REUNION: The House That Carroll Built

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REUNION: The House That Carroll Built

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion organizers are celebrating Carroll Shelby's creations with a dedicated hall containing a treasure trove of rarities.

Marshall Pruett | Posted August 19, 2012

Carroll Shelby has been honored in style at Monterey. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion organizers are celebrating Carroll Shelby's creations with a dedicated hall containing a treasure trove of rarities, and for those with an interest in the great man and the designs that came from his Shelby American facility, the temporary "house" in the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca paddock has become like a second home.

Featuring an assortment of milestone Cobras, Reunion attendees are greeted by the costliest--and possibly most sublime--car in the collection, the 1965 Daytona Coupe.

The Shelby hall. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

Of the six Peter Brock-designed Coupes that were produced, this chassis, No. CSX2299, was built in 1964 and scored wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 12 hours of Sebring and earned Shelby the 1965 FIA GT World Championship with Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant, among others, behind the wheel.

Dressed in blue with white rally stripes, the No. 13 remains in a private collection, but one of its sister cars, CSX2601, sold at auction for $7.25 million in 2009...

To the right of the Coupe sits another rarity, the yellow 1964 Cobra 289 Dragonsnake.

Chassis CSX2427 left the Shelby factory with pure drag racing DNA throughout, carrying a "Stage III" build specification and unique Weber carburetors. Shelby built just five Dragonsnakes.

Behind the Dragonsnake, CSX3017, a rare competition-spec 1965 427 Cobra, No. 11, lays in wait, and across the aisle, four more Cobras are on display.

CSX2002, the very first factory-built Cobra racecar, debuted in 1962 at Riverside, and is credited for sparking Shelby American's success as a premier constructor. Billy Krause was the first to race CSX2002, and before it was done, Ken Miles, Dave MacDonald and designer Peter Brock pedaled the red No. 16 car in competition.

Another red Cobra, 1962's CSX2026, has the distinction of winning the Cobra's first race in 1963 with MacDonald at the controls of the No. 33.

Shelby Cobra CSX2431, which Ken Miles used to innovate with abandon. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

The "Fliptop" Cobra, better known as CSX2196, started life in 1964 as a 289-engined Cobra, but soon turned into Ken Miles' rolling laboratory. Miles shoehorned a 427 into the frame, but the already light chassis on a diet, and was fitted with custom front and rear body sections that splayed open to provide easy access to both ends of the car.

The fourth and final car in the far corner is CSX2431, a 1964 289 Cobra Roadster that Ken Miles raced exclusively--barring one event--in the USRRC series. CSX2431, car No. 98 is cited as the chassis that helped Shelby American to develop most of the components it would later use to claim a variety of domestic and international championships.

The last competition car in the Shelby pavilion is the black CSX2128, the Sebring Daytona roadster that was built specifically to compete at the Florida airfield circuit in 1963.

The rest of the display features an assortment of period-correct Shelby components and a chronology of the marque's history that shouldn't be missed.

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view REUNION: Carroll Shelby Tribute Hall

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, and covers the IndyCar Series. Before joining SPEED, Pruett worked in open-wheel racing for 20 years as a mechanic and engineer. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.