[What'saCobra?]

But..

Didn't Claus work for Negstad? Isn't Negstad's design management and creative input as important to authorship as CS's skills in "creating" the Cobra from the AC Rudspeed? Is that fair and balanced?

It is a severe mischaracterization of AC's racing heritage, even right here in our own SCCA's history, to condem their world wide racing championships to a mere "...footnote in some automotive history book." I won't even bother to detail the exploits. It's in a book.

By the way that "little straight six" (Bristol) was a BMW design that had been given to Britain as part of the war reparations act after WWII. Good design for the times and won more races for more years than the 427 for sure or perhaps even the 289.

Shelby didn't exactly decide to retain the MKII shape into the MKIII (your typo, not MKIII into MKIV), but instead he had no other ideas about what to do. It took wippersnapper Pete Brock to envision the Daytona. Shelby never then pushed the Daytona shape to the 427 production due to FORD's insistance on dropping the car.

The Brit's do find the 427 something of a blight on their asthetic sensibilities. Many American's agree, viz their remarkable interest in the FIA shapes in todays kit market. But recall that the 427 car was never even legal for historic racing in the British highly developed race scene (which existed WAY before we got interested in old clapped-out race cars.) They can't even use 4-bolt main block 289's and more than one champion has lost his title/win points to a tear down. (ex: Chris Hitchens, who only used the newer block without installing the two extra bolts!)

(Even so, the SCCA resisted the trends and ignored historic racing until they started losing mucho members and money to VSCCA, HRS, SVRA, etc.)

The grit and tenacity mostly came from Ken Miles, a Brit, who died trying, Phil Remington, who broke his butt getting stuff done right the first time and Pete Brock who faced big-time ridicule for his Daytona design. CS was by that time a wheelin' and dealin' pat-me-on-the-back-charlie of the best sort, of course.

None of this takes away from what CS accomplished with his skilled and lucky team. He was a great driver and a cool customer who gave no quarter.

Some say, however, that he is an expensive partner.

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Not to put too sharp a point on it, but it is acknowledged that the Hurricane and Spitfire were the aircraft that turned the war, not the Mustang.

The Mustang was a longer range fighter that protected our long range bombers trying to force the German population into capitulation, which did not succeed, as more historians acknowledge. What succeeded was the air supported ground war.

As nice but late as the Rolls Merlin powered Mustang was, it was preceeded by the Allison powered Mustang, which proved only a little slower and at a lower altitude.

Which Allison, by the way, has won Unlimited Hydro races for nearly 50 years. Who boat raced a Rolls Merlin? Only a few. Couldn't keep it on song on the water I was told. Wouldn't tolerate the dynamic loads, either. They still race today...