Racing a Cobra R in vintage racing

[tomshep]

Glad driver is OK.

That car was in the race shop when I picked up my car. I really liked that livery. What a shame to lose that car. It had a great pedigree.

Tom

 

[93SVTCobra]

That is a tremendous hit and the driver was VERY lucky to say the least! It's a shame to see a historical car like that written off but if it can be saved I'm sure you'll figure out how to do it!

 

[1995COBRA-R]

It's a shame to see a historical car like that written off but if it can be saved I'm sure you'll figure out how to do it!

Mark,
I'd predict a re-bodied #53. JMO.

There were ~20 95R race cars and another 20 clones going back to IMSA/SCCA history. IMSA never issued logbooks like SCCA. It gets complicated.

I'd say pictures and paperwork will prove it correct regardless of the body.

The problem with racing is that it can turn a $50K race car into a $5K project in a few seconds. It can be no fault of the driver.

 

[598]

Do we have a list of the 20 race cars with books to back them up?

Steve

 

[1995COBRA-R]

Do we have a list of the 20 race cars with books to back them up?

No.
Like I said, IMSA did not use logbooks. There are a lot of links around here to show video which can be linked back to teams.

The SVT Mustang Cobra Recognition Guide book has some tech. If you join each one together, you'll find ~20 R models and ~20 clones.

 

[598]

Did # 214 make the cut?

 

[1995COBRA-R]

Did # 214 make the cut?

It is not in my records which means nothing. I'd say that only 10 race R's are documented with build numbers. The others are known as ?? of 250 but raced as number xx (and maybe also as xx).

The clones are known by the car number(s) as raced.

Can you post a picture?

 

[CobraR77]

Here is a list of 1995 Cobra R's and real and cloned that I have compiled.

Real Cobra R ex-IMSA cars:
#24 of 250, Campaigned by Hacker Bros as 09 then Chuck Snipes as 26. Last raced at 1996 Atlanta race where is was badly wrecked.
#39 of 250, an ex-IMSA car campaigned by Joe Safina as 53/80.Campaigned by JJ Kelly in 1998 PSCR Sebring race as 55 where it was badly wrecked.
#57 of 250. The first 95R sold to the public. Campaigned by George Biskup and then Gardner Britt as 22.
#69 of 250. Campaigned by TF Racing/Zippo as 17/47/74.
I own #77 of 250. Campaigned by Ed Zabinski as 57/58/69.
#82 of 250. Campaigned by Joe Sulentic as 05.
#222 of 250, an ex-IMSA car campaigned by Joe Safina as 53/80, previously by John B Quick as 11.
#223 of 250. Campaigned by Hacker Bros as 0/00.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Hacker Bros as 0/00.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Steeda driven by Boris Said, Shawn Hendricks, etc
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Jason Priestly as 46. Badly wrecked at 1996 Watkins Glen race. Remaining body shell was cutup and destroyed by TF Racing in 2005. Parts were swapped over to a body in white.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Jason Priestly as 14/98. Actually not sure if this is a clone R or not.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Massari-Muller as 54/90.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Gemini racing as 16.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Gemini racing as 96.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by TF Racing as 88. Badly wrecked at 1995 New Orleans race. Remaining body shell was cutup and destroyed by TF Racing in 2005.
#? Of 250. One of two Carlisle R’s that were campaigned for a very short time. One is supposedly in the Buffalo, NY area.
#? Of 250. One of two Carlisle R’s that were campaigned for a very short time. One is supposedly in the Buffalo, NY area.
#139 of 250. I have a sticky note from a few years ago about an ex-IMSA Cobra R #139 for sale. I don’t know if this car is previously mentioned in the list. This may be one of the Carlisle R’s.

