I'm suprised he had the original motor,back in the days of racing,motors came and went as needed.....glad he had the insight to keep it......

The story behind the bumpers was a cop stopped the car on the street for not having any bumpers on it, at the time it only had the quick jacks,so the owner ordered the bumpers you see on it from J.C. Whitney (street rod bumpers) to keep from getting any more tickets!!!!!!!

I met Dick several times at various SAAC/Shelby events and even let him park next to me one year at Tulsa...:LOL::LOL:
He was the most humble/gracious and nicest person one could ever meet.....

David

You can't see the name or anything on the side of the trailer,but here it is parked next to my truck/trailer at Tulsa years ago....

Davidhttp://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...8MVC-007S1.JPG

Concours
 

Didn't that same judge doubt the cars originality because she thought all originals had the dash signed by Shelby?

"Original" Engine
 

I received some photos awhile ago of what is supposedly being claimed as the original engine from the car. It has EDC heads, aftermarket 1x4 intake, oil pan, balancer, 390 timing pointer, bolts, etc and the part number on the block - while rare and early - is not what was typically delivered in SC cars. I somehow doubt any of the internal components are original Ford either. So, even if in some remote probability the block is the original, I wouldn't say that the "motor" is original...

Not to change the subject, but I've always wondered why the two super snakes had slush boxes. I'm sure there was a trans/clutch combo that would have been up to the task. Anyone know why?

automatics
 

Perhaps because the potential of automatics as the optimal transmission was starting to be recognized. I recall the J car Ken Miles was testing and died in had an automatic. Didn't top shelf sports race cars like the Chaparral use automatics?

Yup...the very same lovely lady. Several of us were having a hell of a time keeping our mouths shut when she said that. :p

" In 1964, at Laguna Seca, the Chaparral 2 introduced an “automatic” transmission, which eliminated the clutch pedal and freed the divers left foot to operate the brake while keeping to other foot on the throttle "

Chaparral 2

" tell me about the cars automatic transmission: "It was a semi-automatic transmission, it wasn't fully automatic. It had a three-speed transmission with a torque converter and a lock-up at 5,000 rpm. It was quite complicated to get it running. The steering column went down between your two feet so the left foot could only work the brake and the right foot could only work the gas pedal. "

Elford2J

Well, if you got "some photos awhile ago of what is supposedly being claimed as the original engine" then by golly I'll have to defer to you. :p

Could be a matter of semantics, but I usually go by the block and sometimes the heads when I refer to "original" or when discussions turn to whether "numbers match", and yes...I'm guilty of using "engine" and motor" interchangeably.

I can only go by discussions with George Harm (the original owner of Dick's car when Dick was the driver); Joe Boghosian...whom I've known since I was a little kid in the 60s when he would 'modify' Armenian farmers' pickups for racing down vineyard roads, including my Dad's...and who did the 198's 'motors' for decades and later built my motor; Ken Christensen and his dad...who were the only ones to turn a wrench (other than the motors...done by Joe) on 198 after Gordon did the refresh...

...and...eh...knowing Dick as my client's pilot who flew me around the damn State for...oh, I don't know...since 79 several times a year for hours on end when we were the only two in the Commander when I cared more about Vettes than hearing this guy keep going on and on about freeking Cobras and flying military VIPs around some bad places...and then hours at Joe's or Ken's talking about the car and races and later...him telling me about some crazy basturds from Jersey who tried to kill him at VIR.:p

But heh...you got some pictures that you're looking at, so again, I'll defer to you.

...and yes...duh...he raced the damn thing instead of letting it be some pretty face sitting around in a garage...just like Bruce and others use them, so more than a few things changed on the original 'motor'...hell, I think he even changed the oil once or twice and probably the plugs. There were several old blocks that Joe used in the rotation (always wanted Dick to use a modern Shebly block for racing, but Dick wouldn't do it) so I have no clue what the pictures are of that you are refering to, and i do not know whether Heather has the original block now...I just know Dick (and Joe) had it before Dick left us. ;)

Dats funny as hell.........Hey, Dick was a pretty crazy guy himself on track,(although you already knew that),he was a pretty fearless driver that drove #198 like it was the last lap in the most important race of the year...to him #198 was a "race car",meant to be raced and I respected him for that...

