Researching any info re: Paul Cunningham, Competition Cobra privateer

[Nedsel]

Originally Posted by USC_COWBOY

Ned Scudder,

I do appreciate all the work you do in keeping the histories and supporting documentation on our beloved Cobra’s. I have been reading the Leaf Spring Cobra Registry and it definitely qualifies as a “Tome”, kudos to you and the staff.

I would like to point out a couple of possible mistakes in the CSX2049 history as presented:

In the race history of the car, it states that in the Pomona Race dated 7/13-24/1963 Ted Roberts drove #25; I have examined the Race program and it does not show Ted Roberts nor car #25, in fact, it only shows Corvettes and a Ferrari in the class race, not one Cobra.

In the race history of the car, it states that in the Times GP GT 1 hour Race, dated 10/13/1963 the car was sponsored by “Muth Ford”; not so, it was sponsored by “Powerine Fuel”. Driver and entrant was Paul Cunningham.

In the race history of the car, it states that in the Laguna Seca Race, dated 10/19/1963 the car was sponsored by “Muth Ford”; not so, it was sponsored by “Powerine Fuel”. Driver and entrant was Paul Cunningham.

In the race history of the car, it states that in the Willow Springs Race, dated 11/16/1963 the car was entered by “Powerine Oil”; not so, it was sponsored by “Powerine Oil”. Driver and entrant was Paul Cunningham.

Also noted was that Albert Abidin sent the Cobra CSX2049 back to Shelby American for extensive upgrades converting it from Street to Full competition status. Listed upgrades were:

Race spec engine, custom fabricated headers, side exit exhausts, engine oil cooler, larger front brake calipers, forward braced roll bar, F/R pin drive wheel hubs, aviation spec hardware for the suspension, etc., rear wheel arch flares, Halibrand “kidney bean” magnesium racing wheels, 15”x6” front and 15”x7” rear Goodyear Blue Streak racing tires, and replace the AC/Shelby emblem with the flat hooded snake emblem.

This is a sizeable work order. May I have a copy of the factory work order, invoicing and costs related to these factory competition modifications?

On 4/13/1964, Ken Grindley wrote a letter to Phil Curry wherein they decided to obtain a “mechanics lien” on the wrecked car, there would have been application paperwork necessary to obtain a “mechanics lien”, and there would have been corresponding correspondence to notify the owner that they were going to be subject to a “mechanics lien”. May I have a copy of the letter, the application paperwork and the correspondence to the owner?

Like yourself, I believe in keeping as complete a record as possible and would like to leave a history on my end that is complete and relevant.

Thank you again for securing and safe-keeping such an extensive history of our beloved Cobras.

Hi, Michael - I hope you will allow me to tackle your questions roughly in order.

For the various races you mention, I took the car numbers and race results from whichever copy of the fun old publication "Competition Press," later called "Autoweek," they would have been in. My thinking is that a race program would have been submitted to the printers a few days ahead of any race, and perhaps not all the entries that eventually showed up were listed. Did they get it right? We will likely never know at this point. Sadly, I threw out all my old copies of the paper in a move many years ago.

Regarding the Times GP where Muth Ford was shown as a sponsor instead of Powerine Fuel: is is possible that may have been more than one sponsor, and they listed one over another? I can't say if the data is correct or incorrect at this point, but it is whatever was shown in the race summary after the event. Ditto for the next event you mention, where I suspect you want to say Powerine Fuel vs. Powerine Oil. In spite of which sponsor may have been listed, I'm not sure it carries too much relevance given the larger picture of where things are today.

Regarding the modifications said to have been made to 2049 at Shelby American, we have no paperwork on these. What was listed was how the car was prepared based on photographs taken at the events as well as how the car was equipped when it was crashed. It is my understanding that Al or Ann Abiden explained to Lanse Hasselrig when they were discussing his purchase of the wrecked car that the modifications had been performed at Shelby American. I would very much like to have a copy of that invoice, as it would likely show the owner as the party to be billed for the work, but it was not in the files we recovered.

I am appending a copy of the letter in the files from Ken Grindley, the Shelby American controller, to Phil Curry regarding a mechanic's lien. I have no idea who Curry is nor why the letter was directed to him. And it is unfortunate that the original letter with the Shelby American logo was sent out and all that was in the files is a copy, but it's better than nothing. Too bad that once again, there is no mention of an owner.