CHASSIS CSX 2011: THE PUBLIC’S FIRST RACING COBRA

Chassis CSX 2011 was purchased for $7,471 by John A. Everly, of Winfield Kansas, on October 23, 1962, and with that, it became the first Shelby Cobra race car to be sold to the public. Everley, a seasoned racer, traded his Ferrari 375 MM Spider (chassis 0376 AM) for the privilege, and it soon replaced the Ferrari as his racing car of choice, which was no doubt a decision that would have brought a smile to Carroll Shelby’s face.

The car was fitted with front and rear sway bars, a roll bar, a long-range fuel tank, a flame thrower ignition, and Goodyear T-4 race tires, and it bore oblong “Shelby-AC Cobra” badges, T-handle hood latches, and 5.5-inch-wide painted wire wheels. CSX 2011 was indeed born ready for competition. The car was finished in red with a black interior when new, but it bore a unique blue and white livery when it appeared at its first competitive outing, the Nassau, Bahamas Speed Week in December 1962.

In the second race of the Nassau Tourist Trophy, Everly and CSX 2011 placed 7th overall. They took to the race track once again in the Nassau Trophy on December 9, placing 26th overall out of a field of 63 competitors. Everly would campaign his new Cobra, wearing #106, in a pair of races at Nassau in 1963, finishing 6th overall and 2nd in class in Race 2 on December 1, 1963. Following a DNF on September 6, Everly and his Cobra finished 16th overall and 3rd in class out of a massive 62 entrants in the Nassau Trophy race on December 8.

After a quick break for the holidays, Everley was back on the track in CSX 2011 at the Daytona Continental 2800 KM on February 16, 1964. Unfortunately, Everly failed to finish, and the car would have a string of DNFs over the next few races at Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, and Elkhart Lake.

That same year, Everley sold the car to John Archer, of Dallas, Texas, in exchange for the wages he was owed by South West Lotus. Archer proceeded to remove CSX 2011’s original engine and install a Gemini-Ford. The car would not be left without a Shelby heart for long, as Archer soon installed a racing-specification engine from a GT350 that had dual four-barrel Carter carburetors.

FORTY YEARS IN DALLAS

In 1965, the car was purchased by Ron West, also of Dallas, who decided that he would return CSX 2011 to the track, betting it would prove to be quite competitive with its new motor. From 1965 to 1967, West entered the car in a number of SCCA events, where he had considerable success, finishing several races within the top five, with a handful of overall wins included! In 1967, West finished 3rd in the SCCA’s Southwest Division and subsequently received an invitation to compete in the 1967 American Road Race of Champions at Daytona. In order to adhere to an SCCA regulation, his dual-carburetor setup was replaced with a single four-barrel, and with that setup, CSX 2011 went on to finish in a very respectable 8th place.

According to the SAAC World Registry of Cobras and GT40s, CSX 2011 made several “midnight runs on the streets of Dallas” before West placed the car in storage at his home. It would emerge from storage a few times over the years to be shown at several SAAC conventions, appearing in unrestored condition and still sporting an inspection sticker from the Bahamas Speed Week in 1963. The car always attracted a lot of attention at SAAC conventions, winning Second Place in the popular vote for 289s at SAAC-10 in Great Gorge, New Jersey, in 1985; Third Place at SAAC-11 in Dearborn, Michigan, the year after; and First Place, as well as Best Cobra, at SAAC-12 in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1987. The Cobra also appeared in a handful of publications, including Tevor Legate’s Cobra: The First 40 Years and Dave Friedman’s Shelby Cobra.

West eventually decided to put the car up for sale in 1996, but it still remained in his ownership and travelled with him when he moved to Oregon several years later. West continued to own the car until 2007, when it was purchased by a new owner, the car’s first in over 30 years. At the time of purchase, he decided to refresh the car for use, yet he also kept a strict eye on preservation. It was decided that the Cobra would be brought back to the same configuration it appeared in at Daytona in 1964. The owner went to great lengths to preserve the car as much as possible, even leaving the scratch it received at Daytona untouched and retaining traces of the car’s original red paint.

Following a rebuild of the car’s 289-cubic inch engine—the same engine installed by John Archer in 1964—the car passed through Charles Wegner and was then purchased for the Andrews Collection. In their care, CSX 2011 has seen frequent use on vintage rallies, including the Copperstate 1000 in 2013 and 2014, as well as the 2012 Colorado Grand. It is accompanied by a handful of period photographs, several of which have been autographed by Carroll Shelby, and it remains ready for further use on vintage rallies or historic races, appearing just as it did 50 years ago.

It is clear why CSX 2011 appealed to Paul and Chris Andrews. As the first Cobra race car sold new to the public, with long-term Dallas ownership and a successful SCCA career, it is the perfect example to enjoy on the open road. Even amongst the Andrews’s incredible collection, this example stands out as a wonderful example of preservation, attention to detail, and racing provenance.