Clone R’s:
GAC Serialized Chassis. Campaigned by Chuck Snipes as 25 and then Seafuse as 37.
3rd Snipes Ford Motorsports Chassis (Ford VINed) raced as 21/26/46
I own the 4th Snipes Ford Motorsports Chassis (Ford VINed) raced as 26. Only ran in 5ish races but won the 1997 Atlanta race with Randy Pobst/Chuck Snipes driving. Badly wrecked at Oct 1997 Sebring race.
? Chassis campaigned by Hacker Bros as 09
? Chassis campaignedby Massari-Muller as 54/90.
? Chassis campaigned by Ed Zabinski as 06 and then Camp in MC.
? Chassis campaigned by Multimatic as 27.
? Chassis campaigned by Rehagen Racing as 52. Converted to 1999 Mustang body
? Chassis campaigned by TF Racing/Zippo as 17.
Several TF Racing/Zippo cars.
Several Multimatic car.

 

[Cobra R Man]

Todd,

Great info as always.

Gene Boc.

 

[mrmustang]

Let's not forget #99 which was a race car from new, sold out of Coccia Ford in Luzerne, PA to it's first owner in Ohio and campaigned throughout the US in the SCCA. Gary J. had the log books when he bought the car from the guy I sold it to who pushed the nose over several feet to the right a short time later.

Bill S.

Here is a list of 1995 Cobra R's and real and cloned that I have compiled.

Real Cobra R ex-IMSA cars:
#24 of 250, Campaigned by Hacker Bros as 09 then Chuck Snipes as 26. Last raced at 1996 Atlanta race where is was badly wrecked.
#39 of 250, an ex-IMSA car campaigned by Joe Safina as 53/80.Campaigned by JJ Kelly in 1998 PSCR Sebring race as 55 where it was badly wrecked.
#57 of 250. The first 95R sold to the public. Campaigned by George Biskup and then Gardner Britt as 22.
#69 of 250. Campaigned by TF Racing/Zippo as 17/47/74.
I own #77 of 250. Campaigned by Ed Zabinski as 57/58/69.
#82 of 250. Campaigned by Joe Sulentic as 05.
#222 of 250, an ex-IMSA car campaigned by Joe Safina as 53/80, previously by John B Quick as 11.
#223 of 250. Campaigned by Hacker Bros as 0/00.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Hacker Bros as 0/00.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Steeda driven by Boris Said, Shawn Hendricks, etc
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Jason Priestly as 46. Badly wrecked at 1996 Watkins Glen race. Remaining body shell was cutup and destroyed by TF Racing in 2005. Parts were swapped over to a body in white.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Jason Priestly as 14/98. Actually not sure if this is a clone R or not.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Massari-Muller as 54/90.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Gemini racing as 16.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by Gemini racing as 96.
#? Of 250. Campaigned by TF Racing as 88. Badly wrecked at 1995 New Orleans race. Remaining body shell was cutup and destroyed by TF Racing in 2005.
#? Of 250. One of two Carlisle R’s that were campaigned for a very short time. One is supposedly in the Buffalo, NY area.
#? Of 250. One of two Carlisle R’s that were campaigned for a very short time. One is supposedly in the Buffalo, NY area.
#139 of 250. I have a sticky note from a few years ago about an ex-IMSA Cobra R #139 for sale. I don’t know if this car is previously mentioned in the list. This may be one of the Carlisle R’s.

Clone R’s:
GAC Serialized Chassis. Campaigned by Chuck Snipes as 25 and then Seafuse as 37.
3rd Snipes Ford Motorsports Chassis (Ford VINed) raced as 21/26/46
I own the 4th Snipes Ford Motorsports Chassis (Ford VINed) raced as 26. Only ran in 5ish races but won the 1997 Atlanta race with Randy Pobst/Chuck Snipes driving. Badly wrecked at Oct 1997 Sebring race.
? Chassis campaigned by Hacker Bros as 09
? Chassis campaignedby Massari-Muller as 54/90.
? Chassis campaigned by Ed Zabinski as 06 and then Camp in MC.
? Chassis campaigned by Multimatic as 27.
? Chassis campaigned by Rehagen Racing as 52. Converted to 1999 Mustang body
? Chassis campaigned by TF Racing/Zippo as 17.
Several TF Racing/Zippo cars.
Several Multimatic car.

