Anyone remenber racing Cobra Orange Snake?

[bitzman]

I heard of a black Cobra with the word "Snake" painted on it raced by Ed Leslie
but today in a book on Cobras I saw a black and white of a lighter colored Cobra that says Orange Snake on the door being raced at Daytona in 1966. The caption says it was piloted by Dr. Dick Thompson who I knew of as "the racing dentist" and who one time drove a GT40 at LeMans or maybe had an accident testing a GT40 at Lemans, not sure. Anyhow this car had a gawdawful roll cage structure almost as ugly as the one raced by "Gentleman Tom Payne". Anyone else got pictures of this car--I know one thing, it sure wasn't a factory sponsored car.

I thought at first that the name Orange Snake was related to a food product like Dan Gerber's Prune Mush Cobra but now think maybe it was painted orange, hence the name

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by bitzman

but today in a book on Cobras I saw a black and white of a lighter colored Cobra that says Orange Snake

cite your source. ..which book?

[bitzman]

book is entitled Cobra 260 289 427
published in French in the 1980s

[Coralsnake]

Orange Shelbys - gotta love it

[crzy4shelbys]

Not related to the orange Cobra in question, but Dick Thompson was probably best known for his time spent behind the wheel of a Corvette. You're right, though, he did pilot a GT40 at LeMans.

Josh

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by bitzman

... this car had a gawdawful roll cage structure almost as ugly as the one raced by "Gentleman Tom Payne". ....-I know one thing, it sure wasn't a factory sponsored car.

The car is CSX2323 - one of the 5 FIA cars run in 1964.



Before it was "last year's race car" and sold in 1965, it was the famous #146 car you see in most of the Targa photos from 1964

[bitzman]

The orange is lighter than I thought it would be. The dashboard does look
like a pure racing Cobra dash. The same book has a shot of a similar dash,
just gauges in a row, not in the same layout as in the street Cobras.
Is Dr. Thompson still alive? I remember when I just looked him up in the phone book once and called him at his office. He used to race the Corvette Sting Ray prototype which had iffy brakes and to slow down, he'd hit the car ahead so the car wouldn't be looking too pretty when he finished the race...

[rsimkins]

Originally Posted by bitzman

Is Dr. Thompson still alive?

He lives in Florida. Googling his name brings up a bunch of information including an interview in the current issue of Vintage Race Car.

[A-Snake]

Originally Posted by bitzman

I heard of a black Cobra with the word "Snake" painted on it raced by Ed Leslie
but today in a book on Cobras I saw a black and white of a lighter colored Cobra that says Orange Snake on the door being raced at Daytona in 1966. The caption says it was piloted by Dr. Dick Thompson who I knew of as "the racing dentist" and who one time drove a GT40 at LeMans or maybe had an accident testing a GT40 at Lemans, not sure. Anyhow this car had a gawdawful roll cage structure almost as ugly as the one raced by "Gentleman Tom Payne". Anyone else got pictures of this car--I know one thing, it sure wasn't a factory sponsored car.

I thought at first that the name Orange Snake was related to a food product like Dan Gerber's Prune Mush Cobra but now think maybe it was painted orange, hence the name

Wallace,
You really need to treat yourself to a SAAC Registry. It even explains why Graham Shaw, the owner of CSX2323, fitted the car with a NASCAR type roll cage. If you had a copy it would also save you a lot of typing.

[67GT500#2100]

Originally Posted by A-Snake

Wallace,
You really need to treat yourself to a SAAC Registry. It even explains why Graham Shaw, the owner of CSX2323, fitted the car with a NASCAR type roll cage. If you had a copy it would also save you a lot of typing.

I hope you don't get a registry! Keep the oddball facts and unique threads coming. They help educate us all on the history of Shelby.

[bitzman]

thanks for the complement. I am always remembering one or another Cobra that piques my curiosity and I want to hear/see more. I know there are websites devoted just to racing , one is called AtlasF1 Bulletin Board but for some reason you can't join the website if you have a "hotmail" address (discrimination?).

One Cobra I would like to see more pictures of /and hear the sad story of
is the ones bought by Ed Fruetel prepared by Frank Monise? In the Hazan bookon Cobra (Cobra 260 289 427) there is a picture of it in Europe racing with the side curtains in place. I guess the team actually had two cars, according to Ned Scudder (SAAC Cobra Registrar) "they were 3019, his Comp car and 3617, which he called his 'practice car.' Both were placed on the market after a difficult 1966 racing season and both remained there (in Europe)." Apparently his co-driver was a name driver --Tony Settember (USA)--but even a good mechanic and ace driver weren't enough to prevail. One sad episode is the '66 Targa Florio, they only made it one lap around the 44-mile course! (the racing number is 178 in case you come across pictures of that year's event)

I think this story would be fun to hear--an American team trying to campaign a big block Cobra in Europe without Ford's help and how they failed.