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Cobra Dragon Snake: CSX 2093
From Mecum's web site:
"CSX 2093 was the 93rd Cobra built and is one of only eight cars modified with the Shelby-developed Dragonsnake package designed to maximize drag racing performance. Depending on options, the package could swell the bottom line to a whopping $8,990, a huge sum in 1960s-era dollars. " Additional narrative/pictures http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_de..._112410_S121_1 |
It seems as if several cars have been claimed to be "the winningest competition Cobra in history." If only you could go back and quantify these comments with an accurate list of races won.
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Another wild violet one huh Ned. History always gets better when it's told over a few times...........
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It's even more winningest that the last most winningest car that came up for sale (but not as winningest as the next most winningest.....)
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Not to be too picky, but the car's rear wheels appear to be 7-1/2" Halibrands rather than "sunbursts", and the headers were manufactured by Bellanger, not Ballanger.
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Update from Hemmings:
Bruce Larson’s Dragonsnake Cobra – CSX 2093 – will be available for purchase once again. When last we saw it,Mecum Auctions had it at their annual Kissimmee, Florida, event held in late January. This was back in 2007, and it sold for a whopping $1,417,500 (which included a 5 percent buyer’s premium) – it was the top sale of the auction. Just landing on our desk was news of its impending sale at auction: Mecum at their annual Kissimmee event in January 2011. Listed as lot S121.1 (it’s estimated that it’ll cross the block on Saturday, January 29 at 2:45 p.m.), the ’63 Cobra has documented race and build history; it’s one of eight such cars modified by Shelby for the quarter-mile. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2...et/?refer=news |
"it’s one of eight such cars modified by Shelby for the quarter-mile."
Well, no, it is not. 2093 was sold as a street car initially, and was later modified by its owner using parts bought from Shelby American and elsewhere. There is a large value difference between a factory-built Dragonsnake and a customer-built car, irrespective of competition history. |
The MCACN show in Chicago two weeks ago had a rare 427 Cobra displayed.
It was #3159 and was prepared by Joel Rosen for drag racing. It held the World Record at, I believe, 10.23. What a beautiful car with two of the most amazing car guys of the 60's having a hand in its success, Shelby and Joel Rosen. |
The third person who had a hand in the car's success was its owner/ driver, Clem Hoppe from NJ. Clem disappeared shortly after quitting racing with 3159 and nothing further has been heard of him. Can someone please page Rod Serling?
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Ned, yes. I'm glad you mentioned Clem. The owner was kind enough to tell me that story as he wiped the drool I left on his car. They found his car at the airport in the late 60's and never heard from Clem again. The owner said that he still keeps Clem's sister informed about 3159.
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A Clem Hoppe tidbit. Rich Feldheim, a regular at the old New Jersey Cobra Club beer and BS fests, happened upon Hoppe's old mechanic. The guy had ended up with all of the leftovers from the drag car after Clem went off into the ether. With Rich as my guide, I was able to buy them from the mechanic in 1974: $500 for, among other things, the original 427 short block, two 7-1/2" Halibrand wheels, a sunburst wheel with an original Good Year blue dot tire, the Cobra's soft top and side curtains, and a bunch of minor bits and pieces.
Even then, a good deal. |
Mark, I'm sure that stuff is still hanging around in your garage. I'll just stop by and pick that crap up, if it's OK with you. Dianne doesn't need all that clutter. Always ready to help... :3DSMILE:
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Did any of the parts get reunited with the car?
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I'm afraid not. At the time that I bought the stuff, no one (including Hoppe's mechanic) knew of the wherabouts of the car. In any case, I was more focused on the pieces that I wanted for CSX3121; the Halibrands ended up on my Cobra, couple with a pair of 9-1/2" that I traded for the following year. They were on the car when it appeared in Automobile Quarterly and Rich Taylor's "Great Cars of the Postwar Era", and when it was sold to Dave Ruocco in 1975. The softop (which never actually used) went with the car as well.
The shortblock went to my old friend John Schroeder, who, if he's still breathing, probably has it stashed somewhere along with all his other Ford parts. The rest were sold at the 1975 Shelby Owners' Association (later to morph into the SAAC) convention. |
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The Hoppe Cobra chronicles continue to fascinate. Reading the above article, i learned that Carl Mentz owned the Hoppe car in the mid-1970s. As it turned out, Mentz was also a NJ Cobra fest regular, and in fact was the guy who sold me the 9-1/2" Halibrands that I paired with Hoppe's wheels on CSX3121.
Small, small world. |
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