 

[1995COBRA-R]

I am sad to say this but Gary is gone. The cancer got him. We lost him last week.

He had a lot to do with the vintage Motorola Cup in vintage racing. He could drive the wheels off of a race car. He could set one up to race fast.

He would like nothing more than to see your Motorola Cup cars do well.

 

[1993R]

RIP Gary

Doc I know he was a good friend of yours and he will be greatly missed by you and his family and friends

 

[flattrack53]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss Doc... My dad always spoke very highly of Gary. I never met him but I always enjoyed his post on this forum. RIP

 

[1995COBRA-R]

Gary would appreciate it.

I am going to guess that I meet him about 20 years ago. He had built two 1965 Mustang race cars in a garage in his spare time (one for his brother, one for him). They were really nice and well-built. His brother sold his to a guy in Europe. Gary sold his also to an eager buyer.

My best story on Gary was when the guy that built my car (the now red, was blue 1965 Mustang) asked Gary to drive it at a vintage race practice session to see if he thought it "worked well".

Gary hit the track and drove the wheels off. He was side-ways all the way up the hill after T-1 and side-ways coming down under the bridge to T-12. He drove it back to the paddock and you could smell the brake pads and the engine was popping and cracking maybe a little "used up" for a practice session.

He knew that he did a good lap time. He rushed over to timing and scoring to get the time sheet. No time. He came back to the paddock with WTF? The owner had disconnected the transponder. The owner said he didn't want to know how fast it was but if it worked well. :lol1:

The owner was also the guy that sold the 1993 Cobra R prototype here (for a big profit) several years ago. I traded a 1959 Austin Healey Sprite for the Mustang the next year. I never let Gary drive it. ;-)

Gary won three HSR Endurance Championships with his owner/co-driver Jerry. That included a Rolex watch for each one. It isn't easy for a Mustang to win these.

 

[ac427cobra]

Sorry to hear about Gary.

 

[1995COBRA-R]

I saw this #99 Cobra R getting it done at SVRA Indy. Gary would have liked to see this. Gary made those new Motorola windshield graphics. I have a few of them.

 

[tomshep]

Very sad news. Doc, I am sorry for your loss. The R community just lost a great advocate and enthusiast. The same goes for the whole racing community. We exchanged numerous emails. I wish I could have met him.

RIP Gary.

Tom

 

[1995COBRA-R]

The R community just lost a great advocate and enthusiast. The same goes for the whole racing community. We exchanged numerous emails. I wish I could have met him.

Tom,
He was really excited to swap emails with you. He said so. He really wanted to buy and rebuild that certain race car that you have (the other one....).

Jeff made this pic in 2006 at VIR:

Gary always said his 1995 R would go to his son.

 

[tomshep]

Gary was one of a handful of people I would even consider doing that with. It is odd, but I feel a certain responsibility to that chassis to make sure it survives and one day is accurately rebuilt.

To Gary :beer:

Tom

 

[1995COBRA-R]

Gary was one of a handful of people I would even consider doing that with. It is odd, but I feel a certain responsibility to that chassis to make sure it survives and one day is accurately rebuilt.

Tom,
I agree in that I just like the chassis and everything about it. It is magic to some of us.

Gary "borrowed" my #113 95R so he could get all of the proper factory design (especially wiring) correct on his car. I was glad to help and get the free storage. :-D

I had a hard time several years ago with my vintage car. It wasn't working well (like all Roush Racing cars today). I had replaced or rebuilt everything.

Gary drove up in his golf cart and said: "Go get that carburetor out of my trailer and try it". The car picked up speed quickly. It was my new carb that failed.

I have a VDCA race this weekend at Road Atlanta. I'm on my own.