mans race, chassis CSX 2602 was also raced at Daytona (driven by Muther and Timanus) in 1965, Sebring (driven by Spencer, Adams, and Hill) in 1965, Monza (driven by Sears and Whitmore) in 1965, and Nurburgring (driven by Sears and Gardner) also in 1965. Racing with

4602-521: The internal dissension, Ohlsen, Miles and I persevered. We led a small group of shop converts into building our first Daytona Coupe in 90 days!" CSX2287 has an extensive race history, competing at Daytona, Sebring, Reims, Spa Francorchamps, Oulton Park TT, Le Mans, Tour de France and Bonneville Salt Flats. It was driven by Dave MacDonald , Bob Holbert, Jo Schlesser , Phil Hill , Jochen Neerpasch , Chris Amon , Innes Ireland , André Simon , Maurice Dupeyron, Bob Johnson and Tom Payne. Chassis CSX2287 won

4680-411: The late 1930s. The 1921 and 1922 LaFayette models were available in a variety of open and closed body styles that included a close-coupled version featuring two center-opening doors on each side that was marketed as a Four-Door Coupe. The 1927 Nash Advanced Six was available in four-door coupe body style. More recently, the description has been applied by marketers to describe four-door cars with

4758-601: The length of this straight, this speed differential represented a loss of over 10 seconds per lap which could negate any power and acceleration advantage that the Cobra had in the slower sections. Shelby asked employee Pete Brock to design the Daytona's aerodynamic bodywork and Bob Negstad to design the car's suspension. Negstad also designed the chassis and suspension for the GT40 and the CSX 3000 series Shelby Cobra, often referred to as

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4836-510: The line. Additionally, McLaren's #2 started in second position behind Miles's car and had therefore covered 8 meters more distance during the race. Regardless of the reason, McLaren's #2 was declared the winner with Miles denied the unique achievement of winning Sebring, Daytona, and Le Mans in the same year. The Ford J-car was intended to be the successor to the Ford GT40 Mk II and, despite reliability problems, showed potential in

4914-714: The military was driving instructor in the Territorial Army . On 1 October 1942, as an armament artificer , he was among the founding members of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), and transferred to the REME Training Establishment. The following year Miles was posted to Guards Armoured Division Workshops, followed by the 29th Armoured Brigade Workshop. He landed in Normandy on 15 June 1944, and later that year

4992-404: The number of doors, instead defining a coupé as having a rear interior volume of less than 33 cu ft (934 L). The definition of coupé started to blur when manufacturers began to produce cars with a 2+2 body style (which have a sleek, sloping roofline, two doors, and two functional seats up front, plus two small seats in the back). Some manufacturers also blur the definition of

5070-445: The open at the front and an enclosure behind him for two passengers on one bench seat . The French variant for this word thus denoted a car with a small passenger compartment. By the 1910s, the term had evolved to denote a two-door car with the driver and up to two passengers in an enclosure with a single bench seat. The coupé de ville , or coupé chauffeur, was an exception, retaining the open driver's section at front. In 1916,

5148-442: The opera with easy access to the rear seats. Features sometimes included a folding front seat next to the driver or a compartment to store top hats . Often they would have solid rear-quarter panels, with small, circular windows, to enable the occupants to see out without being seen. These opera windows were revived on many U.S. automobiles during the 1970s and early 1980s. The three-window coupe (commonly just "three-window")

5226-515: The side of his mouth). He played a major role in the development and success of the racing versions of the Shelby Cobra 289 in SCCA, USRRC and FIA sports car racing between 1962 and 1965 as well as the Daytona Coupe and 427 versions of the Cobra and the Ford GT (GT40) . He became the chief test driver of Shelby-American in 1963. Miles had a "reputation for courtesy on the track" and

5304-532: The springtime Le Mans trials. After the death of Walt Hansgen in a J-car while testing at Le Mans in April, Ford decided to shelve the J-car and focus on the proven Mk IIs. Little development was done for the rest of the 1966 World Sports Car Championship season. In August 1966, Shelby American resumed testing and development work with Miles as primary test driver. The J-car featured a breadvan -shaped rear section experimenting with Kammback aerodynamic theories, and

