MARAMARUA RALLYSPRINT

However, work on firming up the 2020/’21 SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series is well advanced. Committee member Glenn Richards says that he expects to announce firm dates shortly. “Obviously, like every other sporting code operating in the shadow still being cast by the coronavirus, our ability to plan ahead could still be put in jeopardy by a second outbreak, but, fingers crossed, that won’t happen, and we will be able to run another domestic series like we did in 2019/’20,” he says.

"I know I’m keen to get back in my car, as is everyone else, since the lockdown restrictions were lifted. We’ve even had some enquiry re cars for sale from people keen to join us, so that is obviously another positive sign.”

The Maramarua Rallysprint is an event that I have wanted to attend for a long time, but have not been able to due to it coinciding with other events. However ,with the introduction of Covid turning the motorsport calendar upside down,

I was finally able to see what the Rallysprint was all about.

Held on Sunday, 2 August, the 42 Rally cars navigated a 9km stretch of gravel road in the Waikato’s Maramarua forest, each taking off approximately 30 seconds apart. The conditions were ideal, with the morning rain dispersing and the road quickly drying out. There were several classes running, consisting of 4WD Open, Historic 4WD, 2WD under 1300, 2WD 1310–1600, 2WD 1601–2000, 2WD 2000 Plus, and Historic.

All the cars had four timed elimination runs, culminating in the final, which consisted of the top two cars from each class. Winning the overall event was Jack Hawkeswood, driving a Mazda 2. He was the quickest man on all five passes and clocked a best time of 5min 9.49s on his final run. Further afield, the Historic class saw Gary Wainwright pedal his RX-7 to the quickest time, beating Don Needham’s Escort Mk2 by five seconds. Among the many interesting cars was Mark Bradly’s sweet-sounding Datsun 1200SSS. Although Mark has owned the car for quite some time, it was previously owned by Reg Cook and was successfully campaigned in several championship events in the ’70s. It once again showed its class by finishing first in the 2WD under 1300cc class.

The day ended with prize-giving before everyone headed back home to unload and clean their cars, while an unfortunate few were on their way home early to assess the damage and prepare for the next outing.

FOLLOWING THE DREAM

Grant Baker has been passionate about cars for as long as he can remember. His first car was a Mk1 Ford Cortina, which he bought because that’s what Jim Clark drove at the time.

“As I managed to save more money I was able to afford better cars and was able to move up,” says Grant.

He went on to own several hot Falcons and Holdens before moving on to a few E-type Jags and Porsches. Grant eventually got the opportunity to drive his first Ferrari, an iconic 355, and he was hooked.

“I’ve driven most things now, and I still would rather have a Ferrari than anything else,” he comments.

Grant bought his first Ferrari, a Maranello 550, in 1999, and today his enviable Ferrari collection is testament to his passion for the brand and includes an Enzo and Laferrari Aperta. Many readers may remember Grant’s

A genuine Shelby Cobra 427 is not the easiest car in the world to find, but when Grant found one advertised for sale in Canada he couldn’t resist taking the trip to Toronto

fabulous Ferrari F40, which we featured back in December 2010.

However, there was one car Grant had always admired and began searching for a few years ago. A genuine Shelby Cobra 427 is not the easiest car in the world to find, but when Grant found one advertised for sale in Canada by the Legendary Motorcar Company (LMC) he couldn’t resist taking the trip to Toronto to have a closer look. The LMC is a state-of-the art facility that caters for every aspect of collector car ownership, including ground-up restorations and an ever-changing inventory of some of the world’s finest collector and investment cars that are for sale. The company has been specializing in Shelby and Ford vehicles for more than 30 years, and since 1985 has purchased, sold, and restored more than 54 of these original, factory-built Shelby Cobras.

In January 2018, Grant arrived in Toronto in the middle of winter; as such, his test drive was limited to a few laps of the yard in deep snow.

The car was then put on a hoist for Grant to inspect before making the decision that it was the car for him. The 1966 Shelby Cobra 427, chassis number CSX3172, had been concours restored by the LMC and was part of the company’s extensive collection before being put on the market to make room for other collector vehicles.

I, for one, have always enjoyed hunting down the history of my old cars and thoroughly enjoy talking and reading about previous owners. In the case of a car replicated and even faked as often as the genuinely rare big block Cobra, provenance is everything. Grant is fortunate to have the full history of CSX3172 from new until 2006, as set out in the Shelby Cobra registry.

In the case of a car faked as often as the genuinely rare big block Cobra, provenance is everything

CHASSIS NO. CSX3172

Black/black interior. Billed to Shelby American on 16 August 1965 and shipped to Los Angeles. At Shelby American, work order number 18068, ‘Build Street Cobra 427 CSX3172’, was opened on 14 December 1965 and closed 1 February 1966.