The practice session before his "off road excursion",he and I were on track at the same time, a couple of laps into the session I saw Dick a ways behind me,coming up on me at a good rate. When I came out of the last turn before the looooonnnnngggggg front straight, I glanced in the mirror and figured he would catch and pass me on the straight. When I exited the last turn I had just shifted to 4th gear (100mph), right foot firmly planted on the floor, up ahead was a super slow 67/68 Shelby Mustang right in the middle of the track, so I eased over to the left side of the track to pass him,he was doing maybe 70mph,I was doing about 120 mph and accelerating,at the same time Dick comes up on the Shelby's right side screaming by, we both passed the poor guy, one on either side and the same time!!!!!I stayed all the way in the left lane,Dick and I were side by side and he kept "drifting" to me till he could have reached out and touched my door handle,I stayed in the gas as long as I could,Dick never backed off at the dogleg,then I tucked in behind him...it didn't take him long to get out of my sight......
After that session,we're sitting in our "compound" with a 1/2 dozen race cars and 15 or so folks and Dick comes strolling up and points to my car and says:"Who was driving the red car this last session??" Thinking I was in for a butt chewing, I kept my mouth shut and put my head down and tried to hide, but all my good buddies without hesitation pointed me out.... I stood up and said "Me sir" and he stuck out his right hand to shake my hand and told me I had a fast car and he wanted to look it over...imagine that,Dick Smith wanting to look at my POS car, we chatted for a few minutes and he told me he enjoyed running with me and hoped to do it again soon..... Class act fellow from the word go........

David

Ok...might as well hijack the thread a bit longer (Rick Lake's fault :p)...

I'm sitting in the car strapped in waiting to go out at Fontana SAAC a few years ago. I had earlier told Dick I was a little nervous about the high banking...never been on any before.

So he comes up and starts talking about the transitions between the high banking and the inner course and just trying to make me relaxed a bit. Then Mark Roe comes across our group's line-up and into the grass...on fiire and smoking with Mark jumping out of it and standing there watching his car burn a little.

Dick looks at me and says..."that ain't nuthin...just don't hit anything" and starts laughing. I called him something befitting his humor at that moment. :p

If i recall correctly...Cranky ran him off the road. Sort of a Jersey "hi y'all" ;)

Was that the same car that caught fire on his way home from LV after delivery? Must be a hot car!:D

Yessir...Cranky with an assist from Rich A.

Hemmings.com:

" Posted by David Traver Adolphus - Photo by edvvc Bloomberg reported Friday that a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold sometime in the latter half of May for a verified $35 million, and unlike most of these stories, there's a buyer and a seller's name associated with it. The buyer is reportedly telecoms billionaire Craig McCaw, who with his younger brother Bruce has had as many as 400 cars, and is thought to have spent well over $100 million on new acquisitions for the last 20 years. Over the last decade, though, the McCaws have been selling off much of t... Read On>> "

Ferrari 250 GTO sells for $35 million to become world’s most expensive car | Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts

The dealer who helped broker the sale says he can sell another at that price within 30 seconds. He has buyers lining up.....

In the last two years several Ferrari 250 GTO's have sold privately in the 30 million plus range. In additon several other Ferrari models have sold in the 12 million plus range both privately and at auction. Always wondered what the value of the Daytona Coupes were/is over the last 30 years.

Other than the original, I doubt any Cobra could make the top 100... but those cars seldom change hands and hardly ever at a auction.... take a walk thru Pebble Beach or Amelia Island or even Kirkland to see the Billionaire Boys Club's cars.