5382-428: The third completed at Carrozzeria Gransport. It competed in eight FIA races in 1965 (Daytona, Sebring, Monza, Spa, Nürburgring, LeMans, Reims, Enna), won four times in GT III class (Monza, Nürburgring, Reims, Enna), and driven by Bob Johnson, Tom Payne, Bob Bondurant , Allen Grant, Jochen Neerpasch and Jo Schlesser . At Reims, 3–4 July 1965, drivers were Bondurant and Schlesser. It was painted Guardsman Blue. They won

5460-582: The workshop for four years. In 1986, Peter joined Precision Performance Inc. (PPI), the Cal Wells-owned Toyota off-road racing operation starting as a fabricator and then a mechanic before becoming the crew chief. Peter was the crew chief for Ivan Stewart when Stewart won the 1991 Nissan 400 in Nevada. In a 2019 interview, Peter said that the last time he went to Le Mans was in 1965 with his father Ken, and he has not returned since. Miles

5538-476: Was not suited for street driving, however certain features were added including traditional rear-exit mufflers and interior carpeting, in order to make it more user-friendly. It is unknown if these were added by Spector or Russell. Built for high-speed racing, the cab became uncomfortably warm at low speeds, among other problems. Still, Spector drove it on the streets, and legend is that Spector racked up so many speeding tickets, his lawyer advised him to get rid of

5616-422: Was popular from the 1920s until the beginning of World War II . While many manufacturers produced three-window coupes, the 1932 Ford coupe is often considered the classic hot rod. Some SUVs or crossovers with sloping rear rooflines are marketed as "coupe crossover SUVs" or "coupe SUVs", even though they have four side doors for passenger egress to the seats and rear hatches for cargo area access however only

5694-652: Was posted to the Light Aid Detachment of the 15th/19th King’s Royal Hussars . Miles served in North West Europe until the end of the war, by which time he had achieved the rank of staff sergeant . He served as a tank commander, and the experience is said to have fuelled a new love in Miles for high-performance engineering. He was discharged to the reserves on 1 April 1946. After the war, Miles raced Bugattis , Alfa Romeos , and Alvises with

5772-542: Was reassigned to the Ford GT40 project to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans , again to beat Ferrari in the highest level prototype class. Shelby won a title in the International Championship for GT Manufacturers in the 1965 season with the Shelby Daytona car, thus becoming the first American constructor to win a title on the international scene at the FIA World Championships . In 2014,

5850-478: Was sometimes called the " Stirling Moss of the West Coast". While a member of the AC-Cobra Ford Team, Miles entered a Lotus 23 in the 1964 Player's 200 at Mosport . In 1965, he shared a Ford GT Mk II with Bruce McLaren at the 24 Hours of Le Mans but retired with gearbox trouble. Earlier in the year, also with McLaren, he had finished second at the 12 Hours of Sebring . The next year he won

5928-470: Was that the car was never finished. The original plan with CSX2286 was to lengthen the chassis and modify the car so that the 289 cu in Ford engine could be replaced with a NASCAR inspired big block. New Zealander John Ohlsen, who worked for Shelby on the original Daytona Coupe prototype (chassis #CSX2287) with Pete Brock and Ken Miles , modified the chassis used for the build at Shelby’s Venice shop. The car

6006-406: Was the very first prototype Cobra Daytona Coupe, and is the only coupe that was built entirely at the Shelby American race shop in Venice, California. It was designed by Pete Brock, based on German engineering designs for an aerodynamic race car, dating back to the late 1930s. The plans were thought by Brock to have been lost during World War II however copies of the original German plans were found in

6084-407: Was then shipped to Italy, where Ohlsen was meant to oversee the installation of a Ford aluminium 427 cu in block. Citing concerns about overheating Ford reneged on the 427 and instead provided a 390, which Ohlsen installed. Time ran out on the build after the remaining long list of parts from Ford never arrived. Instead, another build, chassis #CSX2299, was used at the race with Ohlsen as crew chief and

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