CSX3172 was sold to Milo Brooke, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, Shelby invoice No. A 2054 for US$6088. It was shipped to O’hare Airport by TWA air freight and sold to Jim Hopkins of Illinois, who later moved to South Gate, California. Hopkins took the car to Hi Performance Motors in June 1967 with 7200 miles on the clock after part of the rim on one of the car’s original Starburst wheels had broken off at the flange area. Subsequently, the wheel was replaced under an extended warranty agreement. It is believed that Hopkins later returned to the Chicago area, where 3172 was sold in the late ’60s.

Its next known owner was

Mike Novik from Detroit, who advertised the car for sale in the summer of ’73: “AC Cobra 427 — CSX3172. Maroon with black interior. 12,000 actual miles. Perfect in every way. Blueprinted, balanced mediumrise engine, headers, side-pipes, roll bar, oil cooler. $10,000.”

Gordon Walker of Illinois bought the car on 19 October 1973, repainted it silver, and enjoyed the occasional autocross competition during the mid ’70s. CSX3172 was pictured in the Shelby Owners Association (SOA) newsletter in December ’74 and then in October ’75 when it took first place in the Class A competition at the ’75 SOA convention in Wichita. Walker also earned a spot in the Shelby American Automobile Club’s (SAAC) The Marque, Vol. 1, as a class winner at the Blackhawk Farms Invitational meet on 31 July 1976.

In the spring of ’78, CSX3172 was offered for sale: “14,000 miles; ’75 restoration with Imron paint, electric fans, heavy-duty A-arms, Teflon bushings, Sunburst and Halibrand wheels, 10-quart oil pan, balanced and blueprinted 427 side oiler”.

The car was sold to Paul Ramey of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He enjoyed the car so much that on at least two occasions he drove it across the country — including a trip to the SAAC-4 convention in Downingtown, Pennsylvania in July ’79 — adding more than 10,000 miles to the clock in a little over a year. Ramey and Andre Fiego of California offered CSX3172 for sale in May ’81 in “excellent original condition, $60,000”. The car appeared at SAAC-6 in Monterey, California in August 1981 with a tall bonnet scoop, dull-looking silver paint, and a bent front oil-cooler scoop, and wearing the California licence plate ‘S COBRA’.

George Stauffer of Stauffer Classics, Wisconsin purchased the Cobra later that year and, after repairing the bodywork, repainted it maroon. Its next owner, Steve Weeks of Dallas, Texas, drove the car for several years before dismantling it for a rebuild.

RESTORATION

CSX3172 was seized by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1990, with 49,000 miles on the clock. Available at a sealed-bid DEA auction,

On at least two occasions he drove it across the country — including a trip to the SAAC-4 convention in Downingtown, Pennsylvania in July ’79

the Cobra was sold for US$250K to Gary Bennett and Jim Philion of Lister Restorations in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Within a matter of months they had restored it to Semi-competition specs, with roll bar, 7.5-/9.5-inch Halibrand wheels, quick-jacks, 42-gallon tank, competition dashboard layout, and the addition of a lip to the rare flares, and repainted it black with black side pipes, At this time, the car’s odometer was reset to zero.

Entered in the January ’92 Barrett-jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, CSX3172 was bid below its US$450K reserve and reappeared in the dupont Registry for the asking price of US$600K. It was sold to Bo Cheadle from Pleasanton, California for a sum closer to half the asking price. The car was taken to SAAC-17 in Portland, Oregon in July ’92, where it took out second place in the popular vote 427 Cobra Class.

At the Norcal Mini-nats the following year, 3172 placed first in class and was selected as co-winner of the coveted Carroll Shelby Award. Two years later, Cheadle suffered a fatal heart attack at a Norcal track event. CSX3172 was purchased from his estate by Michael Lieberman from California. The car was subsequently offered for auction on ebay in January 2006, with a minimum bid of US$750K.

SUMMER FUN

Grant transported the Cobra to

Los Angeles, where it stayed for a year prior to being shipped to New Zealand.

He is delighted to finally own one of the cars that he’s always admired. According to Grant, only 250 big block Shelby Cobras were built; 100 received the 428-cubicinch Ford V8 engine and 150 received the more desirable 427-cubic-inch side-oiler Ford V8, of which only 15 were originally painted black.

Grant has travelled only about 300km in the car since he’s owned it, but with summer fast approaching, his neighbourhood is just as likely to be treated to the reverberating rumble of a big block V8 as the famed roar of a front-engined V12 Ferrari.