Ex Tom Payne 1964 Shelby 289 Competition Cobra for sale | London 2014 | RM AUCTIONS. Est. 400 bhp, 289 cu. in. Hi-Po Ford V-8 engine with four Weber 48 IDM carburettors, four-speed BorgWarner T-10 manual transmission, four-wheel independent suspension with A-arms, transverse leaf springs, and tubular shock absorbers, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. Wheelbase: 2,286 mm Campaigned by “Gentleman” Tom Payne in 1964 and 1965 A highly desirable Cobra “Team Specification” roadster Superb restoration of a very original car by Shelby authority Bill Murray Formerly in the Shelby American Collection for 25 years Ideal for historic racing events, such as the Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic GENTLEMAN TOM “Payne is one of those fearless gents who crouch snugly into the cockpit of a low-slung racing car and steer it for glory at speeds up to 180 miles per hour on flat road courses across the country”. So read the large feature story in the 7 March 1965 issue of the Daytona Beach Morning Journal, which profiled the exploits of the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based gentleman racer Tom Payne. Payne was forty-one years old and living on a farm outside Ann Arbor with his wife, Nan, and five children, along with several horses for them to ride, when he partnered with Dan Gerber the year before opening Gerber-Payne Ford, of Fremont, Michigan. Ford Motor Company was in high gear, having just unveiled the earth-shattering Mustang to rave reviews and unabashedly promoting its Total Performance program. Payne was no stranger to racing. In 1954, he first got behind the wheel of an Arnolt-Bristol whilst in Put-in-Bay, Ohio, and Sebring, and he later raced a Porsche RS61 stateside before trying his hand at Formula Juniors. Interestingly, the ambitious young businessman even tried his hand at politics on two occasions, running for Congress in 1960 and 1962, which was a campaign that attracted John F. Kennedy, who visited Michigan during a “whistle-stop” tour and spoke on behalf of the young Democratic candidate. Payne’s two worlds collided on at least one occasion, as he evidently arrived at a race track behind schedule and, without any time to change into his racing clothes, piloted his car at breakneck speed whilst still donning the Glen Plaid suit and necktie with which he had left work! He was known as “Gentleman Tom” thereafter. Payne first met Gerber at an SCCA race in Northern Michigan, where he hopped out of his RS61 and into Gerber’s Cobra, and from that moment he was instantly smitten! One year later, the two were in business, and the dealership became a Shelby sales point, with Payne himself ordering his first Cobra just two months later. The car that arrived at his doorstep was one of the most special racing machines not only in the country but also the world. Out of the 655 leaf-spring “small block chassis” Cobras finding their way from England to Carroll Shelby’s Riverside, California, shops and into the hands of sportsmen, driving enthusiasts, and all-out racers, only seven per cent were competition racing cars. Certainly, the distinction between a street car and a competition car is by no means cut and dry. Depending on the racing series in which the cars competed, the rules and regulations therein, or simply the technical evolution of the cars and the developments of Shelby’s engineers, “Competition Cobras” were produced in a variety of series and guises. Indeed, as advancements became available, earlier cars were frequently upgraded by privateers or the factory to meet the demands of the race track and the stiff competition. The Shelby American World Registry nevertheless outlines three classes of competition cars, beginning with the “Independently Prepared Race Cars” (street cars purchased privately and then converted into competition cars) and the “Factory-Prepared Competition Cars” (full-specification race cars prepared by Shelby for privateers) and then culminating into the most desirable variant of all, the “Cobra Factory Team Cars”. Only 32 of these full-specification competition cars were prepared by Shelby American, and they were either raced as “Works cars” or as independent yet factory-sponsored cars. Source/More Information: ift.tt/1AG76uW Ex Tom Payne 1964 Shelby 289 Competition Cobra for sale | London 2014 | RM AUCTIONS.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 04:25:16 +0000
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